Tag Archives: Shire Wall

Memorial Day in Portland – the Climbing

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Saturday, Sunday, and Monday – 25-May-2023, 26-May-2023, and 27-May, 2023

Historically, I used to go on big Memorial Day adventures – trips to Acadia, flights to France, adventures in Joshua Tree, and recently a drive down to Sacramento. This year, though, I kind of needed some rest and relaxation… Life, the Universe, and everything has been a heck of a time, and some downtime was exactly what the doctor was ordering.


Monday, 27-May-2023

Jess and I went climbing! At Ozone! Again!

It’s simple, right? I’d lived in Portland for ages, but how often did I actually get to go climbing outdoors? Not that often… though I will admit that, in retrospect, I did get out a fair bit… it always felt like a major objective, some huge challenge to get out into the outdoors to climb.

Now, it seems quick. A drive to Ozone isn’t long, even though I live further South than I did before. Maybe it’s not having to commute during the week, that lets me appreciate the drives a bit more?

Meh, who knows. We got to climb!


Memorial Day had been chill – biking around on Saturday, lazing around the house on Sunday… I was ready to stretch out and get some climbing in!

The Routes:
– Old Toby, 5.7, Trad, Lead!
– First Breakfast, 5.8, Trad, Lead!
– Second Breakfast, 5.9, Top Rope!
– Prancing Pony, 5.7, Trad, Lead!

And… that was it.

We didn’t do that many climbs, truth be told… and even then, I’m not 100% certain that the routes I wrote above are correct. I didn’t actually take notes, this time, and I frankly can’t quite remember why… Either way, I’m very certain that we did get out and get to climbing.

Why am I so sure?

Because, dear reader, I remember the picnic we had next.




After climbing, we drove down the road a little bit, off the main highway, and found a spot to rest.

Jess laid out the spread we’d bought the night before – a meat and cheese plate, with crackers and jam and drinks and… my ohh my. It was seriously amazing! We ate, we drank, we chatted, and I even flew my drone around a little bit… getting one or two good pictures of your favorite picnic-eers.

Yay Memorial Day!

A spring day on the rock at Ozone

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**Note this was posted on 06-July-2023, but is backdated to 12-June, so that it fits in with the correct timeline. Apologies!!**


29-Apr-2023


Holy crap it was hot.

Like… April, man… why was it hitting 90s? Global Warming my rear… this is Global boiling. Global blow-torching. Global “It’s getting too hot!”-ing!

Anyways Jess and I went climbing!

It’s been a while since I’ve been to Ozone, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect… but thankfully, Mountain Project was there to help guide us, and my memory wasn’t quite as bad as I was worried it might be. Minimal exploration was needed, and lots of great climbing was had!

I didn’t end up taking any pictures, since photography while climbing is a bit hard… I’m either climbing, or belaying, and neither option lends itself to free hands. If you’ll forgive the lack of photography, though, I do have a list of climbing that we rocked!

Simple and easy ones, I didn’t push too hard… though that final 10a was definitely an appreciated challenge! The rest were simple – stretching my muscles, letting Jess break back into outdoor climbing… it was a good day, in no uncertain terms.



Routes:
– Wellwisher, 5.6, Trad, Lead!
– The Beared Lady, 5.6, Mixed, Lead!
– Pippin, 5.6, Trad, Lead!
– Merry, 5.7, Sport, Lead!
– Prancing Pony, 5.7, Trad, Lead!
– Bag Ends, 5.7, Trad, Lead!
– Mirkwood, 5.10a, Top Rope!