Jackson Falls - The Vortex/Time Warp Oct 21, 2008

posted by Saucisson #3

Climbers - Tony, Calvin, Yusuf and Paul

I have 2 posts to make today, so I'll keep this one short. It was a good send day, with some mini-projects going down.

First off, getting to the Promised Land. Most people who've been to this area at Jackson Falls go there for the beautiful scenery, sandbagged, but wonderful routes and the sparse crowds. What they also experience is getting lost. I swear there's a time warp, gravitational flux that deposits the unwitting climber from heading towards the PL to the easternmost side of the Falls around Cheerio Bowl.

Tony and I had deciphered the way there - marked it with subtle signs and pretty much had the approach nailed to about 30 min. This time, (stupid us) we tried to take a 30 yard short cut - that's right, we turned 30 yards earlier than normal to save a little bushwacking. F---ing vortex swallowed us whole and we finally figured out where we were 1.5 hours later.

That was the most exciting part of the day - wondering if we were going to end up in our version of the Blair Witch Project and gauging how much water would be needed.

Other than that, Tony sent Congo Spray .12a (12c?) in epic style, I finished off Remove La Ropa .12b second go and Yusuf sent his first ever 5.13a: Butcher of Baghdad, second go of the day. Nice! Paul worked on some projects at Big Starr and is making good progress.

Tony and I also worked a little on Balance of Power .12b/c (.12d?) and I made some progress, but it's a ways out of reach. Hard, but beautiful. I'm thinking Tony might be able to send in a few more tries... eh? :)