Seattle, Portland, and Smith Rock

After leaving Squamish, I headed back to Seattle. The day before my temporary tags expired, the dealership finally got the title for my car from the previous owner's bank, so I had them mail it to Tom and Sarah. I spent a night at their house, got the title in the mail to Melissa so she could complete the transfer of my plates for me, and then met up with my friend, Tiffanie, for dinner. After a pleasant evening of sushi, wine, and hanging out with good folks, I crashed at Tiffanie's for the night, then headed on to my next stop, Portland. There, I caught up with Ellen, to continue the catching up with old friends portion of my adventure. More food, more drinking, and another night crashing on a couch, then I drove to Smith Rock, to meet up with another Geoff, who I connected with through Mountain Project.

After we had gotten 3 climbs in, it was starting to look like rain. Geoff assured me, "We're in the desert. It almost never rains here", or something to that effect. So, I started leading a fourth climb. I was glad that I chose an easy, bolted climb, because I was about half way up when the rain hit. It didn't pour or anything, but it was coming down fairly steadily. I finished the route, rapped down and cleaned it, and we packed up and called it a day.

Saturday, we did a fun 5.7 called Spiderman, a fantastic 5.9 called Sundown, and a very challenging 5.10d arete called Moons of Pluto. Then, I decided to lead a "5.8" called Cling-On. I knew before I even got off the ground that this climb was going to be more than I bargained for. The route laybacks up a corner, with slimy hands and slick feet. you can occasionally stem to good feet for rests, but then getting back into the climb is tricky. I fell at the crux when a foot slipped, and an orange alien, which I had placed hastily and blindly, popped. I had placed a lot of gear, so my fall still wasn't long, but, none-the-less, it freaked me out (and the climb had me freaked out to begin with). I got back on the climb, got another (good) piece in, and climbed above it and down-climbed several times. I eventually committed to it and got one more higher piece. Above this, there were two options: pull around the corner into a weird, flaring chimney thing, or run it out up relatively easy face climbing. I tried going straight up the face, but, at the top, didn't want to commit, and ended up down-climbing and lowering off. Geoff finished the route, pulling around into the crack where there was good protection...obviously the right way to go. I didn't even want to top-rope it. I was totally done.

Looking out from the top of Bookworm, I think

Geoff rappelling down Bookworm (I think)

Monkey Face (We didn't climb it. The easiest route is 5.8 A0)

A panoramic view from the west side (I think) of Smith Rock

After Geoff left, I headed back to the campground, where I randomly ran into Joe, a climber who I met in South Dakota. He is also on a hiatus from work, traveling and climbing around the West. What's more, he was also on his way to Burning Man.

Sunday, I got up, had breakfast, organized my gear, said goodbye to Joe, and headed out for Winnemucca, NV, on my way to Burning Man......

Route List for 8/25-8/29:

• Pack Animal Pitch 1 (5.8, Trad) (Onsight)
• Pack Animal Direct (5.10a Trad) (TR Clean)
• Bookworm (5.7 Trad) (TR Clean)
• Bunny Face (5.7 Sport) (Onsight)
• Spiderman (5.7 Trad) (Onsight)
• Sundown (5.9 Trad) (TR Clean)
• Moons Of Pluto (5.10d Sport) (TR Clean)
• Cling-On ("5.8" Trad) (DNF)