Through The Looking Glass

http://www.highinfatuation.com/blog/turning-points/

Above is a link to Steph Davis's blog. I wrote her a letter and her response was very helpful.

Well, it really hasn't been fair of me to keep all of you in the dark for so long. I guess my pilgrimage started about a month ago when I boldly signed up for a Wilderness First Responder course. Like the falling of tiny pebbles that begin a landslide this course opened me up to so many different possibilities and inspired within me a passion I didn't know existed.

Long story short, I had a massively mind blowing time during the course where I met some simply astounding people who I am proud to call my friends. I want to continue down this path and one of my goals now is to become EMT certified.

After the WFR course I found myself in Alaska where I did a shit load of hiking and kayaking and came to the conclusion that I would like to move there. Plus there is this pretty cool girl there that I kinda like.

So after Alaska I came home and felt like I had done some pretty good endurance training while away (in 4 days I hiked 26 miles and had a cumulative elevation gain of over 10,000 feet). So, since I wasn't in any shape to strap on a climbing boot, I headed to the mountains with a snow board strapped to my back. Boon, Steve, and myself attempted to summit Adams in a day (a mere 12,500 foot endeavor) with slightly over 70lbs strapped to our backs. I pooped out just beneath the false summit at 11,000+ feet. and my compatriots managed the false summit before feeling like they were going to die. Epic fail, but the snow board back down from base camp the next morning was nothing short of amazing (with the exception of getting lost in the trees).

The following weekend I managed to do Muir and snowboard down which was probably the most fun I've had on a snowboard since Baker earlier this year. The next day I got up and did a really fun summit with some awesome friends, Gretchen, Steve, Laura, and Samy. The glissade down was fast and furious and I could not stop laughing from sheer enjoyment. Plus I got to meet some mountain goats.

Last weekend I did Mt. Si in a couple of hours round trip. The run down destroyed my knees for the next two days but it was a lot of fun and I finally feel like I have some endurance back. The only down side, besides the crippling pain in my knees, was the fact that the entire time I was in a rain cloud and when I got to the summit I couldn't see a damn thing. Real glad I brought my camera.

This week I have been fast at work to try and get all of my possesions in order and organize my route to Alaska as well as move out of my apartment. I've been really excited for some kind of change to occur in my life, and while I leave a lot of amazing people behind I look forward to new places, people, and adventures.

I've gotten to the point where I can squeeze my foot into a climbing shoe so I'm really psyched to get out to little si and Exit 38 as much as possible before I go. Plus, I want to summit Rainier and make one last trip to Lake Serene (let me know if you are interested!!)

My schedule looks like this:

July 28th is my last day in Olympia. That evening I move to Seattle to house sit for my mom while she is in Ireland and France.

August 16th is my last day in Seattle. That morning I will leave Seattle and head to Squamish for a few days before heading north to Alaska.

By August the 23rd I will finally touch down in Alaska!

Not entirely sure what is going to happen in Alaska. I have looked into getting EMT certified for free through Search and Rescue so that looks to be a promising course of action (fingers crossed). I also need to learn how to bolt rock because I have found one of the most amazing crags up there. It will only be climbable for another 3 months but hey, I might be able to establish some sweet top ropes. Other than that, the climbing front for me will consist of rock rings and a hang board, at least for the next 8-10 months.

Anyway, I love you all and I will definitely keep updating my blog even though it might turn into a hiking/back country snow boarding blog for a while.

Oh yeah, I've got a new camera now which I love so lets hit the crags for a photo shoot!!

