Climbing: Off To A Rocky Start (heh heh)...

So the plan on Sunday was to go climbing. I woke up an hour before I had to leave, plenty of time to gather the few remaining things and add them to the pack, kiss the family and go. Then the suspicious intestinal rumbling started. An hour and a half, a few hasty trips to the loo, and three Immodium tablets later I finally had the car packed. Thank goodness for the wonder of modern medicine!

Then, at long last, I'm on my way tootling down the road (on a nearly empty tank, but heading toward a gas station) when I come upon the traffic light regulating cars through the one lane area around Ye Olde Landslide. To be sure to save every drop of gas I turn off the car. Then the light changes, I mash the Prius start button, and... nothing. A light or two comes on on the dash board, but no engine, electric or otherwise. Hmm. Repeated button mashing, key fob fondling, and arm out the window waving traffic by... Phooey! I'm really late now! (Fortunately the intestinal distress seems to be completely in check, thank heavens.) No cell phone service in the river canyon though.

A nice couple stops and tries their hand at mashing the start button, to no avail. They get out, I get in, and Voila! Starts up like a charm. Hmmm. Drive straight to climbing partner's house to find that indeed, he has not given up on me and left for parts unknown. Yay! We take his car.

And go do this:


Looking up the third pitch (rope length) to Climbing Partner Bill up there...


CPB working through the crux of the climb on pitch five... (He's 6 foot something, so we definitely did it differently!)


Requisite self portrait. Note the incredibly beautiful day behind me!


Job well done CPB!


I wanted to post a contrast photo of the young whippersnappers who came up behind us, with their shirtless, helmetless fancy freeness, but evidently I'm over my daily quota for blogger photos or something, so you'll have to use your imagination. I just have one word for them... Sunburn! No wait, two more... Skin Cancer! No wait, another two! Head Trauma! Okay, done now. Enjoy your day!