Picnic Table Wall and Water Fountain Wall Area
Climb Review:
Indian Rock Park is a gem and a must visit for bouldering enthusiasts, as the routes are plenty and fun.
It was surprisingly not busy. There was plenty of parking on the street on a Saturday, and there were plenty of routes that did not require sharing.
I could see some places with glass shards or trash, but for the most part, the park was clean.
Left Route (V0; Picnic Table Wall)—Our wet feet made this V0 feel like a V2. The rock was prickly and while it helped with the holds, it also tenderized our fingers. Still, this was the easiest official route on Picnic Table Wall.
Center Route (V0; Picnic Table Wall)—Again, the wet feet made us lose our foot holds quite often. Also, route was a tiny bit harder than the Left Route. But, what it lacked in good foot holds, it made up with fun variations. The unofficial routes to the left and right of this route was really fun. My favorite was to the right, where the entire climb hinged on this single awesome jug that I used to great effect.
The Roof (V1-; Picnic Table Wall)—By the time I thought about doing this route, my hands were ready to be made into tonkatsu, so I didn’t seriously attempt it. I did, however, figure out a beta that seemed to work for others, which was to use a layback move to the right of the official line, to get up to the middle of the rock where better footholds existed. It was fun seeing Angie and Vivian top out on this route.
Warm up (V0; Water Fountain Wall Area)—This one had a shelf like 5 ft up, that allowed us to break this route into two. The first part was pretty easy and had no drama, but the second part was a bit tricky. By this time, our feet weren’t so wet, but we still had trouble finding bomber holds. I’m not sure what the official line was, but we used the bomber jug hand hold to move to the right and top out to the right of the Water Fountain Wall. This was fun once I committed; though it took a bit to convince myself to commit.
Water Fountain Lip Traverse (V0; Water Fountain Wall Area)—I thought that the hand holds were barely passing, and the foot holds were terrible. Once I got to a little past the halfway point, I looked down, got scared, and just climbed up to finish prematurely.
Unnamed Slab (V0; Water Fountain Wall Area)—My first attempt was frustrating as I couldn’t figure out a good foothold when I was one handhold away from the apex. However, Vivian helped me figure that out, and once I knew the beta, the climb was cake.
Croquette (V1; Water Fountain Wall Area)—I think I either flashed this route, or got it on my second go. Once I figured out the sequence of hand/foot holds, it was really easy. I thought the holds were bomber.
Little Prow (V2; Water Fountain Wall Area)—I definitely flashed this route. I thought the holds were bomber and though I couldn’t see the holds at first, they were easy to find when I just searched for them (based on faith) with my fingers. I hesitated at the crux because I was afraid of falling and the fact that the hand holds at the top were crappy, but made it up after having a good conversation with myself. This was my first outdoor V2.
The Crack (V2; Water Fountain Wall Area)—This was a fun climb. I didn’t hesitate like on Little Prow, so I felt really smooth. This and the Little Prow were way easier than some of the V0s earlier in the day.
What I Learned:
That any kind of wetness on the shoes are the worst. I mean, it’s not just that wet rubber is slippery, but the mud, grass, and everything else one picks up on the shoes makes the rock even more slippery than with just water. To help mitigate this in the future, one of the first things I did when I got home was to order some climbing brushes.
We got two new members to our climbing crew, Hannah and Angie, and it was fun to climb with them. It’s pretty cool to see our little climbing crew grow with new members.
I was really surprised that I could flash two V2s to end the day. I really must remember that these numerical ratings are made up and that I shouldn’t be intimidated by them.
Friends Made:
I met Hannah for the first time today and she seemed a bit shy, but I got to learn a lot about her during lunch. She loves horror movies! Her boy friend loves Korean BBQ! She plays video games!
I was surprised that Angie came, since Gene forgot to tell me about him extending an invite. It was nice to see her, since the last time was more than six months ago. She seems like she’s climbed lots, and I hope I learn a lot from her.
One of the most remarkable things happened when we were taking it easy at Picnic Table Wall. I love strategy games, I hadn’t met anyone that had played through my favorite video game from two years ago, Fire Emblem: Three Houses. And yet, Hannah, Angie, and Vivian had all played through the game! So awesome!
What Happened?
Vivian, Gene, and I planned to climb Indian Rock Park, and invited two other friends to join. The five us of met up and climbed from about 9am to 4pm. We spent the morning climbing Picnic Table Wall, and after lunch, we climbed Water Fountain Area.
We found the morning climb to be a great learning experience as we learned to deal with our wet feet, that kept attracting dirt, and other things that made our feet slip all over the rock. We still managed to climb various routes, so it wasn’t all that bad.
After a yummy lunch break over on the south-side of Berkeley, we came back to Indian Rock and crossed the street. Before we started on the rocks on Water Fountain Area, I actually setup an anchor and rope so that I could belay the girls on their attempt on Ankle Buster. Momo made it halfway up before getting really scared and giving up. Mia also gave up half way up, but tried again a few steps up the steps instead of at the bottom. Even though she was telling us she was scared, she made it all the way up! I was so proud of her for persevering.
The girls then settled down for a picnic, while Gene, Vivian, and I set to climbing around the Water Fountain Wall Area. After a few hours that seemed like minutes, we realized that it was already 4pm, packed up, and started our drives home.
What am awesome climbing day!