Weez

Well, the rumors are true. I believe that after 15 visits to Leavenworth you become an official card carrying member of the Bavarian culture. I’m already half German and half English so I guess I could make room for a little sausage, beer, and interesting architecture. It’s not really my fault however. I guess you could blame a lot of people. For instance, Kelly Sheridan and his little guide book; or Dom and Laura for instigating such a nasty habit as bouldering. I mean what sane sport climber wants to give up a life on the rope for a terribly unfulfilling, self deprecating, sadistic, and otherwise quick fixing sport such as bouldering? Scrambling around nature with a giant piece of foam strapped to your back only to do like, three moves before standing on top of the boulder you just climbed like a cave man claiming his fresh kill. And there we were; driving down the main street of Leavenworth cautiously dodging tourists left and right and finally turning down Icicle Creek Road in a frantic search for a break from society and the inviting silence and simplicity of ‘tent’ camping.(is there any other kind?!!!). It was Thursday, 78 degrees Fahrenheit, and around 4:00 when we were able to sit back and appreciate the fact that we had gotten our old camp spot, lot number 19 at the Eight Mile camp ground. A wave of nostalgia rushed over me as I remembered being at this very site almost a year ago with the exact same people, my friends Dom and Laura, or Laura and Dom, however you want to order the pair. It wasn’t long before we pulled into the Forestland parking lot and tromped through Summer’s overgrowth to find ourselves face to face with our old friends The Real Thing, One Summer and The Shield. Not really the names of the boulders but rather the names of some of my favorite problems here in this area. I ran around like one of the many chipmunks in heat at this time of year, crimping on holds, flexing my toes on textured granite, and pulling myself up and over a couple of problems I hadn’t quite mastered until today. One problem in particular that I was incredibly psyched to get is a problem affectionately referred to as Backdoor Ass Attack. Aaaahhhhh, the joys of naming a boulder problem. A cool looking boulder, split by a big jug lip at 6 feet. A shallow slopey side pull leads you to another slopey/crimpy lip which forces you to a small crimp above and a hard press to gain victory against gravity and the good fortune to declare to others that you have mastered the Backdoor Ass Attack. Don’t be afraid to shout it from the roof tops! I watched as Dom latched the crimpy dyno on the Shield only to hang by a three fingered latch of death before resolving the matter through a more passive aggressive means of solving things, dropping to the pad and saying you’ll do it later. I like! Laura launched into battle with her arch nemesis The Real Thing, a pretty daunting task to both life and limb, or at least toes and fingers. Techy foot placements and sideways crimps are the only hints of passage up this problem, and Laura decided to give it the ever coveted V.15 grade and wait until she was stronger to finish it off. Now I’m not one for grade inflation but since I have done this problem the new grade will definitely help my scorecard. Feeling a bit crunched, we headed to upper Forestland where we were greeted by more granite and no trace of other boulderers. Laura did battle once again with another problem called Lovage, a valiant effort that paid off in the end. As she slapped and compressed here way up the route Dom and I shouted encouragement and was glad that she held it together for the top out and final jug slap, which she almost missed! Nice one Laura. Dom and I monkeyed around, flexing our muscles and throwing our poo(not literally) and as the sun set we gathered wood for a fire and let the flames massage our bitter souls.

I was greeted in the morning by the warmth of the day to come. In other words it was going to be a hot one. My counterparts were sluggish as well and we rose to the task of climbing somewhat decisively. We found ourselves at a boulder called The Machine Gun, although the resemblance I did not see, however the problems were great and the mood was set. Polishing off the boulder in an hour we set out to find shadier spots and wound up at a The Sword boulders, lazy giants themselves that provided relief from the heat of the day. We did not do much at this spot and soon were back at the campsite feasting on sandwiches, literature, and the brain twisting board game of Scrabble. My friends were gracious enough to wipe the floor with my innocence by utilizing the double and triple word scores and thwarting my every attempts at higher learning. As the afternoon aged appropriately into the late afternoon we headed out onto a journey that would yield no impressive sends, but a respect for not getting lost, and reading poorly translated guidebook maps. The Labyrinth boulders were just that, a confusing maze of salt and pepper granite boulders with terrifying landings and even more terrifying grades. The approach was not long, yet demanded the buns of steel work out ethic and left us feeling quite ashamed of our present athletic builds. No matter, we picked up the pieces and finished the day at one of the best boulders in the world, hahahaha! The Hueco Crimper boulder finds itself perched on the banks of the Winatchee river a mere ten yards off route 2. The landings are sandy and rocky, but mellow nonetheless. I highly recommend the V.2 on this boulder, it is amazing. As well as the V.6, the V.4 and, for those willing the V.9 low start to the V.6. I won’t bother with names, if you feel so inclined as to purchase the guidebook just look for the Hueco Crimper boulder. I set to work on the V.9 and made good progress as well as smashing my back on an unguarded rock, lucky it wasn’t my head piece yo! Dom tackled the V.6 and Laura commanded the V.2 with great skill. We were happy to end the day on this boulder and yet again found great comfofrt in collecting wood for the fire that night, especially Dom who was able to find a nice sized log that I believe burned for quite some time.

