Redsgiving 2k19

My best friend Harry flew in from Denver for a week of shenanigans to be deemed “Redsgiving”. It was a homecoming of sorts. Harry has spent many years in the Red, building up his resume as a “Stone Master” and drinking the local hootch. From his first encounter of staying at Miguels for a few months to the now distant, but oh so sweet visits of the present. So, here we were, Harry flew in on Saturday in the midst of a strong rain storm. We laid low that first Saturday, (and really most of Sunday too) and got our stuff together. The plan was to climb every single day thru Thanksgiving, so we weren’t trying to absolutely crush ourselves ever single day. It was more like a slow burn until Harry had to fly back early Friday morning.

Sunday, Day 1 - First up on the chopping block was The Oberon, (5.10b, trad). It’s up at moonshiner’s wall with a relatively easy approach. The oberon is this soaring hand crack that kicks back at the start and eases on back vertical towards the finish. It’s a dihedral, but you can get some really good straight in jams, with great feet jams as well. I really wanted the onsite of this crack. I knew I’d put in a ton of time on different routes over the fall, and knew if I could just hold on I could do it. After the mental prep and racking up, I was ready, Harry was psyched, and as I went to step up on the route, realized I hadn’t put on my shoes! I put my shoes on and the battle was ready to start. The first few moves are moving up to the ledge where the crack starts. This is almost better left unprotected because it’ll give you a bunch of rope drag and mess you up when you’re climbing. Starting into the crack, it’s thin hands, and doesn’t quite feel super secure, but after you move through the first 5-10 feet the crack widens out to perfect hands (for me, that’s a #2). The rest of the route is beautiful jamming with some good feet for rests. When you get up onto the vertical/slabby part you’re doing some different moves, and before you know it the anchors are just off to the left. I got the onsite, and both Harry and I were feeling it. Harry cleaned the route and we headed off across the valley. Our next climb was The Return of Geoff Beene, 5.10c/d. The Return of Geoff Beene is a finger crack with three distinct sections, all broken up with good rest ledges. After feeling a little intimidated, I stepped right in and started pulling. I managed to make it up to the first ledge with no issues, and was working my way through the second section. Some how after feeling like I might fall off, I managed to stay on and grab the next rest ledge. Now it was into the final 20ish feet. This is where the crux is and where the rock turns to a more pebbly sandstone, with large aggregate rocks stuck in the now hardened sand… It make finger jamming very difficult! It was getting into here, where the feet disappear for 3-5 feet, and you’re solely on finger jams that I fell off. I fell a couple of times trying the move before partially climbing/partially aiding my way up it. Harry quickly went to work climbing and cleaning the route as nightfall quickly descended on us and he had to figure out the last moves in the dark. What a trooper. We packed up, headed back to the car, and made our way to Miguels. The plan was to sleep at Miguels to get the full RRG experience. We met a bunch of different people after initially not being able to find a table. However, a friendly couple from San Diego, slid their stuff over and let us sit next to them. (I guess they couldn’t tell how much we stank, from twenty feet away!)

Monday, Day 2 - The next morning we woke up to heavy frost and cold air. We stayed in our sleeping bags for a bit, managing to get up around 8:30. After a rousing breakfast of oatmeal, some instant hot coffee, and a double chocolate cookie, we were ready to hit the road. Our objective for the day was to bag, a bunch of the lines at Funk Rock City. I’d been there a few times before, including the weekend before, and had some business to finish with Goodstone. Funk Rock City is a south facing wall, so luckily we knew the wall would be warm, but the hike in includes a creek crossing that was high, so we ended up taking our shoes off and walking across the frigid creek. Finally arriving at the wall though, the sun met us with open arms and heated up our excitement for a near perfect day of climbing ahead of us. Harry started out on the sharp end first getting a good warm up in on Just Another Trad Route. It’s a manageable 5.9 dihedral, with a small ledge pull. Then, we just decided to hop right into the meat of things, and I took the lead on Goodstone. I top roped this climb the weekend before, and after my work on Sunday with The Return of Geoff Beene I knew I could lead this. I managed to make it about 5-8 feet above the starting ledge before falling on a .2 X4. It held strong and I took a quick rest. I managed to work through the sequence before falling again a few moves up. By my third go, I was at some horizontals, where I put in a bomber #3 and was able to run it up and over the left edge of the arete, and make it to the chains. Harry then gave his try at a sport route, (this part is a bit blurry). But for most of the rest of the afternoon we worked in with some different climbers, ate food, and enjoyed the sunlight. We made our way back to the parking lot as the light faded away. We pulled out the fresh bread, cheese, and pepperoni for a little parking lot party before hitting the road.

