I am instructing the crag course this weekend. Saturday I team up with Aaron and Jeff on R&D. Arron led pitches 1 and 3, Jeff led the other 2. I’d hang out in the middle. We topped out in 4 hours, which is pretty good for a 3 person team. The 2nd and 3rd pitches are a little wet. Jeff went off route on the last pitch and we climbed the lichened slab without good pros. It feels a little stiffer than the usual route. It’s probably a 5.7 friction slab and s pretty sustained for a long stretch. After we parted I went to check out the route I’d be climbing on Sunday since I haven’t done it before. A group of 6 are climbing it. By the time I got to the base they were already done. Loni wanted to check out a bunch of people at Castle Rock so I gave her a ride. After we parked she asked me if I wanted to climb to logger’s ledge instead of taking the trail. I repied “why not” so off we went. We quickly geared up and started on The Fault. I led the chimney to a ledge beyond the rappel tree. I used a fixed piece, a mid sized nut and a red metolius cam to build an anchor and brought up Loni. She then led the second pitch (1st pitch of Catapult) which has a few 5.8 moves. I followed and cleaned. The 3rd pitch is low 5 so I didn’t even bother getting the rest of the rack. I ended up placing one piece (the red cam I brough up). Loni followed and we broke down everything, coiled rope. 1 exact hour. We are pretty fast considering this is the first time I have climbed with Loni.

Sunday, I paired up with John and climbed Ground Hog Day. I already scouted the approach the day before and got enough beta info from the gang. So the job was pretty easy. I let John lead all 3 pitches. He was a bit nervous on the first pitch and got progressively better. We climbed and rapped in 3 hours, which is pretty good for a new trad leader.

We did the same stuff as last year except I’m instructing this time. I suggested naming these routes and Cebe gave me the honor. I have decided on the slab we’d climb on Saturday. I called it Saturday Slab. The route on the climber’s left is China Rose and the right is Black Flamingo. The big slab we’d climb on Sunday I haven’t decided yet.

Day 1: Nick and I started on Green Drag-on. I led the first pitch. It is a pretty straight-forward pitch. There was a place that would take a #2 and I didn’t bring. I took the chance to use a sketchy flake and placed a small Metolius offset. Not to my surprise it failed bounce test. Then I tagged a few big cams. In order to keep the ropes free of tangling, we continued on Town Crier and the other party went on the 2nd pitch of Green Drag-on.

Day 2: we jugged the first two pitched we led the previous day and started on pitch 3. Nick has done this pitch before so it’s my turn. It’s a fun and short pitch. It goes up and left from the belay station reaching a roof. A few steps of traverse brings you to a fixed piton. Then I’d be lowered and do a pendulum to a thin crack on the left. I sticked a cam hook into the crack and made a couple cam hook moves. When I saw a chance to put in a brassie, I did. However it pulled through after I committed and I was now on the piton again. I had to do the pendulum once again. This time I wasn’t so lucky, the cam hook just doesn’t want to stick in. I had to grab Takeo’s arm. We joked about it. It’s aid climbing :). The thin vertical crack goes to another piton under a roof. Getting over the roof is quite awkward. Once over it, there is a couple of bolts for the anchor. Nick then led the next pitch, which is a zig-zaggy pitch with lots of pitons and bolts. Following is quite strenuous. We rapped from the top of this pitch and called it a day.

Day 3, 5/1. This is the last day of our short trip. Jack and Grace are leaving so it’s just the two of us. I hardly slept the night before and woke up at 5. After a breakfast at Starbucks we were at the park gate 2 minutes after it opened. Our plan was to climb Cat in the Hat and Yinan would lead as much as she wants. We wasted about 15 minutes on the approach making a wrong turn and began climbing right before 8. We linked the first 2 pitches. Yinan led all the way. She was a little off route near the top of the final pitch after the bolt and went to the right too much. Otherwise it went pretty smoothly. She felt that it’s a harder 5.6 than Solar Slab and there were a few sketchy moves. The first one being a move on the first pitch, about 40 feet off the ground above a ledge. Then the crux pitch (pitch 4) is a bit sketchy to her as well. I agree it’s not an easy 5.6 and it could be a bit airy in places.