I changed clothes in the drivers seat. It’s warm again, so I go into the woods wearing only a pair of shorts. Trying to maximize my sun exposure early in the year. I poked my contacts in.
No one around despite the hordes. I laid into the approach, one foot in front of the other, climbing the slope, rounding the undeveloped Outskirts Boulder. Pausing at the Broken Window Boulder to consider giving SimCity Planner another go. Decided to stick to the plan.
I trudged up the distinct deer trail, found a nice approach line through the rubble above the limestone band, and dropped my stuff under the imposing southeast corner of the Samurai Boulder. The sun hid about the time I reached the CBD of Boulder City.
First I clambered up on the Saul Goodman Boulder swept the leaves and sticks off. Mainly I’m trying to get ahead of any poison ivy that still wants to bud out. But there was no poison ivy on top of Goodman.
Dropped a rope down the south face of Samurai. Snipped some rhodo and birch twigs. Swept off piles of leaves and dirt caught on ledges. It’s going to be epic. Kept looking over at the east face of Goodman—that distinct pillar feature on the top two thirds of the slab.
The sun was dipping low. Other than walking out in the dark nothing compelled me to leave.
So I threw brushes at the face—at that line. It took some time but I got it all cleaned up. I set the ladder aside—strapped my phone to it for video in fact—and dragged my crash pad over and plopped it at the base. Jammed my feet into climbing shoes (gonna need a resole soon), dipped my fingers in my chalk bag, and stepped up to the boulder.
With a false start the problem went down as I expected it to. The moves were straightforward. The holds are all there. It’s high enough I didn’t want to blow the top out but not so tall as to melt my heart.
I called it Better Call Saul. ‘S like a V1. Maybe. I don’t know grades anymore.
Now I’m stoked to pull down the lines.
No comments:
Post a Comment