Please Return Clean

Guy and I were climbing by ourselves for much of the trip, so I don't have a huge number of photos. Sometimes, the better the trip, the worse the pictures.

9/13 Guy and I drive from Ithaca to his new house in Columbus, OH.

9/14 We drive to Miguel's and set up our tents. With a few hours of daylight remaining, we head to Roadside. First climb is AWOL (5.10a) which I lead, then Guy leads. He whips going for the 4th bolt and we collide mid-air. We are both banged up, but not injured. An inauspicious start to the trip. We finish the day with a run up Kampsite (5.9+) which we both lead.

9/15 We head to the Boneyard at Muir. We both lead One-Armed Bandit (5.9) and Cinderella (5.9, very hard start). Then we both get the 5.11 onsight on Armed Insurrection (5.11a) which feels easier than the start of Cinderella. After that I climbed Captain Blondie Sinks The Ship (5.11a) which is probably my favorite climb from the trip. I get up the climb with a few hangs and later climb it again to clean the route.

9/16 Thunderstorms and heavy rain all morning. We watch the movie Taken. This is the only time we manage to watch an entire movie... most of our laptop time is spent watching Modern Family episodes. In the afternoon the rain stops so we head to Phantasia which is overhung enough to perhaps have stayed dry. We warm up on Creature Feature (5.9) then head over to Twinkie (5.12a). One of my goals for this trip is to work a 5.12, though with the recent rain and 120% humidity it might not be the best conditions. Whatever... we go for it. Twinkie has fixed draws, so it is low commitment. I manage to onsight the slab start, but the real climbing is what comes next -- 40' of wildly steep climbing on huge pockets. I get about two bolts into the roof and have to lower. The climb is really fun and I'll definitely get back on it when I have more endurance.

9/17 Rest day. Swimming, internet, and a nice long nap in my hammock. Katie arrives in the evening.

9/18 The three of us head to Chica Bonita. We start by all leading Mary Pop-parazzi (5.5), Pocahontas Path (5.7), and Raindancer (5.10a, with a hard start). Next Guy onsights Hot Drama Teacher (5.11a). I lead the climb but come off when I break a huge hold above the second bolt, and then hang at the crux. I'm not much of an onsight climber. Next we all lead Riding The Short Buzz (5.9) and then I lead I'll Take Sue (5.11a) which is a fun slab climb -- more my style than most of the overhanging pumpfests at the Red. We finish the day with Guy's trad lead of Cheaper Than A Movie (5.8) where I manage to clean (and return) three cams left by the previous party. They definitely owe me a slice of pizza or two. Or more. Back at Miguel's, I don't get any pizza, but we do play a few rounds of Bananagrams. I prefer that to pizza anyhow.

9/19 Alana and Phil join us for the day. We head to Volunteer Wall. Start with Darwin Loves You (5.9+) and then I lead Johnny On Roofies (5.11a) with a few hangs at the crux to get the sequence. Then I follow Phil's lead of The Wal-Martification Of Trad (5.8, trad) and use those anchors to toprope Family Tradition (5.10b). Next we all head to The Gallery where we lead A Brief History Of Climbing (5.10c) and Murano (5.10b). I finish the day belaying Alana's redpoint of Johnny B. Good (5.11a) her first 5.11 redpoint. In the evening we hang out with Alana's friends Jamelyn, Morgan and Jasper. This might be the first day of the trip that we don't watch a Modern Family episode.

9/20 Off to Johnny's Wall/Plate Tectonics. We warm up with leads of Thanks Holly (5.8) and Two Chicken Butts (5.9). Then I lead Burning Bush (5.11a) and basically get the onsight. I hang a draw on the anchors, but can't clip it off the small holds. Left hand... nope... right hand... nope... grab the draw and clip. So people who care about such things would not call it an onsight, but I'm happy with the ascent. KMac cleans the route, then has to head back to med school. Guy and I both lead Gettin' Lucky In Kentucky (5.10b) and Plate Tectonics (5.9+) before we decide to call it a day and go for a swim.

9/21 Rest day. I spend some time trying to slackline. I'm deterred by the heat... and by the fact that I can't slackline.

9/22 Final day of climbing. A brief shower in the morning threatens our plans, but the weather clears and the rock is overhanging enough to stay dry. We are at The Great Wall where we both lead Glory And Consequence (5.7), Dynabolt Gold (5.10a), and Touch of Grey (5.10d). Then I lead Edge-A-Sketch (5.11a) and Buccaneer (5.11b) with a few hangs on each route. For what it is worth, we were warned off of climbing the 5.12 extension to Edge-A-Sketch (which we weren't planning to do anyhow) because it is a known ankle breaker. Climb safe!

Even with the rest days -- something I've never done in the past at the Red, but will always do in the future -- I'm pretty toasted. Time to call it a trip. We pack our tents and drive back to Columbus.

9/23 I say goodbye to Guy and drive home to Ithaca.