Glacial Erratics

MattLiggett and I had another fine trip to TheRed.    (9DU)

This time of year it is very humid and often cloudy. More than once we commented that it could be 9:30 am or 3:30 pm, no telling. The combination of heat, humidity and weird hazy lighting made us a bit lazy, but we enjoyed ourselves, the climbing, and the scenery.    (9DV)

Full collection of pics (40) at TheRedJuneMattThumb, with some highlights and lessons below.    (9DW)

Day one was spent at PhanTasia where we decided to have a day of moderate sport. We got on anything that had bolts and was rated a 9 or a 10. I was pleased by the easy approach to the first climb:    (9DX)

+ ++ T    (9DY)

Lesson one: 5 liters of water per day, while officially plenty, is not enough.    (9DZ)

+ ++ T    (9E0)

We sweat. We left puddles and wet spots from our congress with rock. I climbed CreepShow? leaving dampness at the opportune seated rest.    (9E1)

+ ++ T    (9E2)

When I climbed it again, the dampness was still there.    (9E3)

Day two we squelched off to FortressWall where we planned Matt's first trad lead (his first sport lead is documented elsewhere).    (9E4)

Fortress is good for this sort of thing because the climbs are well travelled, well defined and have reasonable descents.    (9E5)

Matt styled up AmericanCrack?:    (9E6)

+ ++ T    (9E7)

(If you look at the big version (click the ++) of that pic, you can barely see Matt's helmet next to the big boulder at the top.)    (9E8)

At the base of the climb we had a large collection of thirsty bugs that might sting us if they cared about us:    (9E9)

+ ++ T    (9EA)

I then led Route48    (9EB)

+ ++ T    (9EC)

following the if-you-don't-know-what-gear-you-need-take-it-all school of thought.    (9ED)

+ ++ T    (9EE)

Lesson two: Not so much a lesson as a thing to work on: Selecting the right gear and economizing. Gear is heavy. Heaviness bad.    (9EF)

Finally, no trip to Fortress is complete without Matt making a cheese eating grin on top of BedtimeForBonzo. Compare:    (9EG)

Trip two:    (9EH)

+ ++ T    (9EI)

Trip one:    (9EJ)

+ ++ T    (9EK)

Lesson three: Don't make a big huge mess of the rope when it is your only way down.    (9EL)

+ ++ T    (9EM)

It's beyond lovely at the top of the cliff.    (9EN)

+ ++ T    (9EO)