Route Finding is Hard
Aug. 12th, 2013 09:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
katestineI haven't felt like leaving my apt much lately. My best theory is between the chigger bites and the Rainier sunburn, I've trained my body to have an aversion to sun and fresh air. I don't even seem to want to leave to buy groceries, let alone go running.
So we didn't even set an alarm to get up for climbing on Saturday, although we got up an horu later than usual and got to the cliffs with no delays. I wasn't sure I wanted to go climbing, although I didn't tell Jon that, so we decided to climb Middle Earth (5.5 ** PG), a climb I've lead twice. It's very popular, but the cliffs were empty and we had trouble finding anyone to give us directions. After much confusion, we got to the right wall -- and Jon pointed out NRod. She said she was climbing the one to the right of Middle Earth, so I moved a few feet to the left and started racking up. PEng walked past with her latest protege and said we'd enjoy the climb. At the start, I looked at the first move and said, "Mm... I'm going to start over here, on this easy stuff on right, and then get back on the climb." Which I did. I slung the first tree, breathed a sigh of relief, and continued up. It was really, really hard. I was maybe 50' up, staring at a move that was too hard to consider making without protection above me, when someone walked past and in Jon's hearing, said, "Oh, Middle Earth is open." He repeated the remark to me and I realized, SHIT, I was on the 5.7 to the left. (I still don't understand why PEng didn't tell us this.) I moved right, to the climb itself, and ended up building an anchor so Jon could lower me, I could remove all the pieces, climb back to the anchor, and finish the climb. Jon followed me up and apparently I led the second pitch, a 5.2. From there we pondering setting up the 5.7 pitch I'd tried to climb or going down and finding something else to climb. Which is what we did, mostly bc we were both hungry and thirsty.
By the time we got down, it was already 3, so Jon asked if we could find something nearby. The nearest thing I could find in the guidebook that was in my range was a classic named Limelight, wiht a 5.6- PG first pitch. Walking over, I once again cursed my route-finding skills, but we met some folks who had just come down and were happy to tell us just where to start. It was a delight to climb -- and a terror to lead. The book says it's hard to find placements early in the climb, so everywhere I had the chance, I placed protection. Which meant I ran out quickly, even though I had my 2 new cams with me. All the placements were horizontal, so I couldn't use nuts, just cams and tri-cams. I ran out of tri-cams and had two cams left for the last 20' (you're supposed to place a piece every 5-10' feet, less if you're new to this, like me), my largest one which I was saving for the off-width. I got to the off-width, shoved my whole body in the crack, and scrabbled to find somewhere that I could put that cam. Made it to the top with a sigh of relief and then had to find somewhere to build an anchor and belay Jon. I was dubious about the tree I slung and did everything I could to put my bodyweight behind it so that if he fell, maybe we both wouldn't go over the cliff. I would've liked to have set up a top-rope on Arrow, the climb next to Limelight, but Jon pointed out it was nearly 6pm. Other than practice, which I guess I'm getting, I have no idea how to get better at route-finding, although I bet that's my weakest area these days.
Sunday morning, Jon drove to Queens to pick up his son from camp. His ex-wife said she wanted it to be "just family" - I think she was being passive-aggressive about my cancelling dinner the week before bc I was climbing Rainier. I was prepared to have a shitty day, doing laundry, but Jon had used up all th detergent without telling me and I was going to have to leave the house. Julian came to the rescue, buying me detergent and bringing over all the sushi. We played Dominion and I did horrible things to him, a far better day than Spa Castle with an 8yo who's just back from Castle Rock.
So we didn't even set an alarm to get up for climbing on Saturday, although we got up an horu later than usual and got to the cliffs with no delays. I wasn't sure I wanted to go climbing, although I didn't tell Jon that, so we decided to climb Middle Earth (5.5 ** PG), a climb I've lead twice. It's very popular, but the cliffs were empty and we had trouble finding anyone to give us directions. After much confusion, we got to the right wall -- and Jon pointed out NRod. She said she was climbing the one to the right of Middle Earth, so I moved a few feet to the left and started racking up. PEng walked past with her latest protege and said we'd enjoy the climb. At the start, I looked at the first move and said, "Mm... I'm going to start over here, on this easy stuff on right, and then get back on the climb." Which I did. I slung the first tree, breathed a sigh of relief, and continued up. It was really, really hard. I was maybe 50' up, staring at a move that was too hard to consider making without protection above me, when someone walked past and in Jon's hearing, said, "Oh, Middle Earth is open." He repeated the remark to me and I realized, SHIT, I was on the 5.7 to the left. (I still don't understand why PEng didn't tell us this.) I moved right, to the climb itself, and ended up building an anchor so Jon could lower me, I could remove all the pieces, climb back to the anchor, and finish the climb. Jon followed me up and apparently I led the second pitch, a 5.2. From there we pondering setting up the 5.7 pitch I'd tried to climb or going down and finding something else to climb. Which is what we did, mostly bc we were both hungry and thirsty.
By the time we got down, it was already 3, so Jon asked if we could find something nearby. The nearest thing I could find in the guidebook that was in my range was a classic named Limelight, wiht a 5.6- PG first pitch. Walking over, I once again cursed my route-finding skills, but we met some folks who had just come down and were happy to tell us just where to start. It was a delight to climb -- and a terror to lead. The book says it's hard to find placements early in the climb, so everywhere I had the chance, I placed protection. Which meant I ran out quickly, even though I had my 2 new cams with me. All the placements were horizontal, so I couldn't use nuts, just cams and tri-cams. I ran out of tri-cams and had two cams left for the last 20' (you're supposed to place a piece every 5-10' feet, less if you're new to this, like me), my largest one which I was saving for the off-width. I got to the off-width, shoved my whole body in the crack, and scrabbled to find somewhere that I could put that cam. Made it to the top with a sigh of relief and then had to find somewhere to build an anchor and belay Jon. I was dubious about the tree I slung and did everything I could to put my bodyweight behind it so that if he fell, maybe we both wouldn't go over the cliff. I would've liked to have set up a top-rope on Arrow, the climb next to Limelight, but Jon pointed out it was nearly 6pm. Other than practice, which I guess I'm getting, I have no idea how to get better at route-finding, although I bet that's my weakest area these days.
Sunday morning, Jon drove to Queens to pick up his son from camp. His ex-wife said she wanted it to be "just family" - I think she was being passive-aggressive about my cancelling dinner the week before bc I was climbing Rainier. I was prepared to have a shitty day, doing laundry, but Jon had used up all th detergent without telling me and I was going to have to leave the house. Julian came to the rescue, buying me detergent and bringing over all the sushi. We played Dominion and I did horrible things to him, a far better day than Spa Castle with an 8yo who's just back from Castle Rock.