Treebeard

The rock was soaking wet on our last day at HCR.  Rotten conditions for sport climbing, let alone the first trad climb of the year.  Still, Treebeard (5.8) was on my shortlist of climbs and it seemed a pretty manageable 9th route of the year.

Not having put in much trad climbing outside the Red, it was nice to get on something put up after the era of 1970's "the yosemite scale maxes at 5.9.  Let's call it 5.8 so nobody calls us wimps" sandbagging.

Which is good, because what would normally be a super secure hand/fist crack was pretty slick.  I wound up walking a pair of #3's and a #4 cam up a majority of the climb before running to the anchors.  Not a lot of artistry to it, but I sent it clean and didn't get hurt.  I'd love to get on this when it's dry and experience it without being terrified of a foot jam sliding straight out of the crack.

We were all pretty cold and damp by the time the rest of the family got done top roping, and I wasn't keen on plugging any more gear in wet rock.  We packed it it and managed to push through the 12 hour drive and get home late that night, figuring we wouldn't get anymore outdoor climbing done until the end of March at the earliest.

Heh.



Again, much hot cocoa was enjoyed this day: