Oct 5 - 13: Horseshoe Canyon Ranch and Rocktoberfest

After months of planning it was finally time to head back to my favorite climbing spot, Horseshoe Canyon Ranch for several days of climbing with my friends, M, R, D and S. M and I had met R at climbing camp last summer at HCR and this was the first time the three of us had climbed together since then. M and I met in St. Louis Friday night, then made the rest of the drive on Saturday, but not before we filled our stomachs with some Waffle House for breakfast. We had hoped to do a bit of climbing on Saturday afternoon, but Mother Nature rained on our plans. At least we didn't get caught in the rain like several people we saw in the campground. Fortunately, we didn't need to set up our tents in the rain, as D&S invited us to crash at their cabin for the night. R arrived later that evening and we all went to bed fairly early, hoping to awake to blue skies in the morning.

Sunday morning was beautiful, so we headed out to find dry rock. I put up Paul's Redemption to warm up, then we had our First Event of the trip when I sprained my ankle tripping while still on the ground. Grrr, but it could have been much worse. Speaking of worse, we witnessed some bad belaying next to us - ATC user with his hand often off the brake strand. M tried giving him a lesson, but it didn't appear to sink in. Event Number Two happened a little while later when R's rope got wrapped around a chicken head while she was cleaning so S had to climb up and free it. What a morning! We headed down the cliff line and knocked off a couple more climbs before Event Number Three happened, when S mistook a 5.11 route for an 8. This night not have been so bad had the start not involved standing on a stack of rocks and then stemming against a tree. It was a no fall zone and fortunately he didn't; one lower leg injury per day is enough! After a few more climbs to build our appetites, we went into town for dinner at the Ozark Cafe. We started off with fried pickles (outstanding) and then devoured a variety of burgers. I had the Flamethrower again, but it wasn't as hot as the last time I had it, so I had no excuse to order ice cream to put out the flames. However, we did get a bonus dessert - a deep-fried cinnamon roll. Heaven!

We started our climbing day in the North 40. M put up a trad route (Dancing Bears) while S tackled the classic The Greatest Show on Earth. After a couple more routes and lunch, we went to the other side of the canyon to try a new area. We started on some fairly new 8's in the Cliffs of Insanity area, then moved over to Roman Wall to tackle a few more classics. M set her sights on the "best arete in the canyon," Commodus. It took her a while to work out all the moves (it's definitely a tricky one) but she eventually made it to the top. Perhaps if she had seen the snake that was napping in the area sooner, she would have made it up more quickly! I ticked another climb from the Chicken Head Check List in the latest guidebook from Fixed Pin, sending Acree Prime. We ended the day on Sybarite (another climb on the CHCL.) After M put it up, R decided she was going to lead it. About halfway up, she kicks off Event Number Four, traversing right to the next route, instead of following the draws and giant jug on the climb she's supposed to be doing. Eventually she got to a bolt and went in direct while we figured out what to do. We got her some draws so she could finish the other route, then there was some type of rope routing and traversing to get all the gear back and her down safely. Quite the adventure! Actually, the adventure wasn't quite over because we had to hike out as the sun was disappearing and no one brought a headlight, but we made it back to camp safely. We got a nice fire going and cooked up hot dogs and steak for dinner.

We went to Magoo Rock on Tuesday morning so we could try the "best pure 5.9 jug-bash in Arkansas," Man Servant, but not before we warmed up on a couple of easier routes on that rock. There was some disagreement between the two guidebooks as the the ratings - one said 6 and 7, the other 7 and 9. After climbing them both, 6 and 7 sounded right, although I'd buy 8 for the second one. Next up was the eagerly awaited (at least for me) Man Servant, with a nice overhanging start. It took me about 20 minutes to figure out how to get off the ground, what with the lack of feet. I made it to the third bolt, but by that point, I'd had enough of leading, so M took over and took it to the anchors. I later TR'd it and am looking forward to leading it on my next trip. After lunch, we met D&S for a couple more climbs, including Orange Crush, the tallest route in the canyon. In the evening, we headed over to D&S's cabin for a fabulous dinner of sriracha beef tacos. Mmm.

