Marti and the kids started first - they took the train from Wallingford to Denver and had a while to relax before the hard work started. Marti attended her high school 20th reunion and got to see a lot of her friends.
Meanwhile, Alastair decided he would like to become a hardcore kayaker. We bought three new yaks (for myself, Alastair, and Eric) and all related gear. I didn't know how Eric would do in his own boat but we decided to bring one for him and see how he liked it.
With yaks on the roof, Alastair and I drove non-stop from Connecticut to Denver in 39 hours. No problem! We arrived, slightly wasted, around 6pm.
Day One! Time for fun. We head for Eldorado Springs. My goal is to seek out routes I haven't done yet. We start with the deathmarch up past Yellow Spur to Darkness Till Dawn (5.9+). I lead it, but not in heroic style. I would have been toast except for Alastair's big hexes. Marti and Alastair follow without much trouble. I'm definitely not in condition yet! Next, we have to hike all the way down to find my nephew, Brad, who was working mornings but available for an afternoon climb. We were late (as usual!) but not too late.
Next, Alastair and Brad go GARC hunting at the Bastille Crack (GARC = Great American Rock Climb - sort of a wimpified version of the 50 classics). Alastair is leading slowly while Brad gives him grief from below. Marti and I sneak out for a quick lunch and jump on Werk Supp, right next to Alastair and Brad. I'm not going fast but we catch up to the others soon. By the 4th pitch I choose Euro-tactics and climb through them clipping their gear. We top out together and head to Brad's place for dinner.
Tuesday is to be a yakking day. We head for Little Gore canyon on the Colorado River, a class II suitable for beginners. The plan is to have Eric try out his new boat. When we arrive at the put-in, the river looks to be pretty high. We should have taken this more seriously, but NO! Marti wants to be with Eric, so I shuttle with Jay while Marti and Alastair yak with Eric. Eric is pretty worried about the whole thing but eventually everyone is off. As a drive out, I notice everyone out of their boats on shore a ways down from the put in. I head back but Marti says everything is OK. Eric had flipped while trying to turn his boat around but was back in.
Driving down the road, I get to a scenic view about 300' above the river, looking straight down the cliffs into the rapids below. I see three boats slowly drifting down the very flat water above the canyon. The first rapid is unobstructed waves. Eric holds onto Marti to stay up. I move down for a better view and see the crux rapid: a large boulder sitting in the middle of the river. There are waves both left and right and a pool below, nothing difficult, but you have to avoid the rock. I yell to Marti to stay right but she can't hear. Marti sees the rock and manages to shove Eric out of the way but he flips over in the waves below. Meanwhile, Marti broaches on the rock, flips under, and is swept around. Unfortunately, she misses her roll attempts and swims. Alastair pulls Eric to shore but Marti (and Eric's boat) go down the next rapid. Marti gets banged up and eventually pulls out below.
Meanwhile, I am totally unable to do anything and head for the takeout as fast as possible. They are not that far above the takeout and I want to be there if they need any assistance. Jay and I wait for a long time but see nobody at all. I inflate the IK and paddle up a bit, but Jay says the water is `too deep' so we just have to wait.
Finally, everyone arrives. Eric is in a raft with a commercial group and Marti is towing his yak. She's upset and banged up, but otherwise OK. Eric doesn't seem to be suffering too much, but he definitely won't get back into his boat on a river anytime soon. Rafters had beached Eric's boat and offered him a ride - very nice of them! The reason they were so long getting down is that the rafters stopped at a hot spring to soak and hang out.
Marti didn't want to do any more boating, but Alastair was willing to head down to State Bridge so I put in and joined him. It's a scenic but *long* paddle. Nice rapids at the end above State Bridge and then we drive back to Denver.
