Steve, I think your towel is dry.

5/30  I pick up Steve and we drive to Miguel's. The trip takes about 13 hours. We meet Jess, set up tents, and are sleeping by 11pm.

5/31  We head to Left Flank. Jess leads Mr. Bungle (5.8+) as a warm-up. Steve and I both follow it. Next I lead Brother Stair (5.9) with Steve and Jess both leading it as well. After that, Steve and I both lead Fast Food Christians (5.10a). We walk left and climb To Defy The Laws Of Tradition (5.10a) which Steve and Jess lead, and I struggle up on TR. Here we find our first copperhead of the trip. A very aggressive snake who repeatedly strikes our stick clip as we try to nudge him off the path and away from the belayer. Steve then leads Maypop (5.11a) which has a very tough start. Nick arrives and we follow him around the cliff to Mercy, The Huff (5.12c) which is one of his current projects. We finish the day with my lead of Face Up To That Crack (5.8) which takes a #1 camalot to tame the runout between the 4th and 5th bolts. I knew I lugged my entire rack up here for a reason.

6/1  Start the day by rescuing copperhead #2 from decapitation. Miguel doesn't like snakes in his parking lot. We relocate the very docile snake to some wilderness several miles away. Then off to Johnny Wall at Muir Valley. Jess starts the day by leading Thanks Holly (5.8) which Steve and I toprope. Then I lead Two Chicken Butts (5.9) which Jess also leads and Steve topropes. After that we get on three classics... 59" Drill Bitch (5.10a), Bethel (5.10a) and Spinner (5.10b). All three of us lead all three climbs. Then we move around the corner to Tectonic Wall where we all lead Plate Tectonics (5.9+) though I'm getting tired and have to hang a few times. Particularly ironic since this is one of the few climbs I repeat the entire week and I easily onsighted it when I climbed it four years earlier. I'm done for the day, and so are Jess and Steve after they lead Getting Lucky in Kentucky (5.10b). It has been miserably hot for the past two days, so we head to the reservoir for a quick swim, then back to Miguel's so Steve can beat me at chess.

6/2  We head to Long Wall for some trad climbing. Steve leads Autumn (5.9-) which is a really cool climb. I lead it next, though I have to downclimb and backclean some gear so I can have a toprope at the crux. I end up hanging at the crux, but it does go without too much difficulty. Jess cleans the route and she isn't happy to be stemming and crack climbing. After that, Steve leads Rock Wars (5.10a) which is the best climb of the entire trip. I follow and clean that pumpy bad boy. Just those two pitches have us wiped. Back to Miguel's for some Ben & Jerry's and another game of chess. We get rain and thunderstorms all afternoon and night.

6/3  We head to Phantasia for some mellow climbing. Creature Comforts (5.9) which has a really fun roof and Pogue Ethics (5.9+). Jess and I lead both climbs. Steve is taking a rest day. I finish Pogue Ethics just as a huge thunderstorm arrives. We dart back to Miguel's (I eat it three times on the steep, muddy trail) where we head to the basement. There we watch Shawn Of The Dead and play rummy and hearts. It rains all night.

6/4  Jess is back in Lexington taking a rest day. Steve and I head to Military Wall, which we hope is overhanging enough to be dry in the constant rain. We find Moonbeam (5.9) and Sunshine (5.9+) are dry except for the very top. I lead Moonbeam and Steve cleans it. The party next to us puts our rope on Sunshine so I can climb it on toprope. Then Steve manages a very impressive lead of Fuzzy Undercling (5.11b). I clean it, but need a ratcheting toprope to get up the climb. We walk across the stream to Left Flank where Steve works Wild, Yet Tasty (5.12a) to the fourth bolt. We are both exhausted. Back at Miguel's we eat pizza and are falling asleep by 8pm, listening to the peaceful sound of rain.

6/5  Jess has returned, and she brings Nick and Anna along with some beautiful weather. Sunny and not so hot. We head to Bruise Brothers at Muir Valley. I can't keep track of what everyone climbed, but my list looks like this: led A-Beano (5.8-); led Flutterby Blue (5.9); led Jungle Trundler (5.11a) with some hangs; toproped Hey There Fancy Pants (5.10c); toproped Little Viper (5.10b) by which time I was getting pretty tired. After a rest I led The Offering (5.7) and Send Me On My Way (5.9-) to make quota for the trip.

6/6  Alana and Phil join us, bringing more beautiful weather. We take the long drive and hike to Muscle Beach for some trad climbing. Though, honestly, I'm too beat to climb. Phil leads Casual Corner (supposedly 5.6) which everyone follows. Then Phil leads some 5.8 that has everyone struggling. I don't even attempt it. Then Steve leads Momma Told Me Not To Cry (5.7) a fun climb which is very sandy at the top. I clean the climb. Finishing the trip, Steve leads Grand Illusion (5.7) which also has lots of sand. I clean the climb, rappel back to the ground, and am done climbing for the trip. Back at Miguel's I run into Kathy and Byron who had been climbing with Jess and Nick. This is the third climbing trip where I've run into Kathy... twice at RRG and once in Potrero. No doubt our paths will cross again some day. Road trips -- past, present and future -- the best part of climbing.

6/7  Steve and I wake at 6am for the drive home. The drive is long and uneventful. We listen to A Walk In The Woods by Bill Bryson.