Lexington Rock
Climb Review
It was my first time at Lexington Rock and I found it just delightful.
There’s a beautiful creek that that rock faces and it provided a wonderful soundtrack to our climbs.
The bottom of the route was well shaded without too much trash (we picked up some trash on the way out).
The rock is schist/serpentine and I found it to be slippery and flakey. Definitely the most difficult rock I’ve tried climbing so far.
The bolts on the rock were 99% solid and were nicely spaced out. They had rappel rings free of rust, which was very nice.
During the five or so hours we climbed, we did not get bothered by anyone else, which was fantastic.
Like many places in the Santa Cruz mountains, there were lots of poison oak.
Lexington Crack (5.10b; Lexington Rock)—I think I slipped like two or three times before I got to the diagonal traverse and did not enjoy how the rock felt. The holds were slippery and the going was... desperate. Still, the last bit before the anchor was hilarious because I felt like I cheated by using my height to touch the anchor while still inside the little cave, not having to step out, unlike the rest of my friends. Not sure if I laughed more brightly than when I did that.
Right Crack (5.10a; Lexington Rock)—Ok, so this was way more my speed. I found great holds and I was able to climb this one with lots of confidence. Because we wanted a redirect (it was a pretty good swing since we were using the same Lexington Crack anchor)—I had to climb it, downclimb to a bolt above the Right Crack, and clip it with a quickdraw. My arms felt shot after, but then I climbed the first section again to remove the quickdraw. Right after I unclipped, my awkward left hand hold on the bolt gave out and I took a pretty big swing. Was kind of terrifying and fun at the same time.
Lex Luther (5.11b; Lexington Rock)—I did not send this. But I did try the beginning, which I just could not do even though I had gotten the best beta from Louie and Jerry. I then skipped the start by going to the cracks to the left of the rock and climbing to the finish. I did marginally better, since I did touch anchor, but I took tons of breaks and did not feel confident at all. I did end up finding some good left hand holds that worked for me, but yeah, 5.11b on schist/serpentine is a bit too hard for me at the moment. Louie, though, totally toughed through the shitty holds and legit climbed this route (with many breaks) and that was bad ass. One day (maybe next year?), I’ll be as strong of a climber as Louie and send this too!
What I Learned
To set the anchors, I used a static line (anchored to a tree with a bowline) to lower myself to the anchor. I then kept this static line (to use ascenders) so that I could take photos of all my friends climbing. It worked really well and I’m definitely going to do this again if we have the crag to ourselves.
I got to practice using the ascenders more, and can do it okay, but man, it is tiring to use. I think with even more practice and better technique, I’ll be able to use them more effectively.
Also, I gained a whole new appreciation for rock climbing photographers like Jimmy Chin. I was hanging on my harness for maybe half an hour and my thighs were so dead with all the pressures on them. Still, I’m decently happy w/my photos, so it was worth it!
When I was processing the photos, I did wish that I took more photos from the top of the route (right above the anchor) and videos with the camera. Now that I’ve documented this wish here, I have to do it!
I didn’t try trad climbing any routes today, but sitting here at home, I kind of wish I tried to lead the Right Crack. There were bomber holds and I think I could have climbed it safely. Still, probably better/smarter to wait until I get a little stronger as a climber, so that there is zero doubt in my mind.
I didn’t drink enough water again today. I just need to force myself to drink water at the crag.
By the end of the day, my finger pads were feeling very sensitive (I called it “spicy” for fun). I wasn’t sure if it was because I had climbed two days in a row or because the static line had touched lots of poison oak.
Elinor brought a laser pointer and it was the best thing ever! Instead of us just saying things like, “there’s a hold there” or “move your feet to the left”, we could actually point to what we meant! It was bright enough for the climber too! Once Louie got a hold of it, they just silently pointed to the next best hold without saying anything and I found this to be hilarious. Elinor gifted me a laser pointer for organizing today and I felt like a million bucks :)
I kept screwing up using pronouns and it’s something that I’ll get better at. Practice makes perfect.
Friends
I wasn’t sure who was going to come, but I ended up climbing with Elinor, Jerry, and Louie. We had such a fun time with many laughs and lots of climbing stoke. It was cool to combine different climbing friends—I met Jerry through Gene at the beginning of 2023, I met Louie via the Alabama Hills trip, and I met Elinor through the Coalition Crag discord. I also got to coach Elinor through a rappel (though to be honest, she knew all the steps) and Louie through a Gri-Gri rappel; which was fun. At the end of the climb, we all enjoyed burgers at Main Street Burgers.
What Happened?
.8 miles, 25 mins, 263 ft of descent
We were originally scheduled to climb at Vent 5, but Marina let me know that the Dipsea Race was happening this Sunday, which meant that the parking situation might be dicey. So instead, we changed the location to Lexington Rock and climbed something a bit more local (everyone who came was from San Jose).
We all met at the Lexington Reservoir County Park parking lot and hiked down 3/4 of a mile until we found the rock to the right of the trail. We started climbing and the time passed by pretty quickly. Out of the four us it, it was quickly evident that Louie was our strongest climber, which was great as they could give the rest of us really good beta as we watched them climb. Elinor brought Rocky, our crag dog, with her and so it was also pretty fun making sure that he didn’t get into too much trouble (but he didn’t, because he’s a good dog).
We climbed all the routes that we could, and after we tired our arms out, we cleaned up and hiked out with our heavy packs. One of the best things about the Lexington Reservoir County Park was that it had portable bathrooms and foot-pump wash stations. Which meant that I got to wash my hands and face, which is pretty much heaven after a long day at the crags.
Thanks to Elinor for the last four photos (from her phone); also for other pictures of me and Rocky.