You ever get to the crag to witness some spectacular insanity going up the rock? I once encountered a party of six that sent three leaders up each pitch (entwining all their ropes and gear) before bringing up their three respective followers. Luckily their system took so long that we (merging from another route) were able to jump ahead and finish the last pitch as they began to bring up their sixth climber. I still wonder if they made it off before dark.
Well that was us today. Party of four up a J-Tree classic. We had been planning a trip with our gym-friends Sammie and Jake for a while now, and were trying to decide what to do. Emma didn’t feel ready to lead a team, but we still wanted to give our friends the whole ground-up, single-pitch experience. Topping out on a summit can be such a fun experience, and learning to rappel would be an added bonus. A crash course in every aspect of a J-Tree adventure (minus long harrowing walk-offs or getting lost in Wonderland). Now we just needed to pick a route.
As we arrived at the base of Hemmingway we could see folks top roping White Lightning, which helped us narrow it down. We were considering it, but it also felt like bad style to clog up a popular route with our conga line. Funky Dung was next in our assessment. But we knew the roof made for bad communication, so we moved on. I hadn’t done Dung Fu for years and Emma hadn’t finished it… Sammie and Jake were solid (gym) chimney climbers… an accessible grade… not as popular as other routes… what’s not to like? We racked up, tied in and started up.
This climb is a super fun romp. The beginning is so slippery in places, and stances feel tenuous while placing. Just like I remembered. But mostly cruiser fun. The chimneys are just a joyful jungle-gym of three-dimensional puzzling. I stayed outside and left for the first chimney (towards Overseer) before body-stemming the outside and then venturing deeper in. More jamming than chimneying. Sammie got thrown in the deep end by going next, learning to clean while also following my circuitous path that ventured into more insecure areas.
Did we sandbag them? Hard to say for sure. I can’t say dragging two gumbies up Dung Fu was a good idea, but I also wouldn’t say it was a bad idea. We witnessed some struggles for sure, and clearly their endurance was tested. But the smiles in the pictures suggest that this was just the right amount of adventure. They both seemed thrilled to be on top of a formation and were soaking up the grand views of the park. Emma had a total blast, but reflected that maybe opting out of finishing it years ago was the right call at the time.
While we could have doubled up two climbers at one point, the sequential approach allowed for everyone to rotate through different roles. Sammie got to learn lead belaying on my pitch, and both she and Jake got to belay a follower from the top. This freed me up to focus on organizing gear, taking photos, and pre-rigging the rappel. (It also meant I was available to step in when our neighbors got their rope stuck while top roping Poodles.)
After summit photos, we moved on to the rappel. This was a hard decision to make, and involved a lot of back and forth ahead of time. But my final conclusion was that Jake and Sammie are extremely capable and deliberate people, they have tons of experience lowering and being lowered, and the extended rappel rig is much more forgiving than how Emma and I learned. We were short a few devices so Emma used the Mega Jul (her review: jerky, unpleasant) and I got to try out the Super Munter. Even with a full rack and an extra rope, I just wasn’t heavy enough for it to be smooth, but at least it delivered as promised with no rope twists.
Down the hill, takeout from Sam’s, and then back to Black Rock. Dinner was challenging due to the wind and the dark, but we managed to pull it off. Then it was bedtime so we could get up tomorrow for another day in the park.
Dung Fu
5.7 – 120′
with Emma, Sammie, Jake
For 1 pitch with clean pull:
Avoid placing low in the chimney, set gear up and left towards Overseer
Skip placements in the upper chimney and don’t tunnel through the back (5.4? 5.5?)
Sling boulder on the top (super-runner or rope) and belay from cliff-side
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