02-Oct, 03-Oct & 04-October, 2015

Daniel still hadn’t visited me in Oregon yet, even though I’d been living less than three hours from one of the biggest Mecca of sport climbing in the country.  Smith Rock, that legendary birthplace of the sport climbing genre, had been on his hit-list for a long time, but somehow had evaded the brutality of Daniel and my ability to crush awesome climbs. 

So, he flew out, we met up, and we headed down to Smith Rock to see what kind of trouble we could get into…

 

Friday, 02-October-2015

Grab dinner at the Taqueria, then drive down to Terrebone.  Let Daniel drive, so I can relax and check in with Sarah and take a break from being a driver.

Arrive, pay, realize that I left the sleeping pads at home.  Use emergency blankets and a spare sleeping bag as a bedroll… and it works pretty well, actually.  It’s not the most comfortable, but it’s definitely warm enough for me to be happy, and to fall asleep pretty quickly.

 

Saturday, 03-October-2015

I woke up to the sound of rain pattering against the tent… and that it was still completely dark out.  I really dislike waking up before dawn, so… I didn’t.  I mean, I did wake up, but I didn’t get out of bed for a while.  Took the chance to nap, relax, and enjoy my sort-of-comfortable bed.

But I did get moving as soon as the sun started peeking into my tent; Daniel and I were mobile by 7:00 at the latest, I think.  A quick breakfast, and then we started down into the gorge of Smith Rock.

 

The climbs:

5 Gallon Buckets – 5.8, sport lead, Daniel & Ben.

Hop on Pop – 5.8, sport lead, Daniel

Snuffy Smith – 5.9, sport lead, Daniel

Tuff it out – 5.10a, sport lead, Daniel

 

Sunday, 04-October-2015

Sunday was basically the same morning as Saturday, except that we didn’t bother making breakfast at camp.  It was raining hard enough when we woke up that we weren’t convinced that we’d actually get to climb, so instead we hit up a small breakfast place for pancakes and bacon and eggs and deliciousness

 

First Kiss – 5.nope, too many people in line

Matthew 7:24 – 5.10b, sport lead, Daniel & Ben (Ben took a rest, and toproped it again cleanly to make up for it)

Bop till you Drop – 5.11a, sport lead, Daniel attempt

Sea of Green – 5.7, sport lead, Ben leads as an escape from the crag