Bolt and Cam: Dirtbaging Adventures: April 2011

Our time wandering in the desert is coming to an end. Since Jan. 6, Cam and I have been chasing the sun in hopes of warmer weather. Our next destination marks a few changes. One, we are headed to cooler weather for the first time. Two, we are in search of longer climbs. With the exception of Cochise Stronghold, Cam and I have been focusing on harder, single pitch climbs (or boulder problems). It is now time to take all those gains in strength and technique and apply them to the big stone. Yosemite National Park, the birthplace of big wall climbing and the single most influential climbing area on the climbing culture of North America, if not the world. Needless to say, my psyche is at an all-time high. In many ways, the entire trip leading up to now has really only been training for what is to come.

Our final hoo-rahh in the desert was an amazing ascent of the North Face of Castleton. The North Face has to be the best climb I have ever done. The aesthetics, exposure, sustained difficulty, and location are beyond description. To top it off, we ran into an awesome couple on the summit. Mike, a fellow Mines alum, and his wife Jen completed the mega-classic and incredibly sand-bagged Kor-Ingles route on the south side of Castleton. Our two groups paired up for the raps in order to speed things up and decrease the cluster. Noob-0saur me, dropped his belay device on the final rappel of the descent. Mike and Jen graciously gifted me a belay device to use for the final rap as well as the remainder of our trip. Not only that, but they shared "victory beers" with us back in the parking lot. I am super thankful for their generosity and look forward to putting my new belay device to good use in the Valley.

Well, enough with all the text, you guys want and video. So here you have it. And Yosemite here we come.

We've been here in the Creek for almost 2 weeks now and rigors of crack climbing is starting to takes it toll on our bodies. Fortunately and unfortunately, it looks like we are about to have 2-3 days of rain and snow, forcing us to take a few days off from climbing. I just keep telling myself that once the rain passes, I will be climbing even stronger after the rest.

For those who live for the spray (read Mike and Sean) here is a recap of the climbing we have done here thus far. And for those who live for the photos, just skip past the text and enjoy.

Day 1: Original Meat Wall

The Sickle (OS)

Ladies First (OS)

Wee Doggie (OS)

Day 2: Way Rambo

Way Nutter (OS)

Blue Sun (OS)

Unnamed 5.10+ (1 Hang)

Rochambeau (OS)

Day 4: Supercrack Buttress

Incredible Hand Crack (RP)

3 AM Crack (OS)

Supercrack of the Desert (RP)

Keyhole Flakes (1 Hang)

Day 5: Scarface

Wavy Gravy (OS)

Scarface (3 hang)

Black Uhuru (OS)

Day 6: Blue Gramma

Petrelli Motors (OS)

Blue Gramma (HD)

Mexican Unicorn (RP)

Unnamed left of Mexican Unicorn (RP)

Day 8: Way Rambo

Desire (1 Hang)

Serrator Crack (3 hang)

The Monk (1 hang)

Slice and Dice (TR w/ hangs)

Day 9: Donnely/Battle of the Bulge

Generic Crack (RP)

Ruins Crack (2 hang)

Day 10: Second Meat Wall

Evening Ecstasy (OS)

Two Timer (OS)

Two Timer II (TR w/ hangs)

Tube Steaks Tomorrow (1 hang)

Day 12: Battle of the Bulge

3 Strikes Your Out (2 hang)

Swedin Ringle (TR w/ hangs)

Cave Route (TR clean)

Digital Readout (TR w/ hangs)

Our Piece of Real Estate (TR 2 hang)

Day 13: Scarface Wall

Big Guy (HD)

Unnamed or Pop Quiz (TR 2 hang)

Big Guy (TR w/ hangs)

The Sicillian (TR w/ hangs)

Day 14: Supercrack Buttress

Supercrack of the Desert (1 hang at start)

Fingers in a Lightsocket (TR clean?)

Coyne Crack (TR w/ hangs)

Something I have learned here in the Creek is that it is hard to increase your onsite level, by climbing at your onsite level. This is mainly due to the fact that many of the climbs in the creek are 1 sized. And to jump from a 5.10+ onsite to a 5.11- onsite, requires learning a whole new size of crack. This revelation has cause me to set aside my pride and start top-roping climbs instead of leading everything. Sure I can monkey my way up a 5.12, but I'm really not learning how to ring-lock by doing 2 ring-locks in a row and then hanging on a piece.

In this respect, it has been really cool to climb with people who are stronger climbers than myself, and have the possibility to climb some harder stuff (hence the many TR toward the end of the last 2 weeks). I am super thankful for the community of the Creek which is always very helpful and willing to share a top-rope...but I can let myself become a Top Rope Tough Guy!