RedMan

The title of course referring to the state of my epidermis. Yikes! Needless to say I was able to get some sun, a very crucial part to visiting Winatchee. I just returned last night from a two day romp out to Leavenworth. It was my friend Greg’s b-day and as a consolation b-day prize he got to stare at my ugly mug for two days while we melted in the sun. Arriving around two on Sunday afternoon we set up shop at Mad Meadows, the Hueco Route cave and the little room of the Sail were actually quite cool and we panted our exhaustion away by watching a crew of guys and gals swig beer and take turns on Drugstore Cowboy. Greg did The Hueco Route and the Rudder, while I ran some laps on DC, then decided to try The Jib. The jug looked closer than I remember so I felt good, but after pulling on for the flash I decided it was a little committing. My second go I decided to just try and actually stuck the jug, a little bamboozled as to what to do next I lunged out right for what I thought was going to be a big victory jug and greased off a flat hold. Well, a little working out was in order and I straightened the top out up and finally sent. Greg got to work on DC and sent that as well and we moved onwards and upwards passing our beer swilling friends on the way. We sat in the shade after our 50 yard trek uphill had crippled our intentions of climbing everything we saw and instead settle for a nice session with Spongebob. Greg came close, and then walked around the corner and sent Tentacles quickly. I had fun revisiting these quality V.3’s.


Spongebob Squarepad(V.3)


Tentacles(V.3)


Tentacles.


We slowly made our way back down to the car and made a last stop at Egg Rock. China Cat went down but that’s about it. I think I’ll have to wait to grow longer arms for Musashi, or maybe I just have bad beta(?). Plus Kelley’s new problem Darkstar will also have to wait until I can figure out what the hell he did!? Anyway we slept well that night, it got just cold enough to dawn a jacket and enjoy a roaring fire thanks to the mountain of wood and a fence post we ended up with.
I woke up next morning to the crashing sound of someone letting the dumpster lid fall from its apex. Greg let me know that he was awake and I stumbled out of my tent wanting more sleep. It was about seven in the morning and we decided to get an early start before the heat set in and made us zombies.


Watch out for flying ants.

Our first stop was Forestland, but our tips refused to cooperate. I was able to warm up but the rock felt like crushed glass. My fingertips felt as if someone was pressing them against a searing hot pan every time I tried to hold onto a crimp. My mind was telling me yes, but my body was telling me NO! It was a quick session that ended after we realized the psych was low, and the skin was lower. Still, we moved on. After meeting up with Greg’s dad in the parking lot of Forestland we caravanned up to JY for a little while and then just gave up in the heat and decided to pack up camp and chill in Greg’s dad’s pool in Winatchee. It was some must needed floatation time, however I managed to emblazon myself with the kiss of the sungods. After rejuvenating our tips in the pool we drove back to Leavenworth and headed up to Mt. Home Road. It was a beautiful day and I always love getting a chance to climb up there.








We got on a stout V.2 at the Star Wars boulder, and I tried Darth Maul, the agro version of Iron Man traverse with a killer dyno at the end. I got to the dyno each time but could not force myself to let go and send. It is quite a stellar problem though, the rock quality up here is amazingly, awesome, super cool , number one!


Greg on Nice Men(V.2)

Last stop was the Pasture. Greg sent a few of the classics, Cattle Terrace, and Cud Crack, while I was able to muster up BSE a really cool highball with an intense last move. I tried to go for the repeat of Cattleguard Arete but fell at the lip, still one of my favorites.


Me at the top of BSE(V.3)

With split tips and a new outlook on future skin cancer treatments we headed back down the road, stopping once to check out a sweet prow off the side of the road, I believe this was Isaac Howard’s Quest for Fire. A slightly overhung and narrow prow with amazing features on dark granite, easily one of the more impressive and striking lines I have seen in Leavenworth. I don’t believe it was on privately owned land, and by that I mean there were no houses around, but who knows. I look forward to returning to try this problem, it looks doable for a ten and very aesthetic.
The trip was a success and Greg was able to get on a lot of good problems and send some of them as well. I had a blast climbing a lot of quality problems and a new hard one, and checking out some projects. The heat was a bit of a deterrent for future trips, but I was really glad we got out and happy birthday Greg!