The Red - July 4th Weekend

Climbers - Yusuf, Chad, Angie and Calvin
Weather - Good and bad

July 4th weekend was a weekend of firsts in some respects. We tried new crags and camping locales and of course got rained out. It's summer in the midwest, what can you expect?

Thursday night we arrived around 2am, happy and excited to be at Lago Linda's, a moderate size campground that's about 5 miles past the entry to the Southern Region (on route 489). It's mostly quiet and the facilities are good: lots of space, water and a picnic table at every site, clean bathrooms and showers. But no food if you're wanting to buy (the cafe is apparently sporadic in service). We headed to Miguel's for dinner both nights and the trek back to our campsite took at least 30 minutes. Not a big deal, but not trivial either after a long day of climbing. It's a good alternative to a crazy Miguel's.

Friday we started at Muir Valley and decided on the Great Wall for its variety of routes. This was Chad's first outdoor sportclimbing trip and we wanted to find something for everyone. Chad started with a lead of Glory and Consequence 5.7, and took a nice fall at bolt 5. Way to break himself in. :) Ledgends of Limonite 5.8 next to it and Dynabolt Gold .10a served as warmups for me and Yusuf respectively.



I remember Dynabolt Gold and Touch of Grey .10d from the last time I was at this wall in 2004. It was interesting to climb them again and replay the contrast to see how each climb felt now versus back then. They were way easier this trip... even though back in 2004 I was able to onsight every climb up to the .11's, each climb had been a struggle back in 2004.

Chad did a great job on Touch of Grey, sitting just once past the crux, and Angie TR'd Dynabolt Gold. Yusuf chose Edge a Sketch .11c and continued to the second "pitch", a small extension called Ohio Arts .12b. He was up there long enough that I started to wonder where he was when he finally finished. Apparently it's cryptic and cruxy up there.

From there, we moved to the Hideout, home of such classics like Boltergeist .10a. I quickly hopped on Earth Surfer .11d, an old nemesis from a few years ago that had thoroughly spanked me. ES reminds me of Jackson Falls climbing, with bulges and slopers and blind reaches to a moderately powerful crux that requires using pretty small crimpers. Surfing this then leaves a nice slabby section marked by water grooves. I climbed it clean hanging the draws and realized that my fingers were probably a bit stronger now than the last time I tried this route.

The full web album is here. Day 2 pics here, with details to be posted later (it's a school night). :)