Wednesday: Marti and Eric want a mellow day. Mark Abbott has the day off so Mark, Alastair, and I hear for Eldo again. This time it's the Rincon Wall. Nobody else around - a wilderness experience! We start with Over and Out (5.8). I lead - no problem, big fun. We finish on the last pitch of Over the Hill (another classic) and hike back down. Below, Marti and the boys appear with my folks - they decided to do their weekly hike where we could meet at lunch. Alastair and Mark jump on Over the Hill (5.10b) while I head down to the top of the trail where they had stopped. Dorie (Mark's dog) follows me and bonds with the kids. Marti doesn't want to climb so they head down while I rejoin the climbers. Over the Hill is classic and Alastair leads both cruxes in style. Afterwords, Mark sets a toprope on Ariel Book (11-). Mark flashes it, Alastair can't get the first crux, and I take a fall on the 11- bit but then make it. I feel pretty good about getting up a hard route. Finally, we grab Emerald City (5.9-). At the crux, I waste time placing just one more piece a few feet above a perfectly bombproof fixed nut. Having managed to weaken myself placing gear, I eventually abandon my ethics and ask to hang off the top nut. Big mistake! After hanging for a few minutes, the nut suddenly pops and I am upside down with the rope tangled in my legs. Serious rope burn behind my knee - ouch! Suitable punishment for unethical behavior. Mark takes over and we finish yet another great route.
Thursday is going to be a big day. The plan is to turn Eric into an Alpinist! We're heading for Sharkstooth - a 5.4 with a long approach up in the Rocky Mountain National Park. This is the peak just above the Petit Grepon and is much easier but a long day for an 8 yr old!
We also have some special guest climbers along: Marti's nephew Brad again and Lal George, who happens to be in Estes Park on vacation. The plan is to divide into two parties: Alastair with Brad and Lal, Eric with me. Bringing Brad is a mistake: every big climb I've tried with him has been bombed out by bad weather. Someday I'll learn.
Marti and Jay plan to spend the day with Jane (Lal's wife) and Christopher, who is only a few months old. We drop them off at Lal's cabin and head for the parking lot. We hit the trail at first light. Eric and I take some extra time getting started and slip on to the short cut while the other three head up the Alberta Falls trail. Eric is in a really good mood - no whining at all. We manage to hike all the way to the junction with the Sky Pond trail before the first big rest. As we sit among the flowers by the stream, the other three appear - Eric is excited about beating them! Now a single party again, we make for the point where we have to leave the trail and head over the snow to the base of the route.
The reason Eric was excited about going was that we would be using ice axes. Eric thought this would be really cool - his own deadly weapon! When we hit the snow, everyone put on their heavy boots (Eric used Marti's old hiking boots) and we started up the snow and boulders. Above, the Sharkstooth loomed impressively. Since Alstair, Lal, and Brad (team haggis) wanted to do a more difficult route (5.7), they left Eric and I behind and let us continue at our own pace. Eric had trouble keeping up the pace in the large boulders that bar the way between snowfields. When we arrived at the big snowfield, Eric started to get nervous about snow stomping. Eric followed the tracks of team haggis while I hiked behind him, spotting him against a fall. It wasn't that steep or exposed and Eric did fine. There were lots of places to rest and collect ourselves so it wasn't too bad. The last bit was the steepest - finally we emerged on a plateau just below the bottom of the tooth. The others were about 10 minutes ahead, slightly lost.
At this point, the weather started looking bad. The forcast was OK but not great. Clouds were coming over the divide and then disappearing again. A slight rain convinced Eric that we should turn back. It looked like it would blow over soon, but I didn't want to push him or get into any unpleasant situations (especially after the kayak epic!) so I agreed to turn back. The others continued on, almost to their climb, while Eric and I started down the snow.
Going down was much hairier than going up. The snow was still frozen and hard to glissade in. The numerous rocks made sitting glissades dangerous. For the more exposed parts, I put Eric on the rope. He decided that this snow stuff wasn't as fun as he throught it would be but we were still having fun. Just as you regain the trail, a small snowbank allowed Eric to work on his self arrest. After a few runs, he had a pretty good idea of how to stop himself - we'll be ready next year!
We stopped for lunch along Andrews Creek, surrounded by tundra and flowers. The stream is very deep and narrow here, with beautiful clear pools and small falls. Eric was facinated by it and we played floating sticks and probing the depth of the pools. The weather had turned better and we were in no hurry. We slowly hiked down and eventually met Marti and Jane. The rest of the afternoon was spent waiting for team haggis. When it got late, I left Eric in the car and hiked up looking for them. I met them about a mile up the trail. They had made it a couple of pitches up before another small sprinkle had sent them rapping down. Unfortunately, they turn back just where the climbing was getting worthwhile. Oh, well! Everyone still had a good day (even Eric!) and we'll all have to go back again sometime.
