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Mental Physics
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We met Jack and Ellen in the Wall Street Mill parking lot back in May, when we got to chatting about all sorts of everything. We talked about hikes, our experience with owning an EV, favorite J-Tree campsites, and Yeti backpacks. Apparently Jack had been lugging coolers into the backcountry…
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Dappled Mare
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This was a hard one to get started on. After a short walk from the car, finding the start wasn’t so easy. I think I misread Blitzo’s topo photo in the glare of the sun, and made a determined attempt up a crack that just wouldn’t go. Not sure if…
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El Camino Real
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When I finally catch a glimpse of my cams passing by, the rope is still loose. Which means I’ve got plenty more falling to do. This is all to be expected though, as I definitely signed up for this. The rope finally pulls tight, which means now I’ve just got…
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Open Book
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More like ‘Open-Can-of-Whup-Ass’. I think we were both expecting this to be easier. This would be the third 5.9 route that Luke and I were to attempt at Tahquitz, and if it was anything like the first two (Whodunnit, Dave’s), it should be cruiser. At least that’s what we thought…
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Eldo Gold
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While I was deeply familiar with photographs of Eldo, as it seemed to overrepresented in climbing magazines from the 90’s, I never imagined I would visit. Despite being able to instantly recognize the rock, the bridge, the lichen, the creek, it just never stuck in my brain as a destination.…
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The Bastille Crack
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Dragging your mom to the crag can definitely be a little awkward. Things can take longer than expected, and then she’s just hanging out waiting. But I suppose she’s used to it by now. I started climbing before I could drive, and as our ride, she’d often end up waiting…
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Rewritten
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In climbing it seems like we rarely deal in absolute superlatives. Just as 5.9+ is a wide, blurry, and subjective spectrum; climbs are not easily sorted without modifiers or groupings. The best 5.8 in J-Tree, the best splitter-crack, the Fifty Classics, maybe a top ten list, but never “The Best”.…
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Heatwave at Holcomb
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What is sport climbing. Is it bolts? Yes, but not entirely (consider: Stichter). Is it bolts with close spacing? Maybe. No one follows and everyone leads the route? That’s probably sport climbing, but I keep thinking that it hinges on lowering. It’s hard to definitively define, but I think if…
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Solstice at the Leap
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It’d been years since we’d visited the leap. The last time we self-sandbagged by jumping on East Wall pretty much off the couch. We forgot that we hadn’t climbed in two years, and proceeded to hop on three pitches at elevation. We survived, but it was a tough time. This…
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The Line
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I’m grabbing at the weird looking dike when I suddenly remember it. Then I find the incut slot, and I remember switching to layback. There’s a jam, but my hand doesn’t quite fit, but I remember the sloper on the left as soon as my fingers touch it. It’s disorienting.…