So, not long after my last post, I flew to South Dakota for my grandfather's funeral. He died on Jan. 6th, and his funeral was set for the next Wednesday, so I flew from Monterrey to Sioux Falls on Monday, where my parents picked me up at the airport. I spent three nights in South Dakota, with an open casket viewing on Tuesday at the funeral home and the funeral on Wednesday at Nathaniel Lutheran Church. It was a bittersweet couple of days; it was great to see my family and extended family, but of course it was sad to mourn my grandfather.
My grandpa was a great man, and I loved both him and my grandfather dearly. I used to love going up to their house with my family for Christmas. He seemed to be always in a good mood, apt to chuckle, and never cross or angry. Everyone in Alcester had nothing but good things to say about him. It was great to hear how well people thought of him - someday I hope to be a kind, loving, giving grandfather just like him.
Anyway, when I got back into El Potrero, it was interesting, because the weather had been kinda cold and wet while I was gone. Which makes sense since it coincided with the first snowpocalypse this winter. But before long it got nice again and I went out cragging with Quest, Marco, and Dave on the Central Scrutinizer wall and Mini Super. We only did three routes that day, but whatever, it was fun.
Two days later, Andrea and I decided we were gonna climb Estrellita, which is a 12-pitch romp up a traversing gully in the Estrellitas Canyon. I think we got to the wall around 11:30am, and got our gear on to climb.
I led the first two pitches, which I think were both 5.9, and I linked them without a problem. By the time I finished them however, the sun came out and it was SUPER hot so of course I had to take off my shirt and drink some water =)
Then I belayed Andrea up, and it was her turn to lead. You can climb the next two pitches as 5.9 and 5.8, OR you can choose the harder route and do a 5.11b variation and a 5.11a variation. She opted to lead the 5.11b, which was a relatively thin face with a small finger crack, and it was harder than it looked. In fact, for some reason, perhaps the overwhelming heat in the sun, or because I was out of shape, I felt kinda sick climbing it, even on toprope. Somehow I managed to fight my way up with only one take, but I seriously thought for a moment that I might vomit.
I didn't, and Andrea led the next pitch, and she took the 5.11a variation. This route, as opposed to the previous, was definitely shorter and easier and I actually felt like I was climbing it alright, with some form of dihedral stemming technique. However, I still felt kinda sick. Weird.
Next was a 3rd-class gully, with a fixed line you can clip into for protection, which we walked up. At this point the party behind us caught up to us, and we were pretty hot, so we decided to stay in the shade on the 3rd class and let them pass us.
The next two pitches were rated 5.7, but really, they were more like 5.5 or 5.6, so we simul-climbed them with maybe 10-15 meters of rope between us. Simul-climbing means that both climbers climb at the same time, and they are counterbalanced by quickdraws between them, so that if either climber falls, the quickdraws will hold both climbers to the wall. We didn't fall.
Next, it was my turn to lead, so I did. Supposedly, the next two pitches were 5.10b and 5.9, but they were both pretty easy, and I linked them. The only real problem is that there's a funky traverse between the first and second pitch here, so the drag on the rope by the time I finished was a real... drag.
Andrea led the next two pitches, which I guess are 5.10b. They didn't feel too hard, but I did have to do a lot of arm bars and foot jams in the crack on the way up.
Lastly, I led the last pitch, an easy 5.8. Predictably, it was easy. I belayed Andrea up and we scrambled over to the palm tree to chillax and sign the logbook.
I think perhaps the strangest part of this climb is the rap. There's a fixed line leading down from the summit down to the backside of the "fin" behind Estrellita, into the Los Lobos Canyon. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of it, but it's pretty straightforward jugging down the fixed line to the rap anchors. From there you can rappel down in only four pitches near the 4-pitch multi "Will the Wolf Survive". We simul-rapped down with no hitches, except when Andrea accidentally dropped her sunglasses. Amusingly, we found them right at the base of the rap.
There you are.
ReplyDeleteIts nice to have a personal name drop, even if we did only climb 3 routes that day. Nice blog, even nicer name! Where is the subscribe by email button?
Taking notes for my future Estrellita climb... :)
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