It was Saturday, the camp ground found itself filled to capacity with R.V.’s, dog’s, babies, children, teenagers, parents, climbers, hikers, rafters, laughter, and many an excited chipmunk. We rose to the cold of the morning and Laura put together a mean breakfast burrito. I had my lovely little eyes set on a problem known as the Cattle Guard Arete, tucked far away in the land of Mt. Home Road. We made the journey up and over the town of Leavenworth kicking up much dust in the process and passing many an impressive boulder on unfortunately privately owned land. We broke through the trees and burst onto the scene with an attitude that reeked of climbing bliss. The sun baked the hill side of Mt. Home Road littered with boulders that we coveted as small pinnacles of amusement, debauchery, and a brass sense of male chauvinism. This area is unique to Leavenworth, one of my favorite areas yet not particularly home to the best or the most boulder problems. The few areas that have been ‘discovered’ are separated by short down hill romps and the boulders are pretty sharp, salt and pepper granite, and don’t seem to sport many features. I came here for one reason only, to send a problem that I had gotten spanked on almost a year ago. The Cattle Guard Arete, a beautiful problem, only two or three hard moves but probably the best problem in this area. Dom, Laura and I climbed a few V.1’s before I dove head first into what could only be described as my ever changing destiny. I flexed and slapped my way up the short arête before shouting in victory as I stood on top of the boulder. I was happy but the moment was fleeting and I soon found myself in a dark room, deserted and alone, spinning out of control through an endless pit of despair and emptiness. Just kidding. I was psyched and after the send we worked a sweet arête traverse thing with small feet and miserable slopers before we became too defeated to go on and had to leave. We drove back to town stopping for the nights libations at the ever encroaching Safeway, and finding out that the public Library is not so public on the weekends, it was closed. After passing the time at camp over another game of Scrabble (that’s right, weez is not a word) and some more sandwiches we drove head first into some more boulder scaling. Not much of a story unfolded at the Barney’s Rubble boulders and it wasn’t long before we found ourselves back at the Hueco Crimper boulder. I just couldn’t let this beautiful problem get away from me and I was hot on it’s trail. I worked the last move several times and never could stick it before Dom unlocked my frustration with a crafty toe jam and a hold that I had not been using. Dom dispatched the stand start before I finally took center stage. Lights…camera…ACTION! I sent it with the sound of the Winatchee reverberating off the water softened granite boulder and the camera lens steadily focused on my feeble attempts of obtaining digital immortality. I roared like a bear with a bad hernia to celebrate my accomplishment and was pleased enough to celebrate over a pint of Leavenworth IPA. That night we burned a lot of logs and drank too much cheap beer and were rewarded for our efforts by frequent pee breaks interrupting our silent slumber.

It was our last day and we packed up camp much to my dismay masked by silent grumblings of discomfort and not wanting to leave. Our mutual friend Jimmy accompanied by his mother and sister were to meet us at Mad Meadows that morning so we headed on out to one of our last stops of the trip. We walked across the meadow and up into the jumble of boulders that held classic hard problems with names like the Peephole, The Ram, and the Sail. We all warmed up on the Hueco problem, climbing in, on, and around the giant holes eroded into the granite face by the angry winds of the past. We were met shortly by our friends Jimmy, Lisa and their mother Rita. Jimmy flexed his flash bone on a one move power problem called the Jib, a heinous crimpy rail to a jug. It had been his goal to flash a V.8 this year and he did, congratulations. We were all done at this area of the Mad Meadows and headed onwards and upwards to a roof problem called Hanta Man. I managed to do the first two big moves but could not complete this chapter in the book of Micah’s bouldering adventures so I placed a comma next to it and plan upon returning in the future. Dom made an impressive hand jamming display of physical prowess by sending an upside down V.5 hand crack that climbed straight out of the roof. We then headed even farther back to the last area of the Mad Mead’ to one of the coolest looking boulders/features that has come into existence in this state of Washington. The Pimpsqueak boulder is home to a classic V.9, Pimpsqueak and another roof problem called Crimpsqueak. The latter being a longstanding project of mine. Well, today was the day. I grappled with the power of the problem and coped quite well with the top out and stood victoriously unscathed at the end. Done and done! Dom, Laura, and I were all feeling worn down after four days of bouldering but we bravely went to another area, or boulder I should say. A giant boulder stood just off the road and held two problems, IS, which I had sent months ago, and WAS which is what I came to try. Amazingly I felt strong and tamed the beast in only a few tries. I found that matching on the arête and bumping to the lip made the problem much easier than it had previously felt and I was really psyched to have another V.8 under the belt before the end of the trip. We all caravanned out to Swiftwater to wrap it up and sent one last problem, The Footless Traverse.

