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Wow, twice in a month. You'd think I was starting to like this choss pile. The truth of the matter is that everything else looked really wet and cold (except for Indian Creek, where the temps and conditions were fabulous - damn you Casey!), and the outdoor climbing bug was itching once again. Negotiations ensued as to the departure time, that went along these lines: Charles: We'll meet at seven at Erin's. Jack: Nine? Charles: Seven. Jack: You said nine, right? We eventually settled on seven, so on Sunday morning, Jack, Kelly, Erin, Seth and I squeezed into my car, at which point I took great pains to explain to the crew that I had new tires, and was once again legal to drive. There were some moans of despair, quick tightening of seat belts, and we were off. Unlike last time, it was pretty crowded at the park. The upper lot was full, be as we were unpacking the gear there, another car pulled out and we scored a great parking place. Seth, Jack, Erin and I headed for Discovery Wall, while Kelly went off birding. There were large hordes at the wall, with many a familiar face. Jack and Erin warmed up on Jorgie's Crack (5.10a), while Seth and I went up The Verdict (5.11a). Ummm, whose stupid idea was it to warm up on that? Oh, right, it was mine. Moron... I spent a good 15 minutes on the route, resting at each hold, trying to get my arms to depump. We then moved on to Cosmos (5.11b), which I really enjoyed, and even managed to pull a figure four on it getting over the roof, but no one else seemed to like it at all. Afterward, we returned to the Verdict, where Jack had set up a TR over Pistol Whipped (5.10d R), but we paused for lunch first. I ate way too much, but it's hard to resist a sandwich of olive bread, camberzola, asian pear, proscuitto, and candied walnuts. mmmmm.....

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Seth on Verdict, and Erin on Pistol Whipped

After we all did a lap on the 10d, Jack and Erin moved on to the "squeeze job" Power Point (5.11d/12a) which "isn't really that grade" in the words of a certain Scotsman, but it looked like a lot of fun to me. Seth and I went up a fun chimney called The Cleft (5.6). Jack had already floated up the "squeeze job" by the time we were down, so I didn't get a chance to observe his style. I had a go at it, and float I most certainly did not. I kept on trying to pull the crux, would back off 'cause it hurt too much, and would rest on the jugs while I tried to regain my composure. Seth said "why don't you just come down to the ground to rest?" He had a point, seeing as the rest I was using was 2 feet off the deck... I finally huffed and puffed like the big bad wolf, ignored the pain and pulled through. Ouch. A one move wonder, but not that trivial at all. I know my climbing sucks these days, but it seemed pretty hard to me. Seth and I moved down the wall to Wet Kiss (5.9), which is lots of fun, while Jack and Erin ventured into the Cosmos. When Seth and I returned, Jack was still venturing forth. It was at this point that he promised bodily harm unto me as soon as he got down, and that I should start running now. Apparently, he too didn't like the route. Some people you just can't please. He didn't even try the figure four. Seth and I finished up on Stupendous Man (5.10a), while Jack redid Cosmos to clean it. Yeah, he claims he hated it, but I know he'll be back soon to have another go at it....

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Erin on Power Point, and Jack solos Cosmos.

We packed up and returned to the car, where Kelly was waiting for us. She had hiked all over the park, all the way to the high peaks and the west side, and had even seen some condors! After a stop at the Vault for dinner, we returned to Bezerkeley, and hardly anyone complained about my driving.