On Saturday Steven and I went to Lost City. I’d never been there before and Steven has only been twice so we spent a little time wandering around looking at everything. Finally we found Lost City Crack (5.10a) which Steven had led on a previous trip and decided to start with that. When we were… Read more »
Posts By: Dawn
Climbers Are the Only Animals that Self-Deprecate, You Know
Day Five I hang from the rope, kicking my toes against the rock. Half laughing, half furious I yell “I hate climbing!” At the rock, at Karl and Todd above me, at Yosemite in general. I am staring into the maw of yet another off-width crack. I had planned to have a special off-width day… Read more »
Sliding
Todd and I leave for Yosemite at the end of the week so my focus this weekend was on mileage and multi-pitch. On Saturday, Steven suggested I lead Snooky’s Return (5.8). I’d been on it before but didn’t remember a thing about it. He told me I’d followed it cleanly but had said I wouldn’t… Read more »
Try Again
What happened to the weather? It was supposed to be beautiful this weekend but after the rain on Saturday we woke up to fog and drizzle on Sunday. It looked like another bad day until Todd decided he was going to lead Retribution (5.10b), wet rock and all. He spent some time hanging below the… Read more »
Adopt-a-Crag Day
On Saturday I went to the Access Fund’s Adopt a Crag day at Pinnacle in Connecticut. I’d never climbed at Pinnacle before, so I was interested to see it (and to help, of course). We cleaned in the morning and I won the unofficial “strangest thing to find at a crag” award by unearthing a… Read more »
More Clutch Than Cruise
“I’m going to put in another piece and come down,” I say. “Put in two more pieces,” Todd tells me. “Why are you coming down?” Steven asks me. “The book says it’s only 5.6 from there.” “Well, it doesn’t feel like 5.6, my feet are on fire, and I’m thirsty,” I answer, fidgeting in another… Read more »
Twelve’s a Crowd
It starts with me and Lisa and Brenda, a sort of girl’s only climbing trip. I’ve never been to Rumney before. But then neither have Todd and Steven so I invite them along. We run into Julie at the Gunks one day and it turns out she needs a partner for that weekend. She lives… Read more »
Wider Ain’t Better – A Utah Sampler
I really, really want to go to Indian Creek,” Geoff emails me, inspired by the trip a group of rec.climbers has just returned from. “I really, really want to go too,” I answer. We agree on Labor Day and start casting about for a rope gun. Todd says he really, really wants to go too… Read more »
“My First 5.9” or “Good Plans Don’t Make Good Stories”
It was a good plan. I was feeling pretty comfortable leading 5.8 at the Gunks. I’d led many of the well-known “hard” 5.8s, including Modern Times on a second try. I’d done a few routes that were labeled 5.9- in the guide that rates nearly everything harder, and I’d led a 9- at the New…. Read more »
A Taste of Heaven
There were three things I was repeatedly warned about prior to my first trip to Seneca: the sandbagged ratings, the lousy food, and the lack of anything to do there when it rains. I climb at the Gunks, so how bad could Seneca ratings be? Except that these warnings were coming from other Gunks climbers…. Read more »