Now that I’m at home and have had a little time to heal and reflect, all I can think about is returning. There are so many boulders, and so many problems that I want to do and climb on and even though I have marked off a lot of problems on my list, the more I mark off the more I start to add. Most of the time the actual climbing isn’t what I enjoy the most about a trip, but rather the nights spent in conversation around a blazing camp fire, or the silence and reflection that escaping the constant appointments a job, or school can bring. I guess a balance between the two extremes is needed to appreciate, love and hate all that life has to offer. Well, that’s it. Turn your computer off and go do something; outside preferably.

The Land of Gnar-Nhia

The land of Leavenworth.

Monday was a great day for sport climbing. My friend Nic and I both made it out to World Wall One where Nic was eager to wrap up his project Viagrophobia(5.12d). A great line that climbs up two bulges and is a good 30 meters long. He got on it first thing and a few minutes later, and a good amount of effort, he clipped the chains bagging his second .12d. I was pretty amazed that he was able to ‘warm up’ on and send his project all in the same swoop, but Nic was not done yet. We moved over to Techno and Psychosomatic and he repeated both first go, not to mention making good progress on his new project Californicator and warming down on Deluge. It was quite the day for him and very impressive to witness 5 hard pitches being climbed in a single session. I just had a lot of fun monkeying around on some of the classics and was just glad to get out and up some great climbs.

The next day we decided to head out to Leavenworth. The weather was pretty sleepy around North Bend but Leavenworth, which is usually hot enough to melt your skin to the rock at this time of the year, was actually boasting highs of 72 degrees. I leapt at the chance to get out to one of my favorite bouldering spots and Nic was happy to come along. The last time we climbed at Leavenworth was supposed to be the last time for the summer, and the last time for Nic period since he is leaving for D.C. in a few weeks, but what the hell, cool temps in late July don’t come around very often. Our friend Jimmy was unable to make it which bummed us out, but he had just returned from a trip to Leavenworth so no harm done. We threw all of my pads in the car and kicked rocks. 2 hours and 40 minutes later we pulled into the pull out for the Fridge boulder and took a deep breath of the fine air Leavenworth has to offer. We were at this particular boulder so Nic could clean up what was left in the fridge, The Fridge Left(V.8). A super, mega, timeless, all around classic problem that involves some serious thug hugging up a fat granite prow. One of my personal favorites in Leavenworth, or anywhere for that matter. We went through the motions of warming up on the other problems on the boulder which are stellar in their own right and were greeted by a local named Dale who joined us in a little early morning session. Nic soon got to work on his project as I lay on top of the boulder trying to get some footage. Here is a video of Nic coming so close to latching the ever elusive victory crimp.

Nic gave it a good effort but eventually had to let this one get away. His forearm was getting pretty chewed up from the constant slapping and groveling on the grainy texture of the prow. I managed to repeat it, with a nice lack of style, and was psyched to start the day on a good note, although breathing quite heavily. We were both pretty warm after spending some time in the Fridge and moved on to our arch nemesis The Millennium Traverse. Last time we were here we both got worked on this problem and came agonizingly close multiple times to sending it. The boulder that the problem is located on is a beauty, and can be found in a sparsely populated forest that eventually leads to the shores of Icicle Creek. The setting is awesome and there are a lot of good problems on the boulder that are worth doing.

Millennium Traverse revisited.

I was feeling a little intimidated by the problem after our experiences with it last time but I managed to send it after only a few tries. The last move of the problem that had shut me down last time felt a lot easier and I was glad to have this in the bag early. The texture of the rock can really eat up your skin dollars. Nic was psyched for me and we both felt a little sense of revenge as I jumped down from the top. Nic was climbing the beginning of the problem really well but had some trouble with the cruxy campus moves in the middle. He started to get a little frustrated so we went around the corner to a sweet V.4 called 2001 to release a little sending angst.

