Nature, Unnamed, and Hash Boulders
Climb Review:
We started climbing at the Baloney Boulders, Funky Boulders, Nature Boulders, Unnamed Boulders, Hash Boulder, Indian Rock, and finished at Indian Cracks Boulder.
We sent so many unnamed routes that were not on the guide book and had an awesome time.
Thanks to Jerry for the four photos above!
Summit Route (V0; Baloney Boulder)—Jerry and I warmed up by climbing half way up this route. Given that it was our first boulder, we didn’t commit to the end as I don’t (and Jerry doesn’t either) believe in doing a highball to warm up.
Knob Face (V0-; Funky Boulders)—It was as easy as always, and a good way to feel good about climbing, as it’s one of the easiest routes at Funky Boulders.
Left Mantle (V0; Funky Boulders)—This took multiple tries, so it definitely felt harder than a V0, but it probably is for being a slab problem. It was a great introduction (or reintroduction) to slabs, and set us up for a good day.
Right Mantle (V0; Funky Boulders)—This route is much, much easier than Left Mantle, and most of us flashed it.
Funky Face (V1; Funky Boulders)—Unlike most of the problems of the day, this route has great feet. It’s the hands you have to struggle with (slopers). Trusting feet after not trusting them all morning, required me to reset my brain.
Funky Arete (V1; Funky Boulders)—After struggling a bit with Funky Face, this one felt like a cake walk. Similar to Funky Face, but with slightly better hands and slightly worse feet.
Unnamed Slab (V0; Funky Boulders)—I’m not sure if the arete is off route, but I used it. Made it feel like a nice and easy V0.
Soggy Cereal (V1; Funky Boulders)—I’m pretty sure I went up this route, but I don’t remember anything about it.
Lieback Flake (V0; Nature Boulders)—I did this route last year when I was here and it took me many, many tries to get this. On this day, however, it felt nice and easy. I’m progressing!
Man in the Canoe Right (V2; Nature Boulders)—This one is Lieback Flake with a much more difficult start. I think I was supposed to start at the left arete, but I couldn’t, so I just did a jump start to the bomber crimp. It took me a few tries, but I surprised myself by actually sending it! I then gave it another shot for a legit start, but that was a no go.
FF Crack (V4; Funky Boulders)—I didn’t send this one, but gave it a shot with the other guys. Really difficult crack, especially with the body position (horizontal) required.
Right Face (V1; Unnamed Boulders)—This is the route with a bunch of huecos and I didn’t get a clean send (my right foot slipped and it bounced on the pad), but I felt good enough about the send. The huecos were pretty sharp, but once I got a vertical body position (after a dynamic move), it felt great pushing myself up on an easy mantle.
Unnamed Face (V0; Unnamed Boulders)—This has a 5’ up start that I couldn’t see the hand hold for, but Javan led the way. Once the left hand is on, the rest of it was easy peasy.
Hash Undercling (V0; Hash Boulder)—I had watched some people climb this one when I took my anchoring class a year and a half ago, and I finally got to send it. It took me two tries and the difficult part was not being able to see how good the top holds were. Once I got my hands on it, all the doubts vanished and I easily mantled myself to the top of the rock. The hardest part was getting off the rock, actually—Jerry moved one of the pads to the shortest side and I just jumped off. Jerry for President!
Unnamed Face (V0; Indian Rock)—I didn’t top out on this one because of all the dirt and moss on the hand holds on the top. I did do 90% of the route, which which has a pretty fun balancy start that I needed to figure out. I don’t think I’ll attempt to do this one again just because of all the dirt I got on me while trying to see if I wanted to finish the route.
Unnamed Shelf (VB; Indian Rock)—Easy hands, easy feet—no problemo.
Unnamed Arete (V0; Indian Rock)—Another easy one. The hardest part was identifying and avoiding the pool of water at the top that one cannot see unless they have eyes on their finger tips. I got lucky, tried to warn Jerry, but his hands took a plunge.
1 1/4” Crack (V1; Indian Cracks Boulder)—I had thought about this climb for a year, so had to give it another shot, but I came up short again. I did move up my left foot a bit higher than last year, but committing to the layback above a certain point is just too scary for me and I couldn’t do it. Maybe next year.
Thanks to Gene for the last two photos above!
Friends:
I climbed with Jerry, Gene, Javan, Amanda, and Aubrey. It was Jerry, Javan, Amanda, and Aubrey’s first time climbing outdoors, and it was really nice having them there. Jerry was a beast in that he showed up early and left last with me; he was also super flexible and up for any climb! Javan was a different sort of beast in that he climbed all these different boulders with a lot of ease; I’m not sure I would have attempted Man in the Canoe Right if he hadn’t sent it first, so I’m grateful. I really hope Amanda had a good time as she was there, but also was busy with Aubrey. It was nice to see her send a few routes at Unnamed Boulders. Aubrey was just the cutest thing and made me smile when she was climbing up and down some of these rocks; I loved her positive attitude and I hope she inspires my girls to climb next time we all climb together. Lastly, Gene was awesome as usual; it was so inspiring to see him send this route at Unnamed Boulders because he must have spent 30+ minutes just trying different variations until he found one that worked for him (it was a variation that I couldn’t do, but Jerry could!). Just a great group of people today!
What Happened?
I’ve been wanting to boulder outdoors for a few months now, but commitments and weather have stymied my efforts to get out. Fortunately, the rains are now hopefully over in California for this season, which meant that I could finally get out!
Jerry and I arrived first, so we warmed up by climbing up and around Baloney Boulder. We didn’t seriously attempt Summit Route, but I did get half way up before down climbing, as I didn’t want to start off with a highball problem.
When Gene showed up at the gate, we warmed ourselves up further by pushing Gene’s stuck car up the steep embankment so that he could find a flatter spot for his car. We then headed off to Nature boulders.
When we were there, we ran into a few familiar faces from my home gym (The Studio), which was great since we shared crash pads and encouraged each other; it warmed up the chilly morning to have friendly smiles. While we were there, Javan, Amanda, and Aubrey joined us and we climbed a lot of different routes.
After that, we headed up to Unnamed Boulders and climbed some more. After maybe 40 minutes or so, Javan, Amanda, and Aubrey left; Gene stayed for another half hour or so. It was back to just Jerry and I, and we weren’t done, so we climbed a bit more at the last three boulders.
At Indian Crack Boulder, we gave the last bits of our energy and skin to the 1 1/4” Crack route, before we gave up and headed back to our cars.
I was hungry, totally spent, had bruises/scrapes all over my arms/legs, and my hands hurt whenever I moved it—it probably was the best day of climbing I’ve ever had.