The next day started with a rest. However, we had to get out a do *something*! Cynthia was in town and we decided to get together at the Chutes in the Platte canyon that afternoon. This provides yakking and climbing and fishing (Eric's big hobby now) so it sounded good. Unfortunately, floods and fires had closed the approach from 285. We went around through Sedalia but had no way to tell Cynthia how to get there, so we missed our chance to see C-dude.
Alastair was eager to get some yakking time in so we mainly played in the river. Eric had a great time in the IK with me. Marti, Alastair, and I all found some nice surfing waves. Unfortunately, Eric didn't catch any fish.
Saturday we started the big drive to the west coast. We started by meeting Alan and Sarah Wendt in Fort Collins. From there, we headed to Vedawoo. Climbing with Sarah is always a little challenging since she's blind and some things that seem easy to us (like hopping along over boulders) are hard for her. She can climb very hard routes on some kinds of climbs like slabs but has problems on other kinds of climbing. There's no one on Coldfinger (5.7) so we head there. I spend the whole day watching Becky, Alan and Sarah's kid, (Jay stayed with the grandparents) while Marti does all the leading. Sarah has no problems at all with friction climbing. Even Eric makes it up. After lots of trips up this and other routes (all set as topropes) on the same wall, everyone is ready to head back. Alan and Sarah (and Becky) go to Fort Collins while we drive on I80 toward Rock Springs. I make it as far as Rawlins before I have to stop for the night.
The next morning we head for Jackson. Lunch in scenic Pinedale and then we run over to Granite Creek as we go by. This is a short class III- featuring crystal clear water. I run twice, once with Alastair and again with Marti. Big fun! Then comes Alpine Canyon. Alastair hitches the shuttle and I go in the inflatable with Eric while Marti and Alastair get the hard boats. It's just like we remember: warm water, fun rapids, play spots, lots of rafts, big waves. Eric thinks it's great. His bad experience in his own kayak doesn't seem to have had any effect on his enjoyment of the inflatable - he's constantly demanding to go into the biggest waves. Alastair and Marti also have a good time. Marti's worried about her roll but manages some. That evening we meet Grandma and Grampa. Eric wants to do more boating so he camps with us.
The next morning, we head for Alpine again. We have more time so we play and try hard to hit the hole in Kahuna. Eric and I hit it squarely and almost flip the IK - big fun! Next, we head for Jenny Lake to drop off Eric with the gang. Unfortunately we're a little late and miss them. We decide to head for the Gros Ventre for more yakking. Alastair sees buffalo on by the road and has to play tourist and get pictures. At least he didn't try to climb on one of them!
This run is too hard (IV) for Eric and Alastair. Marti is a little worried but we jump in and go for it. We eddy out above the worst part and spend a long time scouting. We hit our line perfectly and have no problems. We soon see Eric and Alastair and meet them just at the border of the national park. That evening we pass Eric off to my folks - they head for Yellowstone the next day.
The next morning we head for the Greys river. We stop to scout `Snaggletooth' - the nastiest rapid on the river. Marti and I have run it before but it looks pretty nasty and we all decide to pass on that part of the river. Instead, we head up to String of Pearls (III). We found a nice put-in at a campground that gave us some time to warm up. Alastair and I were doing fine until the `haggis-eating hole' got him. This was a ledge that went almost all the way across the river that you need to make a fast move around. Instead, Alastair got sucked into the center and took a swim. It took a while to get him back in his boat and the rest was easier. Next, I made a run with Marti with no problems. Finally, Alastair decided to have one more go at it. The haggis-hole just missed this time but he got sucked under in a playhole near the takeout and swam again.
That afternoon we ran Alpine with Alastair in the inflatable. Some honchos were playing in a strong wave. I was too wimpy to get much of a ride, although I finally had to do a combat roll. Alastair, though, had some great rides in the IK, impressing the honchos.
The next day we headed for the Hoback (II). Marti decided to take the IK and was looking for a mellow day. Marti generously hitched for the shuttle while Alastair and I surfed a little. The run was long and had a lot of flat water but there were a few nice play spots. After we finished up, we headed down for one last run on Alpine.