2001(V.4)

After doing 2001 Nic assessed what kind of day he was having and decided to just go with it. We were both just happy to be outside in this beautiful place one last time before he left. We packed up our things and headed across the road to a truly awesome boulder called the Lonely Fish. This boulder is home to a few V.9’s, a V.10, and super hard project. It stands about 20-25 feet tall and is HUGE and overhung. There are some really sweet features on this boulder and all the problems on it are stout and worthy of anyone’s time. We had tried the Lonely Fish last time and had some good progress but I was staring down a problem called Dirty Dude that I had seen a video of and was interested in doing. It starts on a low sharp crimp and high gaston crimp. It’s overhung and powerful. You pull on with one foot hold and make a savage lock off and lunge to a high crimp rail above. Part of the crux is just pulling on to the starting holds and then the real crux is the lunge. I wanted to try it so we spread our pads out and gave it a whirl. At first I couldn’t even pull up off the ground. A bit discouraging for sure, but we kept at it. Nic and I both started to begin to understand the kind of body tension required for the first pull off the ground and we got thus far. I finally pulled off and held it together, relaxed and shot up towards the rail slapping just beneath it. That was all the encouragement I needed to keep going. I got closer and closer and more excited. I started to pace back and forth underneath the problem mumbling to myself and looking like a complete loon, but I was simply trying to convince myself to commit. Finally, I pulled on and hit the rail! It wasn’t over yet, I had to get both hands on the rail which required some sketchy foot maneuvering, but once I did I hit a good jug on the corner and shakily slapped up the arête until I was able to stand up and scramble on to the top of the boulder.

Pulling on to Dirty Dude(V.10).

Going for the lunge.

Well, to say I was pleased would be an understatement. I think I remember screeching like a girl but you’ll have to ask Nic. I can’t imagine what the nearby tradsters thought of my victory display(‘Goddamn pebble wrestlers!’). I eventually came down from the boulder, and my sending high enough to complete a full sentence. Nic was proud and we both declared it the send of the day. After that we made our way to a problem that I had never seen before called the Cotton Pony. I was really impressed by the quality of the line and the moves were savage. Two big lunges, the first to a pinch and the second to a notch in the lip, very powerful. Nic managed to latch the pinch from the start while I just flung myself at the ending dyno not really getting anywhere. It’s BIG!

Nick latches the 'star trek' pinch on the Cotton Pony(V.11)

This little guy would not budge, and he was right on a hold we needed.

We both did a great problem right next to it called the Pony Ride and then Nic cleaned up on another problem around the corner called Tampax Arete. If you see Nic in the near future ask him about the mystery substance on the jug.

After gawking some more at the Cotton Pony and low start to it, we walked a little ways down the road and found WAS. A large and looming boulder that has a huge hueco in the center of it’s face that either leads you out right to crimps or up the center of the face pinching an arête to the lip. Nic chose to do IS the problem that goes out right on crimps and involves making a shouldery lunge to a good crimp rail. I watched and had some lunch and after a little while he sent. Nice job Nic!

Nick sending IS(V.7)

I finally put my shoes on and we both started to work WAS. A killer problem that starts by leaping to the huge hueco in the center of the face and then reaching way out left to the arête and then up to the lip. After only a few goes I latched a sloper just beneath the juggy lip but dropped off!! Aaaahhhhh! I guess I’m a little more intimidated by the problem than I thought. I didn’t manage to get back to that spot again but I am really looking forward to coming back this Fall to work it.

From there we walked back up the road to make a quick stop at another crazy good problem called Batman. I managed to snap a couple of cool photos of Nic doing the first move.

Batman(V.8)

It was getting late and we were only here for the day so as a last ditch effort we drove to the Sword boulders to try a couple of problems we thought would go quickly. While it was good to be surrounded by the friendly giants of the Sword the two problems we came to do, Zorro and the Tree Problem, decided to stomp our good intentions into the crash pads. We fiddled about on a few other problems and then hit the road, but not before stopping at the Hiedleburger for a victory milkshake and a damn good cheeseburger. Thanks for getting out here with me one last time Nic, can’t wait for next summer. Gnar-Nhia!!!!!

Looking at Jerry Garcia through a Prism

Nic wins the No Skin Left award of the month. Nice job!