The start of Man Servant

D&S had to make the long drive home on Wednesday, so it was just M, R and myself heading out to the Circus Wall section of the North Forty. We were all eager to lead and started with a Spam then moved to beautiful Green Goblin. Having reached the top of a seven and eight, we next went up a nine, Ace in the Hole, which featured fabulous jug hauling after the low crux. We were all feeling pretty

Ace in the Hole

good and thought the 10a Season of the Storm looked like fun, what with it's juggy roof finish. I was up first and cruised up until I hit the crux, which took me a while to figure out but I eventually got it and then had fun going over the roof to the top. Looking forward to doing it clean next time. M came very close to leading it clean on her go, but her initial sequence through the crux didn't work, but option number two did. R was up next and in her typical fashion, moved through the crux using different beta. We were getting pretty pooped,  but still had a couple more climbs in us, so we walked to the Crimp Scampi area and went up Leonid. Not a fan of aretes and this route didn't make me change my mind, but it was good to challenge myself and climb it. We ticked off another climb from the CHCL, Sundial, to end our day.  We walked back to camp amongst a parade of goats.

Rock Climbing Goat
more pix

R decided she was going to sleep in and take the day off, since she was staying through the weekend to climb with friends, so it was just M and me for our last day. Our original plan was to climb at the Greatest Show Wall, but the goats must have partied there the night before, because it was covered in fresh and fragrant goat poop. The odor was somewhat better at The Walls of Controversy, so we warmed up on Cotton Candy then got on The Controversy. While I was getting reading to climb, a young man asked us if we were with R and we said yes. He had met R at the pavilion earlier and was in town for a couple of days but didn't have a partner. We invited him to join us and since he climbed a little harder than us, we got to try a 5.11a, Sonny Jim. The guidebook said that people above 5'9" think the climb is a mid-10 and those below thing it's mid-11's, so the author split the difference; we agreed with the distinction, as the crux move was much easier if you were taller. Oh well, it was fun trying. We met R back at the campsite and all went out for dinner at the Ozark Cafe before M and I started our drive to St. Louis to wrap up another fun trip to HCR.

I woke up early, did laundry and enjoyed a waffle from the free hotel breakfast before we started the drive back to Louisville to pick up L on our way to Rocktoberfest at the RRG. Friday nights festivities included the Reel Rock 8 screening and all four movies were good. We got up early Saturday morning to get in a couple of climb's before T had to take off and to beat the crowds. We went to Phantasia, but avoided the overrated Creature Feature and went up Pogue Ethics and a couple others instead. We called it a day by lunchtime, given the hordes of people, and got on with our afternoon plans of eating at The Rockhouse and hanging out. The evening featured more hanging out, but with the addition of a fire. On Sunday, some of us took part in the climbing clinics and I had a great time at my Intro to Trad course led by Shingo Ohkawa. We met back at the campsite afterward and said good-bye after another great weekend.

A rocking the crate stacking comp

The Climbs

Sunday
Paul's Redemption 7 L
sprain my ankle
Lion Tamer 9- T
Sin Nombre 9- T
Ides of March 7 T,L
Groovy 8+ T
Tres Equis 9- T
Molt 9- T

Monday
Greatest Show on Earth 8 T
Dancing Bears 5 T
Stiff Neked Fools 8+ T
Arizona Bay 8 wT
Sphagnum Esplande 8 T
Aphrodite 8 T
Acree Prime 7 L
Sybarite 9+ wT

Tuesday
Flying Daisha 6 L
Memoirs of a Daisha 7 L
Man Servant 9+ La3b, T
Orange Crush 9+ wT
Rubber Chicken 6 wL

Wednesday
Spam 7  L
Green Goblin 8 Lw
Ace in the Hole 9 Lw
Season of the Storm 10a Lw
Leonid 9+ Tw
Sundial 7+ L

Thursday
Cotton Candy 6 L
The Controversy 9 pLw
First Normal Form 10a Tw
Sonny Jim 11a Ta