Ok 7 hours later, and I've been infused, and there was no wireless internet. On the bright side the infusion ladies were very nice and gave me warm blankets and a fruit salad. They put you in a pretty nice reclining chair. I tried to read a little of my Zone book, but promptly put my beanie over my eyes and slept for the 3 hours I was there. ZZZZzzzzzz....
So now I'm home, and I've eaten some sushi and I am cooking food for the week. Lots and lots of veggies, tempeh, etc.
Ok on to the Yosemite trip report.
James and I climbed Serenity/Sons on Friday, and the climbing went really well for the most part. I made James lead almost everything except the crux pitch, which I fired. I was a little gripped climbing a few feet above a blue alien, but the piece was bomber and I didn't fall anyway. I did, however, run out of gear on the first pitch of Sons, thinking it was a hand crack and finding instead a weird climb with mostly finger pieces. I put in an anchor about 20 feet from the belay and James finished the pitch and linked it with the next so it was no big deal. I can be called a lot of things, but "bold" and "willing to run it out" are not on that list. I was pretty psyched that I did the cruz pitch no problem. I know it's only .10d, but hey, I take what I can get! We had a little epic getting off, which involved a violent out-of-control pendulum across a rock face attached to James and some bruises on my head and ribs, but everyone was ok and it was a learning experience. Probably the scariest thing that's ever happened to me rock climbing, and again, on the bright side no one was hurt. I DID choose to wear a helmet on my next multi pitch climb though.
Saturday I met up with Drew and we tried to go and do the Free Blast, but El Cap was kind of a cluster that day, with a party of 3 starting up the Salathe to aid and another party on deck for the Free Blast. In addition there were tons of folks on the nose and other parties aiding Magic Mushroom. So Drew and I decided to go shopping instead. You should tell him how nice his new approach shoes are when you see him. I looked for a 70meter tag line, but did not find one, so I will have to wait.
After our shopping excursion, we hiked up to Public Sanitation where I belayed Drew. I was a little tired from our epic the day before so was happy not to climb. Plus, I think with all that's happened to me lately I need a little more rest than other folks. Two days on is hard for me right now. Drew fired a Tucker's Proud Rock Climb (.12b) up there second go, and uncharacteristically made some noise cause he was ACTUALLY TRYING. Kind of nice to see for us mere mortals.
Sunday we woke up early and got on Free Blast with no one ahead of us. Another party started up after us, but they were always a pitch or two behind. Drew styled the whole thing on lead, which I think is pretty proud. I did a little bit better than when I went with Dan last weekend, but definitely did not free the Free Blast. I have lots and lots of work to do before I can say that I'm decent on granite. Not only that but after a certain number of slab pitches I'm thinking "fuck this, I want some effing holds already!" However I look forward to putting in the time and hopefully reaping the rewards by being able to do some long classic hard free climbs, but in the mean time it's a bit of a spank-fest. Oh well, it's pretty neat to be on El Cap, even though El Cap is kind of dicey. Some party on the Shield dropped a pin that went whizzing by us. Again, thank God for the helmet. Drew was very nice and said that I did a good job on the climb, though I might dispute that. It was fairly discouraging in fact. I will say that even if I'm getting schooled, I still move pretty quick and get to the top in a timely matter and am efficient at the belays, which on a multi-pitch can translate to hours of saved time. I credit the Honnold School of Efficiency (HSE) with some of that experience.
Anyway, cause I'm on the infusion all week and my Mom is flying in it's looking doubtful that I will make it to the valley again this weekend. Maybe Monday?
1 comment:
'roid rage!!
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