Aaaaahhhhhhhh...graduation. Well, it's finally over. Four short years of my life spent at the Evergeen State College and for what? Two degrees and a hell of a lot of stories to tell. Oh yeah, and I managed to pick up this pesky climbing habbit, sheesh. But let me back up here a bit. My friend Nic and I decided to get a little pre graduation climbing trip in to Little si but as we arrived to the crag we discovered the late spring showers we had been experiencing had left our precious crag seeping uncontrolably. This was probably the worst I had seen it all year, even Rainy Day was seeping and wet in places at the top. But fuck it, we drove all the way out here, hiked all the way back here and we weren't leaving without getting a few pitches of climbing done. I bravely tried to make a warm up ascent of Abo but got to the toilet bowl and was denied access to the upper crux by a downpour of H20. After that we both did some laps on Rainy Day taking some awesome falls at the very top due to a super wet crimp. All in all we worked out the remaining kinks in our sequence and headed home. Because of our frustration with the wet weather we decided to do a farewell two day trip to our favorite bouldering spot Leavenworth.

Nic on Fridge Left(V.8)

I picked up Nic on Monday and we made good time arriving at the Fridge boulder around 10:30 in the morning. We warmed up on some of the best V.4's around and then Nic, who was seeking revenge on the Fridge Left, gave it a few goes. The heat started to get to us and after being unsuccessful on a few attempts we called it quits and headed to a sweet problem called the Millenium Traverse. I had tried this before sending it from the black depression on my second go but I had not linked it from the start yet. The millenium boulder is an awesome white/grey/black granite boulder that has some nice little lines up and across it. We threw our pads down and got to work. Polishing off the first move every time with a crafty heel hook Nic almost sent but got shut down at the last move. The problem is pretty sustained right off the bat. A huge slap to a sloping/crimpy lip jump starts you into a series of matches along a depression and into a good crimp rail. From there you grab a sharp, but huge side pull, paste your foot onto a small rampy foot hold and rock over to a jug four feet away. Classic! I know. I made great progress as well getting to the side pull via several hard campus moves but got shut down literally inches away from grabbing the victory jug. Aaarrgh! We had two days we told ourselves so we packed up and headed across the street to the Lonely Fish.

The Lonely Fish(V.9)

Such a sweet boulder, huge and overhanging makes it a little intimidating at first until you try the initial moves and then it still feels hard. We focused on the boulders name sake problem The Lonely Fish, wich starts on a crimpy rail nine feet or so on the boulders overhanging side. Pulling on and sticking your foot in a shallow hueco you lunge out right to a good side pull, then you have to swing your feet over to good footholds, bring your left hand closer to a sloper on the lip and then rock over to more slopers in a dihedral, this is the crux. We both managed to stare down the slopers in the dihedral but neither of us committed and we both left feeling a little bit in awe of the problem. I can't wait to get back on it.

Meditation

So far, we were goose egg for sends but we had tried some hard problems and made good progress in a short amount of time so there was nothing to be upset about. Plus we still had the rest fo the day and tomorrow. Seeking out some shade we headed straight to the Sword boulders. Next on the menu was a classic problem that I had not yet had the chance to really sink my teeth into, The Prism. I knew it would suit Nic and his amazing wing span as well so I was eager to get him on it. We arrived and went straight into working the problem. At first I was trying the 'normal' beta wich was a bit reachy and scary for me, seeing as how there is a fin shaped rock right at your back as you make some tenuous moves on slopers. After that I went into my own sequence trying a one handed dyno to the good part of the lip. I latched it several times but my momentum ripped me off sending me sprialing towards the mats. After taking a bad fall I decided to give up that crazy dyno beta and stick to the normal way. Nic was making great progress as well and almost hit the victory jug several times. It was only a matter of time and animal grunts before he found himself pulling over the top of his second ever V.9. Good job Nic, that was impressive.

Nic shows off his impressie wing span on the Prism(V.9)

Nic tops out the Prism in style!