Marti decided to relax and take pictures at Lunch Counter. Alastair and I started down. I was a ways ahead when I looked back and saw a swimming Haggis! Seems he has this theory that every hole on the Snake is runnable. Well, not quite. Unfortunately he took a long swim because I wasn't nearby. After this, Alastair was pretty much wasted for the rest of the day. Marti got video of Alastair flipping and rolling and flipping and rolling in Lunch Counter. I was able to surf the big waves a little. We finally staggered to the takeout and started the big drive to West Yellowstone to reclaim the kids.
The next day we had a long drive to Spokane ahead of us. We broke the drive up a little by going to Lewis and Clark cave in Montana. The driving was fun since there were no speed limits in Montana! That evening we pulled in to Spokane to stay with Nina and her family.
The next day we took Nina's kids out to the Spokane rocks. Everyone got to toprope a little. The Haggis did a great job of entertaining a boatload of unfamiliar kids.
The plan was to leave Eric and Jay in Spokane while the adults hit Squamish. I had hoped to bag Forbidden Peak but the weather report was bad. Instead, we decided to start at the Snow Creek Wall on the east side of the cascades, hopefully in the rain shadow! After a not-too-early start, we arrived in Levenworth around noon. After lunch we drove to the trailhead in Icicle Creek canyon - a cool looking place! - and got a `crack of 1pm start'. The only route info we had was Harlin + Garc. Harlin had a good road and trail map but terrible route description. Garc had a good topo so we were all set. We wanted to bag `Outer Space' (5.9), the local mega classic.
The hike in turns out to be a real grunt. The rock is not at all obvious from the trailhead - we can see a small spire way above but that's it. And it was *way* too far up if the approach was only to be a hour, as Harlin says. Anyway, we start hiking. The trail switchbacks endlessly up the side of the mountain, going through the remains of a recent forest fire. Higher and higher, it turns out the spire is the right end of the wall we're looking for. God, it's still a long way up! We finally leave the trail and find a climbers path to the base of the route. It's 2:30 and we want to bag a 7 pitch 5.9! At least we don't see anyone on the route ahead of us.
The first couple of pitches are easy and take us to a big ledge about 200 feet up. We traverse left looking for the route. After a few dead ends, I choose the leftmost of twin cracks. We didn't have a topo but this turns out to be the right place. Just above is the crux: a really exposed traversing crack. There is good pro and some rest stances - soon I'm at the belay. A nearly new #1 camalot is stuck in the crack behind me. While bringing Marti and Alastair up, I am dismayed to see a party of 3 moving very slowly up the pitch after the next! Could be trouble!
Alastair and Marti find the crux exciting and Alastair starts up an easier 5.6 pitch to the base of the main attraction: a 300 foot handcrack splitting an exposed wall covered with chickenheads. The other party is finally up this pitch and I give Alastair a chance to bag this classic-looking lead. The climbing is fantastic: well protected, exposed, bizarre. Not as many chickenheads as What's My Line, but still somewhat similar. A few blank spots require handjams, but for the most part the pitch is fairly mellow.
Arriving at the belay, a long, spacious ledge, Alastair finds the other party. Their belayer is worried that it's unsafe for Alastair to belay us up while he's still there. This ledge is huge! When Alastair asks him exactly what he thinks the problem would be he falls silent. Meanwhile, Alastair has set the belay and started bringing Marti and I up. Given that the sun is about to set it's a good thing that he ignored their bullshit! It turns out these dudes have been on the route all day. They all are carrying huge packs and when climbing they yell "Take" every 3 feet. The belayer gives Alastair advice about Squamish: bring bivi gear! They say they always seem to need it!
I'm ready to start the next lead just as the belayer is leaving. He needs help getting the anchor out - that was his stuck camalot back at the other belay. Fortunately, these bozos never really get in the way much. Another outstanding lead up the chickenheads follows. I can't quite stretch to the summit so we need one last short pitch to finish. The summit view is great but we're mainly worried about the setting sun and the ominous `allow a lot of time for the descent' warning in Harlin. The bozos are about 15 minutes ahead of us - we can see them on a faint climbers trail at the edge of the face.
The descent turns out to be much easier than expected. We soon overtake and pass the bozos. I find a ledge system traversing back directly to our packs while the bozos, slightly lost, choose to rap down a short drop. This is the last we see of them - fortunately their bivi gear will see them through the night if they continue at the same pace! We, on the other hand, hurry down bofore total darkness sets it. The last few switchbacks to the car are totaly dark (Alastair didn't bring his headlamp!!) but we're OK. The only place open in town is McDonalds. We feast and start driving for the coast. I make as far as Everett before I have to bail out into a motel. Once over the divide it was raining steadily all the way to the coast - good thing we climbed on the dry side of the range!
