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Another perfect weekend in the Valley. Chris and I headed out early on Friday night, getting to Hardin Flats at the unprecedented hour of 9:30, as Chris insisted that he needed his beauty sleep. Nine hours later, we were up and about, and making for the Rostrum (5.11c). Unfortunately there was already a party on the route when we got there, and taking into account their speed and the short days, we opted for the abbreviated version, starting at P3, with the 11c warmup. I got the sharp end, and proceeded to sew it up. My lack of crack climbing of late demonstrated itself with abysmal footwork, but my hours clipping bolts allowed me to pull through on brute strength alone. Very bad form, but it got me up without hanging. Actually, the top 11b lieback felt pretty easy this time. We swapped pitches after that, giving Chris the 10d roof and 11b overhanging hangs, which he sent in superlative style, but leaving me the offwidth. I'm not sure how it was that I signed on for that. Once again, shuffling a #4 and #4.5 above me lessened the sphincter clenching moments, though as usual, my knees were knocking when I had to leave the last piece far behind on the last pitch. The green alien placement in the horizontal crimp is very useful for keeping the rope out of the crack and your wide cams safe.

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Scenes from the Rostrum

We were done by 3, and the other party bailed after the 3rd pitch, so we were kicking ourselves for not committing to the whole thing. Oh well, there's always next time, and the Alien finish to boot. We headed down to El Cap meadows, and ran into Ed and Viv, who were doing the El Cap layback. We joined them for this strenuous activity, until dusk began to fall and our bellies grumbled, at which point we made for the Jack's campsite. Jack was not in evidence, so we stole all available parking, and walked over to the pizza deck for some grub. There was still no Jack when we returned to the site, so we kindly left a bit of space for him to park. Just as we were getting ready to turn in, he showed up with Senam and Alex, but they decided to sleep at John and Sue's site. Maybe we smelled to much. Chris got his 10 hours of beauty again, and was looking positively radiant when he arose from his slumber. Any more, and he would have outshone the sun. I made a rather unpleasant discovery when I dug into my granola - after taking several bites, I noticed a large number of little black dots, which upon closer inspection proved to be weevils. This was the same cereal that I had blissfully eaten on Saturday morning.... Oh well, I guess I got a bit more protein than I had expected.

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Our plans for the day included another trip to Separate Reality (5.12a) for me, and then Chris wanted a go at Lunatic Fringe. As we were packing up, Bryan drove by, and agreed to join us on SR. We racked up, and after some minor snafus pertaining to ropes, rapped down. Once again I preplaced the last two pieces, but I think that one's better off placing a #1 and #.75 in the usual manner - the slings swing around too much since the pivot point at the hexes is so high up, and end up hanging right where you need to put your hands. I went up first, but didn't get the last jam well and fell at the lip. Then it was Chris's turn, and discovered that the route was not nearly as fearsome as expected. Bryan took his turn, and worked out the sequence through the crux. I had jugged up the rap line, and shoot videos of the ascent. My arms had depumped a bit by then, so I tied in for another go, and accompanied by much grunting, was finally able to send it. Woo hoo! Chris and Bryan also went for another lap, then we decided to bail and maybe have a go at Reeds. It fell upon me to clean it, which, once again, was far more difficult than leading it.

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Charles on Separate Reality

By the time was had hiked out and had a very late lunch, we decided not to go to Reed's and that we were done for the day, so we found a nice sunny spot overlooking the valley, and sat around for a while with a few beers. We eventually packed it in, and with an unusual stop for dinner in Riverbank instead of Oakdale, headed for home. For once we were back at a reasonable hour, but still pleasantly tired. movies of Separate Reality: bryan (86Mb) charles (34Mb) (thanks to Vivian for the assemblage and setting them to music.)

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