I was inspired by Nic's send and tried the problem a few more times but wussed out, so we moved on. Next was Egg Rock. We could either throw ourselves at an area classic Musashi, or try a cool looking problem that was, until recently, a project. We picked the former project, Jerry Garcia, wich was finally dispatched by the Leavenworth master Kelly Sheridan 7 or 8 months ago. In the guidebook, which Kelly also wrote, he says about Jerry Garcia: "Technical and hard, but probably 'only' around V.10." I was psyched and I started to plan a sequence up the tall granite face that had 'I heart Jerry Garcia' painted across it in yellow, red, blue, and green letters. The two starting holds were glowing white with chalk but after that not much else could be seen on any other hold, especially near the top of this monster wich stands at about 18 feet at the lip. I had seen the youtube video of Kelly sending the beast and I thought it looked like such a stellar line at the time. Coming face to face with it now I had no incling of really trying to send it, I just wanted to play around and see how far I could get. The starting holds are two tiny little crimpers that you have to pull hard on in order to get to a good foot hold, then a catch yourself move to a slopey bad gaston. Bring the foot up high and use a small intermediate crimper to pull and lunge your way to a slanted crimp rail, which feels like a jug in comparison to the starting holds. Position your feet and catch yourself again, avoiding a barn door, on a high slopey crimp, then jump to the flat lip and press over. Fucking sweet!! As I worked it I felt like it would go quickly if I could just get to the slanting crimp rail, wich I finally did. After that it was just a few more goes before I leaped to the lip and mantled over. I was speechless at the top but really psyched to have this in the bag. Here are a few photos.

The send! Me on Jerry Garcia(V.10)

Me attempting to repeat Jerry Garcia.

I haven't gotten in touch with Kelly about the grade yet but hopefully the V.10 grade is valid because this would be my first one. Either way it was such a pleasure to climb this problem, it was super classic. We headed on back down the canyon stopping at the Straightaways to play around on IS, WAS, and Answer Man, plus we stared in awe at the unclimbed(?) Ladder Project. We finally gave up around 9:00 p.m. before heading into town for a meal. We were both exhausted but excited for the next day.

The view from the Sleeping Lady

We woke up early and got out to the boulders around 10:00. I had come down with some sort of crazy chest cold, plus my allergies were kicking my ass, not to mention Nic's tips looked like swiss cheese, no joke! We were both kind of falling apart but we said fuck it and headed over to Mad Meadows. Today would be a good day to clean up on some moderates. We warmed up no a bunch of V.2's,3's,4's, and 5's before heading back to Pimpsqueek.

Nic warms up on Square Pusher(V.3)

There was a V.7 that I had really wanted to do ever since I first came to Leavenworth and got close on it, so I thought today would be the day. Well, maybe not, I got soooo close yet again latching the victory side pull for crying out loud but just not able to find the inner strength to pull over and top out. Oh well, next time. We had fun cruising the moderates and checking out The Peephole, The Ram, Hanta Man, and Superman.

We were trying to avoid the sun while this guy was trying to avoid the shade

We left mad meadows and went and took some photos on the two problems we sent yesterday, I came close to repeating Jerry while Nic actually did repeat the Prism, even with his hands in the state they were in. It was probably the coolest repeat I've ever seen. After that we decided to hone what energy we had left into one last hard problem, The Millenium Traverse.

The Millenium Traverse(V.8)

So close yet so far...

We had the beta, and we felt ready to give it everything. Nic, with bandaged mummy hands and all almost sent it first try slapping the finishing jug. I got the same result next as I campused my way to the end only to fall off inches from victory. FUCK! We felt defeated but gave it a few more tries. I walked around back to take a break and ended up sending a cool V.4 called 2001. Here is a video.

This turned out to be the last problem of the trip, and we licked our wounds over a double cheeseburger from the Heidleburger. This is probably going to be the last time Nic and I come out here, Nic is leaving for two years to attend nursing school at Howard University in Washington D.C. this August. I had an awesome time as usual and maybe when Nic returns from the east coast we will be ready to take on the uber hard problems. Our next climbing endeavor will either be focused towards cleaning up some things at Little si, or getting out to Goldbar or Squamish.

The update from our friends Dom and Laura on their Euro climbing adventure goes like this: Dom finished up in Kalymnos with a flash of a .12c, an onsight of a .12d, and he finally sent his project Neska Polita wich is his first .13a! Laura cleaned house with several .11a flashes, prior to this trip she had only sent one .11a, way to step up Laura! The climbing couple now find themselves in Antalya, Turkey where, just the other day Dom onsighted yet another hard .12, Paradise Lost .12c! They are stepping up their games in every way as they continue their rampage across Europe. Can't wait to see what they get done next.