The next morning, we head for Canada. Passing customs is a hassle since Alastair is an illegal alien or something. Eventually we proceed and immediately get mildly lost and wind up in downtown Vancouver. Next time we'll head for Route 1 earlier! The highway out of Vancouver is spectacular - the road climbs to an almost vertical mountainside plunging directly into the ocean. Suddenly we see it: Huge Tracts Of Granite!
Squamish is indeed an impressive place to climb. The ocean, the high peaks, the huge walls, the small cliffs. Cool. Sully at Prime Climb reccomended Diedre (5.7). Looking up at the apron, it seems that everyone else was already on it! We grabbed lunch and then headed for the apron. The plan was to do something else instead of waiting in line. After a short approach, we see one party on the first pitch and another sitting at the bottom. Oh, well! Off to the right are some old, rusty bolts in the slab. Not in the guidebook. Looks fun! Gotta try it! Turns out to be way smooth - 5.10 or so - but short. We arrive at a long horizontal crack. The other guys seem to have left - maybe they were just coming for their packs? And the other party isn't on Diedre - they turned off on a different route after the first pitch. Looks like we're on the classic after all!
After traversing left to the top of the first pitch, Marti led the second pitch up some easy bug fun face climbing. Next, Alastair leads the classic part of the route: a long 5.7 dihedral up the slab. The crux is a small discontinuity in the crack but it's not that bad. Unfortunately, the rock at Squamish gets polished by the traffic and the friction in the corner was less than ideal. Still fun, though. Another classic pitch remained: we offered it to Marti. She started fine but became more nervous as she climbed. Finally, about 30' below the belay bolts, she decided she had had enough leading and set a belay. Some doofus up above rolled rocks on us, adding to her discomfort. Alastair finished the pitch and led the next one - easy friction except for a really bizarre final move up a dirty headwall to the final ledge. That was it for the day - the hike down was easy and we stopped in town to eat and then camped at the climbers campground at the base of the rock.
Marti wanted to have a mellow day so we started at the bluffs. These are a set of short rocks right in the middle of the town. Fortunately the rocks themselves are on public property. As long as you use the parking and access trails provided for climbers everything is cool. We bagged Burgers and Fries (5.7), Gross Incompetence (5.8), and Cat Crack (5.6). All fun.
After lunch, we headed back up the the Apron. This time we did Banana Peel (5.7), to the right of Diedre. This is more of a traditional slab climb and was mellow fun. Some of the runouts were long (esppecially when Alastair got off route and ran out the entire rope!) but mellow. Nice cruxes, too. I liked this better then Diedre.
From the top of the Apron, it's just a little ways over to the base of the Grand Wall. We hoped to do Merci Me, but as we walked by this really neat looking handcrack, Seasoned in the Sun (10a), I felt obligated to climb it. It turned out to be perfect hand and finger jamming. Well protected (except at the top where I ran out of 1" nuts: I protected the last move by wedging my nut pick into the crack!) and fun. There was just enough to lower back down and Marti and Alastair flashed it.
The approach to Merci Me is more exciting than the climb itself. Merci Me starts 200 feet off the deck in the middle of the Grand Wall and goes nowhere at all - just a couple of pitches that lead to 5.12 where the wall steepens. To get to the start, you traverse in from the left on a set of ledges. On one spot, an ancient fixed rope crosses a short blank spot. The exposure is tremendous and the ledge narrows down to just a foot or two wide in spots. I thought this was way cool but traversing the ledges was the crux for Marti and Alastair!
The route follows a dike system with bolts for protection. The holds are small but sharp. Alastair took the first lead (5.7) - a classic! It's getting late but I start up the next one (5.8). The run from the first to the second bolt turns me back. A small nut would have made me feel better and we were running out of time anyway so I downclimbed back to the belay.
That was it for Squamish - next stop: Microsoft. We're running late and don't get a motel till 3am. We finally find the building we need at Microsoft and meet Conal, who is doing research with us. After a couple of hours of meetings he keeps Alastair while Marti and I return to Spokane.
