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| Climbing | 8.00 Miles |
1,500 AEG |
| | Climbing | 8.00 Miles | 3 Days | | |
| 1,500 ft AEG | | | | |
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| partners | | SO good to get out of town for a few days!
A couple of us left the day after Thanksgiving, somehow getting to the land of tufas while it was still somewhat morning outside. We passed the Welcome Wall and went straight to Slate Nation, which spends most of its day in the shade. No idea what routes we climbed there, but they were super fun! Eventually we were joined by others who we knew, and climbed until just about dusk. Returned to the campsite for some cheery fun for a couple hours before getting the itch to climb again... 90 minutes!!! Five of us quickly piled into a fast off-roading vehicle, with the hour-and-a-half time limit tattooed on our consciousness. We picked a really fun climb called Milkbone (10a), and quickly four climbers led it clean.. a send train! I top-roped it quickly, noting at the top that it was only through one hook instead of two! I turned green and fixed it... note to self: leave the drunkest climber for last. We packed the rope and hurried back to the campsite. 84 minutes! I popped open the Delirium and passed it around while someone told pink elephant jokes. Sadly, at some point the night ended and we all retired to our tents/hammocks...
Day two found us with more climbers! This time we started at Welcome Wall, then up to Mouse Wall. Had a great time hanging with everyone, but left all the picture-taking up to my friend Jameson. Perfect, because he'd left his Canon at home.. somehow his hands didn't start on fire after using my perfectly good Nikon.  Pretty windy on this day, and when we got back to camp, there was dirt everywhere inside the tent. I did my best to empty out the dirt, but there was so much caught inside the old Kelty zipper that it got stuck open, allowing more in than I could let out! I gave up and climbed in at 8pm, exhausted from fighting with tents and other camp supplies. My tent mate returned from the city around 10pm, completely missing the torrential dirting. He started to climb in, but as soon as I poked my head from under the cover he retreated in horror... I'd been out there less than 36 hours and looked like I hadn't showered in 36 years! We cleaned everything up and then continued the party with the new climbers now that the wind had died down.
Day three... last day! We hiked the upper route this time. Frightening! Up above, the trail is super steep and chossy. We watched and ducked and covered as someone was putting up a new line. Super cool! Original destination was to the Terrace, but we ended up at Slate Nation yet again, and then Welcome Wall. I climbed one route to clean it, but was feeling the wrath of the right quad and figured I'd had enough fun for one weekend. We eventually hiked out, hitching a ride with a couple other climbers who'd been coming out to the area since 2003. Got back to town, and celebrated our victories and defeats at Boulders with yet more Delirium. Perfect way to end a climbing trip. |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
And the wind was uncharacteristically non-existent... perfect night!
