Katie and I went bouldering again on Saturday and I think it’s fair to say that both of us were a bit burned out on our current projects. Katie’s fingers are starting to hurt from one of them and I felt sort of lazy on mine. Not all that inspired, to say the least. It was dreary, cold and windy Saturday afternoon and the climbing didn’t last all that long.
Instead we went around the park and took a look at some of the new areas that were developed this past summer. We were both pretty psyched on the problems at the Deer Cove areas. Varied rock with pretty cool holds and fairly nice landings. Always a plus. Then we went over to the Cox Hollow boulders and walked up to a boulder that we were at 2 years ago. It was the same time of day and same time of year and was neat to be sitting there again, together. We both remembered that day and Katie has some pictures that I took of her, in her glovebox actually, on that particular problem. It was definitely the highlight of the weekend for me.
Fast forward to Saturday night, lying around watching “The Office” on DVD. Out of nowhere Katie said that we should go back Sunday morning before she had to work at 11. She wanted to try her project once more, after she thought up some new beta. At 6:30 the next morning we were a little less enthusiastic but still decided to go. I think Katie’s exact words, when I asked her if she still wanted to go, were “I’m 70/30 right now”.
Our bed was warm and comfy but we went anyway. It was so cold and windy out! It probably didn’t help that the problem got NO sun at all. Katie was frozen and tried to warm up on the sharp crimps. Pain, and frigid, conditions won out in the end though.
Having another hour and a half left before we had to leave we went over to Deer Cove. It turned out to be way better. Sunny and a little breeze made for perfect conditions. It was about 40 degrees and Katie finally admitted that those were the best conditions to climb in. Soon I’ll get her to break down and admit that she’s a boulderer.
I hadn’t pulled on rock yet but made a flash attempt on Grounded for Life, a really cool overhanging arete. I pulled on and made it through to the last move and then promptly dabbed on the rock behind me. A quick go to try the last move and then I put it all together a few minutes later. Such a fun problem!!! I was kind of astounded at how nice it felt to complete something!! How quickly we forget.
Katie did everything but the last couple of moves and we were blown away with how much fun the whole morning was. All day long I kept on thinking that this is what climbing is supposed to be. Fun, not work. It’s always nice to have those little revelations and reminders that it should be enjoyable.
So, normally when we go out bouldering we’re the weirdest ones out there. Among all of the campers, hikers, horse riders and families, walking around with giant pieces of foam attached to our backs generally singles the climbers out amongst the crowd.
Not this Saturday.
These guys were.
You may remember me talking about the battlers in the costumes with the fake swords and armor a couple of weeks ago. Well, they were out in force this past Saturday. As we drove into the park we kept on seeing little pockets of these guys. Then we turned the corner to go to Group Camp B and they were everywhere. Both Katie and I were stunned. Hobbits, Elves, Nerds, Warriors, whatever you want to call them.
I think the most confusing part of all of this were the 4 people dressed up as Power Rangers. Their costumes did not leave a whole lot to the imagination. Just try to squeeze an adult body into one of the Power Rangers costumes designed for a kid. Not pretty.
That’s all I’ll say about that for now, the website does it more justice. As for the climbing, it was fantastic. Katie made great progress on both of her projects and I’ve unlocked the last key piece of beta for mine, much thanks to Remo for that one. Here’s a shot of Katie on Split Personality. I’m beginning to learn how to use the flash correctly now. It’s been fun to start taking pictures again.
So Katie and I went out to Governor Dodge again on Saturday. It was one of those days that was just perfect, start to finish. It was so nice and I think we both needed it. We had breakfast at Tex Tubbs and then made our way out to the boulders. I had bought a new flash for my camera earlier that week and it was really fun to play around with it and experiment a little. After a little bit of toying around I got the wireless flash to work correctly, most of the time at least, and the result was pretty cool. I’m excited to try it out some more this fall. There was one car in the parking lot when we arrived and when we left we were the only ones there. Perfect. The temps weren’t the best but there was a nice breeze and we made due.
It was great. I love fall. Can’t wait for next weekend.
Here’s a shot of the throw on Highly Executed. Out of all the pictures Katie took of me on the throw, this one stuck out. I love how you can see the whole problem and how the wall opens up as it goes away from the camera.
I decided to pull out the monkey face on this one. Classy.
After a few minor meltdowns and some entertaining falls, Katie got her left foot to stick again and made some progress on Hangman.
Split Personality has some of the most painful holds at Dodge with about 5 really painful moves up a short, dark wall. The holds suit the problems location and general feel. It’s often really dark and has a gloomy, almost damp feel. It makes taking pictures there tough and kind of interesting. The wireless flash was a huge help here. I’m really looking forward to shooting this problem again.
Katie was so close to this. It’s always tough to decide whether to go to this boulder first in the day or last. You’re pretty well guaranteed to lose all of your skin, so your day might end sooner than you want. I’m expecting a send in the near future.
Best part about bouldering.
Like I said, I’m really excited to go back and take some more pictures at this boulder. It’s got a really cool feel to it and the positions it puts the climber in are pretty photogenic.
Temps are supposed to be cooler next week so hopefully we’ll have some completed projects to talk about. I can’t wait. Oh, and apparently the people who dressed up last weekend in Medieval armor and such were playing “Ring Toss”. Lord of the Rings reenactments. Yeah. Awesome. I hope we didn’t get a spell cast on us….
So, Katie and I made another trip to Governor Dodge this weekend. The weather was much cooler and conditions were so much better. It kinda reminded me why I like Sandstone. Every fall I’m reminded of why it’s so good. The leaves were starting to change and the rock felt nice and grippy.
We spent most of our time on the “Execution Bloc” and only stayed for a few hours as we’d been at the gym the night before. There are a bunch of problems in a pretty condensed area with eliminates seemingly everywhere. We both made progress on our respective projects and Katie sent one of the problems she was working on. Always fun. I spent all afternoon working out the moves on Highly Executed and felt really good on it. It’s a fun, rising traverse on a series of big slopers. All of the holds are skin and user friendly so it was a perfect place to hang out for an afternoon.
Unfortunately, I forgot my camera. And of all the days to forget it, this one was a doozy. Driving into the park we saw 8-9 people fully decked out in Medieval armor. Yep, that’s right……Armor. Trash can shields, molded metal chest and leg protection, realistic looking swords and chain mail body armor. Not to mention some pretty sweet helmets. If that wasn’t enough, a minute or so after we passed the warriors, we passed another group of battlers at the bathroom. They were sporting some super stylish neon accents on their clothes and were shooting a day-glow Nerf crossbow into a box. Needless to say we drove past both of these groups at about 2.7 miles per hour with our jaws open. I was crushed I forgot my camera. Crushed.
All that said, I’ll have it for the next session for sure. I’m also getting a new flash for my camera this week so I’m excited to start using it. Hopefully I’ll have some pictures next Monday or Tuesday for you to check out.