We spend two days in Spokane - mainly resting. We take the kids paddling in some flatwater but that's about it. Friday morning we say goodbye and head off to Portland. We're meeting Moose and Winnie for some climbing at Beacon Rock. The rock has been closed for falcons most of the season and has just opened. Tom (Winnie) takes the lead on the regular route (5.7) and Moose (Colleen) and Marti join him. Eric tries but just isn't up for it. Besides, we have Jasper and Sedona, their two dogs, to play with, and so I take the kids and dogs up the hiking trail while the climbers push on. The hiking trail is wild - very exposed, lots of switchbacks guarded by railings. I try to keep every one from falling off but it's tough to control two big dogs and two kids at the same time. I don't want to give the dogs to the kids since they are quite capable of pulling them off the trail! Plus, the two dogs keep going on opposite sides of the posts that hold up the railings. Anyway, we eventually make it to the top and get a great view. We make voice contact with Marti and advise her to back off since it's getting late. We all meet at the bottom again: they had made it over the crux and had fun but everything was going slowly. Marti was briefly harassed by a pissed-off falcon. Fortunately the route didn't directly disturb the nest or anything but the birds were not yet used to climbers in the area. No problems rapping off and we all headed to Portland.
We had a great time staying with Colleen. Eric got to play with the dogs and we really enjoyed their house (and all the work they have been doing on it!). The next day we meet Suzanne and Kyle for some kayaking. We head for scenic Mill City and the Santiam River (II+). We meet a guy with an inflatable at the takeout looking for a ride - he joins us on the shuttle and spends the rest of the day with us. The run is easy but pretty with lots of little surfing spots. The water is clear and scenery great. Eric and I take the IK while Marti meets us halfway down at Spencer's Hole. Eric and I run this a few extra times while Zan and Kyle play. Zan is now a gnarly yakker-woman with a good roll and near total fearlessness. It's a bit hard for me to surf much in the IK but I still have a good time. The weather is perfect - great day! Marti does the rest of the run while I take Jay. Marti is in her real kayak - we had planned to take Eric out here but he is able to sneak in with the other IK and has fun completing the run. It's getting late when everyone arrives at the takeout so that's it for the day. We said bye to Zan and Kyle and headed back to Portland to rescue Alastair from Microsoft. We were late getting to the airport but fortunately Colleen had rescued him and he was being tortured with food and beer when we arrived. Big drive ahead so we had to say goodbye again and take off. I made it about halfway across Oregon before needing to hit a motel.
The next day is a total drive-a-thon. I'm so sick of waiting for bozos to fill my tank with outragous expensive gas (self-serve is illegal!) that I desparately make a run for Idaho with an empty tank. The engine starts to sputter at the first exit and the town is two miles away! We limp in and find nobody at the only station visible. Disaster! But wait: it's Robo-Pump! One of these credit card activated pumps fixes us up we're happy campers again. On through Ogden and Heber City and finally Vernal around 1am. We camp at Dinosaur by the Green River. Great views in the morning! We see if we can scam an unfilled river permit but no luck. We take the kids to see the dinos and hit the road again. Soon we're in Glenwood canyon for the Shoshone run (III). Lotsa rafters but we manage to get onto the river and start having fun. It's a short run so everyone got to run it a few times. Eric and I caught some big waves in the IK. Haggis tried to side-surf a hole but forgot which way downstream was and entered leaning the wrong way! More roll practice! In another rapid, he got trashed, rolled up, and found he had just floated into a violent `endo hole' backwards to the cheers of the local hardcore yakkers. Unfortunately, he swam instead of endoing. Other than that, though, he was doing fine. Late that night we stagger into Denver.
We rest up the next morning but there's still rocks to climb. We have yet another special guest climber: Mark Grazier, up from Albuquerque. He's eager to get out so we stagger off to Eldo. We eventually decide to go GARC bagging again and head for the Yellow Spur (5.9). Sadly, Alastair and I are too wasted and the climb goes slowly. Mark is climbing well but we bail after three pitches. We miss Marti, Jeannie, and the kids who drove up to meet us - we took a little too long getting off. Oh, well.
The next day we head for the Arkansas, minus kids! I really have to boat there whenever I'm in Colorado. First up is Browns (III). Marti and I do fine but pass a million rafts (well, at least 40) on the way down. Not really a wilderness experience! Marti is worried about her roll but does fine the one place she flips. Next up, Marti and Alastair run it. They are fortunate to miss the thundering hoardes of rafts this time. Alastair isn't used to such a technical run and takes some swims. He thinks this is the hardest boating of the trip for him.
