In an effort to kickstart this blog back into action, I present a quick vignette of a recent climbing trip to Washington’s Ozone area. A relatively new cragging destination, it’s a great mix of trad and sport routes with a super short approach and only 30 minutes from my door. I’ve hit it twice in the last week, and after months of relative inactivity, it’s felt good to wake up sore again…
Over the next week or so I’ll be trying to catch up on this a bit, including TR’s from an attempt on the Grand Teton and other misadventures.
Jeff picks up Seth around 8 PM Drive down The Tavern Meet up with Mark Jeff gets friendly with the natives in the bathroom Stash the car Onwards to Aberdeen! It only takes a few tries to get on the right road… The Olympic Hotel Night Clerk is obviously from Aberdeen Up and showered and on to Denny’s
Although the end result was a sore body and only a handful of photos to share, my trip to Mt. Adams this last weekend was actually pretty fun. Friday morning I woke up around seven, only having gone to sleep a mere four hours earlier, and immediately jumped back into work. I was staring down the barrel of a pretty tight client deadline, and still had to pack, so I was moving pretty quickly to get away from the computer for the day. Noon rolled around and I was finally able to step back and start loading the pack for that afternoon’s climb.
Garlic Triscuits™? Check.
Hard salami and pepperjack cheese? Check.
Even though my best intentions were to go light and fast, I still managed to pull together around 43 pounds of stuff to schlep on my back.
Mark and Dean showed up around noon and we loaded up into the Subaru and headed over towards the Gorge.
To make a long story short: (I’ll have to come back and write this out when I get a chance)
Quick drive
Hood River pit stop
Country Store pit stop
Gravel roads
Horses
Pushing past the first bit of snow
Busting through snow patches
Still a bit farther from the actual trailhead than hoped for
Hitting the logging roads
The Napoleon Shirt
Snowmobiles
Snowpack
Pretty dang tired
Hitting the treeline
Sunset
Through the rocks
Snowmelt
Up the steep ridge at dusk
Finally there.
Dinner behind the rockwall
Dean and Mark go up
I stay back…
Perfect weather
Long hike down
So the whole “pulling plastic” thing has never held a whole lot of attraction for me, but what with work paying for it, and the weather, and the general lack of physical activity over the last few months – it’s looking pretty good. It’s somewhat frustrating to start out with the basics again, but it’s really ok, as it also feels like a chance to relearn habits and really improve, rather than just cruise for the rest of my life at 5.9. I only climbed 4 routes tonight, a 5.7, two 8′s and most of a 5.9 before pumping out. My endurance just isn’t there yet, but it should improve as long as I’m consistently showing up. It was just a good feeling to walk out of there today with a fresh belay card on my harness and some vertical feet under my belt.