Cragmont Rock and Indian Rock Park

Climb Review:

I’ve been to Cragmont Rock and Indian Rock before and I feel the same about them as I did before.
The only thing was that both place were much busier (I guess in the summer) than I had previously experienced.

Farewell to Arms (5.10c; Southeast Face)—I didn’t send this, but wanted to note here that I couldn’t figure out how to get past the first crux until I saw a youtube video beta. Now, I can’t wait to go back and try it out!
The Edge Slab (V1; The Pit)—I didn’t send this one either. I got stuck half way up where I couldn’t find a good foothold for my right foot. At this point, I could have dyno-ed to the next handhold, but couldn’t muster enough courage. Sitting at home, I now wish I had the balls to at least go for it, so I wouldn’t have regrets.
Transportation Crack (VB; The Pit)—This felt like a V0 to me, but I guess all the holds were bomber. I didn’t trust my feet on this day, so those didn’t feel great. Still, I flashed it.
Ankle Buster (5.0; The Pit)—I totally used my hands. But next time, I’ll try actually walking this up. Seeing a picture of someone doing the Transportation Crack, I now understand that you’re allowed to use your chest, head, etc (just not arms or hands) to balance against the rock, so it should be do-able?
Unnamed Ramp (VB; The Pit)—There were bomber holds until the second mantle. After that the hand holds are super slippery. But the ramp at the feet is totally bomber, so just walked my way up to the left. Still, it’s a rated R, so I was scared out of my mind. I took forever walking up that ramp.

What I Learned:

After climbing a 5.11a at the gym, I thought I had a good chance of at least sending Farewell to Arms at Cragmont Rock. Instead, I searched around for 15 minutes for holds, and failed at the first crux. I need more training!
Vivian brought belay glasses, which were awesome for not tiring our necks while we belay. Hopefully, it’ll lead to even safer climbing for us!

Fears Faced:

At Cragmont and at Indian Rock, I was overfilled with a sense of fear. It’s something I know will get better over time, but it’s still very present.

Friendship Corner:

I climbed both places with Vivian, Gene, Angie, and Pranay. It was awesome having all of them there, especially when we shared lunch and snacks after.

What Happened?

I arrived at Cragmont Rock around 8:15am and discovered that both anchors on the East wall were taken by others (a class on trad climbing, actually), so instead, we headed off to the Southeast wall. We were hoping to get to Southeast wall after enjoying the East wall, but when life gives you lemons, you skip right over to the watermelons.

After anchoring up, I went up the route, Farewell to Arms. I searched and searched, but I could not find the way to go up, and my fear of heights and falling just kept increasing (I was roped up, but because of the path required, I would have taken a swing). I gave up, and everyone else gave it a go.

I think Vivian, Angie, Gene, and Pranay all gave it a shot in the respective order, and we all reached about the same highpoint. At this time, we chose to go over to Indian Rock to boulder since we wanted some easier climbing.

At Indian Rock, we setup down in the pit, and I took the girls and Pranay for some easier bouldering and rock scrambling on the west side of the park. When I came back, I tried the V1 problem they were trying out, but I couldn’t quite build up the courage for a short dyno that I knew I was capable of. Instead, I flashed a V-easy, and a V0. Afterwards, I saw a opening in the dihedral in the pit, so I climbed up there, then squeezed myself through this dusty cave. I enjoyed it lots, but no one else was interested.

It was getting late for lunch, so we packed up and headed over to Marugame Udon, where we ate delicious bowls of udon (except for Gene due to allergies).