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Rod and I were supposed to spend the weekend in the Valley, but the weather didn't cooperate, so we decided to make it a day trip on Sunday to the Grotto, and agreed to meet at 7 AM. Erin also decided to join us, and she was itching to get climbing outside again. However, when the phone rang at 7 AM the next morning, Rod revealed that he had drunk a bit too much the night before, and was still somewhat inebriated and in no shape to get moving. Since Matt and Susan were also thinking of coming, but at a later hour, he decided to go with them instead. So I shoved Erin into the car, as she was still fully asleep, and started the drive. We made good time, despite the stop in Oakdale to pick up lunch, and parked by the third fence on the Grotto approach road around 9:30. Who should we encounter there, but Brian and Casey. We paused to sit in the sun and have a bit of food and tea, then geared up and started to walk in. Unfortunately it had been several years since my last trip to the Grotto, and I thought the path off the road started much earlier than it does, so we wasted a bit of time until we figured out exactly where to go. While we were hiking in, the blue sky disappeared, and the clouds moved in. But it wasn't too chilly, so we warmed up on Chicken Ranch Bingo (5.10a), then moved into the grotto proper and had a go at AC Devil Dog (5.10d). Erin, was ummm, a bit tight with the belay, which made me sweat a bit at a few of the clips. However, when it was her turn to go up, and she discovered the precarious nature of the clipping stances, she apologized profusely. We then moved a few inches to the left, and did some crack warmups on Table Manners (5.9), using all available cracks and faces, so it's not really a 5.9.

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Brian and Casey	Erin on Table Manners, sort of

Casey and Brian (and Señor the dog) were the only other people there, so it was very peaceful. After a short pause for lunch, I then tried leading the thin crack on the left side of Table Manners, with the intention of only using the crack, which I'm guessing is an 11a, but about half way up I got tired and started leaning my but into the dihedral to place pro. Very bad Charles. Erin had a go of it on TR, and cruised it with style. I gave it another go on TR, and this time had the technique dialed in, and it felt pretty easy. When I got to the top, I moved the anchor over to Rawhide (5.10d), and did another lap on that while I was still warm. I felt very secure on this one too. Damn I should have led it!

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Casey on Three Fingered Jack	Erin on a thin crack

Erin did a lap on Rawhide, with grumbles about sore feet, then I went up it once more, and rapped down. We had to be back in Berkeley by 8:30, so we had to leave before we really wanted to. It would have been nice to try Snake Bite, or one of the climbs on the upper tier, but that'll have to wait until next time. Brian and Casey left just before we did, and as we were driving into Oakdale we tried to get a hold of them to place an order for us at the Taqueria, but I couldn't find their number. So we called up trusty Jack, who supplied us with the number of the Taqueria (209-845-9447), and we called in an order for some tasty chicken fajitas to save time. Mmmmmm. We didn't quite make it back by 8:30, but we weren't too much later, and it was worth it!