Tuesday, Day 3 - This day was all about finishing the story that started at Muscle Beach three years ago. In the summer of 2017, Harry, Matt, and I went out to muscle beach with the goal to climb Rocket Man. Rocket man is a five star fist crack in the heart of the gorge’s wilderness. It requires a creek crossing and a good 20 minute hike up to the base of the cliff. In 2017, we were unable to lead the route clean. Harry spend 40+ minutes putting the climb up, then Matt decides he’s going to lead it too, and pulls the rope. Another 40+ minute battle ensues as he fights his way up to the top. After both Harry and Matt put up battle, it was my turn to do it on top rope. They bet me dinner that I couldn’t do it clean on top rope. Taking their bet, I grunted, and sweated my way up that crack climbing it clean. We only did the first pitch as a short 35 foot second pitch guards the top of the cliff line above the already heinous first pitch. Well, we were back this time to do it clean on lead, and take the route all the way to the top. We flexed our muscles at the beach before racking up because the warm sweet smells of southern Appalachia were tingling the nostrils and the suns rays were making the temperature feel like it was in the 60’s. In a graceful fashion, I smoothly made my way up the crack to the crux. One of the hardest parts about the climb is the crack flares outwards, making you have to put your arm DEEP into the crack to get any sort of good jams. The other fun part about this crack is you’re only going to have your right hand in the crack. It gets dragged along and pumped out as you continue up higher. So, I made it to the crux, where the crack widens to about a #5 camelot size and you can kind of, sort of put your right hip into the crack, and then waller up the crack and finally grab the victory jug and limp your body over the ledge.. from there it doesn’t end to the anchors. You get a couple jams, and then you just kind of have to get a move to the tree and go for it. I brought Harry up to the ledge and we started looking at the second pitch. After some debate, I ended up taking the sharp end on the spicy second pitch. It starts out with an awkward offwidth section and pulls a ledge to a nice fist crack with tons of exposure. I didn’t realize there would be that much exposure on the top of the pitch, but it was incredible pulling those couple moves. I made it to the tree anchor at the top and brought Harry up. We were so happy on top, and enjoyed the view. A couple rappels and we were back on the ground. The middle day in our week, we decided to head back to Lexington for a night sleeping in a bed, and a good, warm, home-cooked meal.

Wednesday, Day 4 - Fueled by tacos and wine, we headed back out to the gorge early Wednesday morning. Our goal was to hit Tradisfaction, 5.10b, at the Stadium in Muir Valley. I was definitely feeling tense at the base of the route, so I started playing some music, cranked up the dance moves and the confidence came back. A nice easy start leads into a committing fingers layback up to the top. The layback section doesn’t last too long, but it’s easy to fall out if you stop and hang around, so you really just need to climb through it. I took my time on the onsite, and ended up taking a good fall onto a #.5 cam. Regrouping, I continued up and took some more falls before finally reaching the anchors. I felt like I could really put all the moves together, so I rested and gave it another go with the pieces in place. My foot ended up slipping in the layback section and I blew it, but when I got back on I nailed it through all the moves. It was a little disappointing, but I’m okay with it. I’ll be back at some point. I cleaned my route and then we headed over to a 5.10d sport route that Harry was psyched on. We did a couple more routes over there, before heading to Inner Sanctum. After a couple confidence boosting 10b sport routes Harry hopped on an old nemesis on Psyberpunk, a slabby 5.11c sport route with a defined sequential crux. Harry crushed the route as the sun cast its colorful rays on the clouds in the valley. I climbed Psyberpunk, and then some other route before rappelling off in the dark. We made the long hike back up the hill to the car and headed to our post at Miguels.

Thursday, Day 5 - A route I’ve wanted to do for awhile has been Minas Tirith. Minas Tirith is a tower climb in the northern gorge, out in the Indian Creek Wilderness. It’s got a relatively short approach, with a good amount of bushwhacking towards the top. You can see the tower as you come around the lower cliff band and get closer to the right side of the ridge. I was always scared away by the 5.9 PG13 grade, but it’s really not too bad, and I felt pretty comfortable leading it. The first pitch is a big crack, #2-#4 size cams. Exit out right to the ledge where you can fit a #.5, .75, and a 1 camelot for a bomber anchor. I brought Harry up and we moved around the ledge to the start of the second pitch. The second pitch is about 15 feet tall, and has a bunch of different variations. The one we did was the easiest starting on the right side and working out left until you pull the big exposed move to get your body over the arete and you’re home free to the top. We hung out on top for quite a bit, just taking in the view, talking about life and shooting some quick music videos. It was awesome to be able to do that climb with Harry. It was a great adventure to share. From there we packed our bags and headed out.

Thanksgiving night we managed to find some shredded chicken, stuffing, and a pumpkin pie to celebrate the holiday like normal humans. It was a great week of climbing, but more than that, it was a great week with a great friend.