Next, we head over to the Numbers (IV-). Alastair definitely isn't up for it. Marti wants to go home. I want to kayak. We put in at #5 - the biggest drop. Marti doesn't want to be there but won't back off. Turns out to no problem for either of us and we're soon done. Back to Denver!
The next day is the Big Climb of the trip: Sykes Sickle on the Spearhead (5.9). We had planned to go as a party of 4: Mark Abbott and I, Alastair with Mark Grazier. Unfortunately, Alastair's fun-o-meter was broken from overuse and he decided to avoid having fun that day. Now down to a party of 3, we hit the trailhead to 4:30 or so and started hiking. We're definitely making good time - just as we get near the base of the climb, another party who had been camped just below the face appears. We just barely beat them to the base and get ready to motor up ahead of them. Unfortunately, Mark Grazier has aggravated an old injury and has to drop out so it's just the Ab and I.
We're worried about the weather and getting stuck behind a party of three, so we climb as fast as possible. Turns out the other party is a guide, Mike, and two clients. Mike belays them simultanously using a cool knot that lets 2 biners act as sort of a jumar. Mike is leading faster than we are (he placed very little pro) but we follow a lot faster. Using my 60 meter rope, we are able to run the pitches a little longer and make up some time that way. Still, they were on our butts all the way up.
I had only done this route once before, over 20 years ago. It's a classic route, just as good as the Grepon. Except for the crux at the sickle, it's mostly 5.7. The first couple of pitches aren't that great - the rock is a little loose and fractured - but after that the rock is absolutely great the rest of the way. Unlike the last time, we headed for the crack system that came down from the left edge of the sickle (the other time we had stayed to the left of that). This turned out to be the right thing to do - great pitches!
We eventually arrived at a small ledge just below the bombay chimney that leads through the sickle. I had led the crux before and was happy to let the Ab have a shot at it. Back in the old days (yeah, yeah - I'm sitting on my rocking chair ...) the only pro was a pin way below your feet at the crux. Now, though, a large cam can be placed right over your head. The climb up into the back of the sickle was easier than before - the cracks have been cleaned a lot. Mark placed the cam and chimneyed through the bombay to the jug at the top - no problem! To save time, Mark ran all the way to the top of the climb. I followed - what a spectacular pitch! - and we soon were back at the base. It rained for just a few minutes but then the weather turned nice again and we hiked out. Mark G. was waiting in the car and had enjoyed the hike, if not the climb. A great day!
Friday, I took a day of rest while Alastair led Marti and Sarah to the Dome in Platte Canyon. This is a friction climbers paradise so we figured Sarah would have a good time. Even with my expert advise on the approach and the route, Alastair missed the trail and led everyone on a fearsome bushwhack. After that, he decided to invent his own route rather than follow anything sensible! They ended up doing a lot of traversing - evidently he cut across a bunch of routes, clipping a bolt on each route as he went by. Still a nice climb, but unfortunately mostly horizontal. This was a problem for Sarah since she really didn't want to fall. The problem wasn't fear; she just didn't want to scrape her hands on a slide. Since she has to read with her hands, she "didn't want to slide on her eyeballs!". Fortunately, Marti had her on a back belay the one time she did fall and everything was OK. They thought the route was around 5.9 or so. At least they found the trail on the way down!
Our last day was spent at the Chutes in the Platte again. We had Alan and Sarah again as well as our niece Becca (8). The water was almost too low to kayak but it was OK and the kids had fun. I took Sarah up a friction climb that turned out to be way too hard. Too bad I had forgotten to bring my Platte Canyon guidebook on this trip!
That was it for Alastair and I: the next day we took off for Nebraska. Marti and the boys would leave a few days behind us and join us back in Wallingford. We visited my uncle Wilfred on his farm and got the grand tour. He has a huge collection of `big toys for big boys': we saw a working sawmill he restored, tons of random construction stuff, and his current project: a 40 year old bulldozer that he's rebuilding. Marti brought the kids there a few days later and they had a blast.
Following another 30 hour drive, we were back. Wasted. Marti and the kids arrived a few days later on the train.