It was getting pretty hot at Five and Dime, so we decided to seek something in the shade - Moratorium (5.11b). This time, I didn't get us lost hiking up to the base. We lost the trail pretty quickly, but just headed up the water course and talus field until we got to the base. There were a couple of packs there but the climbers were up high enough that we couldn't see them at all. I took P1, and it was harder than I remember - lots of sustained, though positive, liebacking. Chris did P2 in fine style, stemming the crux the way you're supposed to. I tried doing the same this time, instead of liebacking it and slapping for slopers, and it went much more smoothly. P3 was mine, but surprisingly, the 11b crux was all wet. I tried a couple of moves, then gave up and pulled on gear. We had no issues rapping this time, as I made sure to pull the knot over the edges on the first and second raps - this is really key, as there's a lot of friction. It was just starting to get dark as we packed up on the ground, and in the twilight, I managed to kick a rock hard enough to destroy my big toe nail and burst open the toe. Blood immediately started leaking out, making for a very sticky sandal. Ooops!

We had dinner at the pizza deck, but missed out on the slide show. We looked for Hamid at the lower pines, and were able to poach a site just across from them, where we ran into Nate and Erin, who had simuled Snake Dike earlier.

We had a bit of a slow start the next morning. When I got up, I evaluated my toe, and decided that the Rostrum would be a very bad idea, from a pain point of view... So I let Chris sleep in a bit. We eventually got moving, and once again decided to seek the shade, making for Chapel Wall. Heathenistic Pursuit was occupied, so we walked up a bit to Controlled Burn (5.11a). The guide describes the route as "a deteriorating bay tree accesses this short, but pumping, crack." Well, that's only partially true - it is indeed short, and looks pumpy, but the bay tree has fully deteriorated. The crack starts about 14 feet up, with a fully blank face below that. Someone had propped a couple of rotten logs against the wall, providing a precarious stance to start. I held up the logs while Chris scrambled up, just barely reaching the start of the crack. Unfortunately, the only choice for pro is a questionable blue alien, with some hard and serious moves for 4 feet before getting another good piece in. Not fun. After fiddling with the gear for a bit, Chris wisely backed off. I think a larger and longer log would make the start more probable, but we figured the other routes would be free by then, so we packed up and went back. Indeed Heathenistic Pursuit (5.10b) was free, so Chris reracked, and headed up. Lots of fun, and trickier than it looks from the ground! When he came down, I gingerly inserted my foot into my climbing shoe, gently laced it, and tried to climb. The pain was manageable, as long as I didn't try to jam, toe hook, or edge too hard - ie, I could paste it on the wall ok... This really forced me to concentrate on technique, which in fact worked pretty well. Chris also led Gold Dust (5.10d), which I managed to clean, and then we headed back around the corner for a look at Bad Company (5.11a/d). Unfortunately, it was a bit overgrown, and we didn't feel like playing gardeners, so we packed up, and headed down the road to Generator Crack (5.10c), where Chris got a full body workout. I didn't even bother trying to put shoes on.

I'm rather bummed about not doing the Rostrum with Chris again - I was really looking forward to it, and the weather was perfect. Oh well, it's not going anywhere. Maybe we'll be able to hit it later this year.