The next day we leaved the awesome majesty of the rugged mountain range and headed south to Jackson Hole. We needed to stock up on a few supplies, so we stopped at the grocery store. Before heading in Joey and I sat in the cabin of the van and made a list of the usual items we needed to continue our journey. We needed some bagels, carrots, cheese, apples, and OUCH!
I arched my back in electric shock! OUCH OUCH OUCH! My back was in so much pain! I started swatting my back and encountered this fellow.
While minding my own business in the van, a bee stung my back. What business did the bee have in the van? I showed no remorse at his demise.
So I hobbled into the store with Joey and we bought some groceries. My back was hot to the touch and for a few inches around the sting my skin was unusually firm. I was not a happy camper.
Our plan for the day was to head to the store on our way to Hoback Shield. It is an unusual rock formation nestled in a river valley next to a scenic highway not too far from Jackson Hole. We were excited to go out climbing there - it is supposedly one of the best sport climbing areas around. I was excited because there was a highly rated 5.7 route that I wanted to attempt to lead climb. It would be my second lead climb ever - and I hoped it would be better protected than my first lead climbing debacle.
After returning to the car from the grocery store (and getting ice) I was unhappy leaning up against the seat back - and not excited about going climbing.
We headed in the direction of the crag anyway. It was a gorgeous drive through a forested valley - the sky was bright and I could see the river running along the valley floor. It really cheered me up. My back had also stopped burning - that might have been part of it.
We got to the rock, and I decided to go ahead and go up with Joey to belay him. He was pretty antsy to go climbing. I stipulated though that we had to come back tomorrow so I could lead climb my 5.7 - "Shady Grove".
Joey tackled several routes - at Hoback the way the rock has eroded has exposed several small roofs. Roof problems can be tricky. For some time, they were my nemesis. Essentially, you are climbing up a face - and when you encounter a roof - you need to step up onto it - but usually you need to pull yourself over it. I had particular trouble with them since they involve a bit of arm strength - but after a while I got the hang of them.
Anyway - they are somewhat uncommon in southern California where we climb, so it was a treat to find so many in one place.
Joey at the crux of "Hook It" pondering which way to go.
Joey climbed three different routes - two of them shared the same anchors "Drill and Repetition" a 5.9 and "Hook It" a daunting 5.9+. As usual - the 5.9+ proved to be more difficult than we anticipated. The "Hook It" sends you over a rather substantial roof - perhaps 4 feet wide- and Joey had a fun time figuring out how to get over it. There were some good hand holds - but it was a pretty bouldery move (you need a lot of strength to get over it). He wasn't sure if he had found the right way to get over it - and wasn't sure if he would have made it lead climbing. (Sadly no heel-hook action.) He was excited to tackle it again the next day.
We rounded out the day with a climb called "Hoi Polloi" a 5.8 that Joey had no trouble with. It was late afternoon, so we decided to go find a place to camp.
Only a few miles down the road we found a really excellent forest access road. Not to far up the road we encountered little camps of RVs so we knew we were in the right spot. We headed up the side of the valley wall into the trees. It was one of my favorite campsites. We were parked well away from the road, and overlooking the valley floor. As we were setting up camp, I saw a few eagles soaring overhead. In the evening we checked out the Milky Way and I had fun remembering constellations.
Our pretty campsite overlooking a valley.
Joey took some sweet long exposure shots that evening.
Cooking in the dark inspired us to install better lighting on the van the next morning.
Friendly and curious neighbors.
The next morning, we decided to work on the van. Since meeting up with Kdunck and Raycroft in Oklahoma, we had gotten a few more items for the van (they delivered them to us - what great friends!). One thing that we were REALLY excited about were these LED strip lights. We took the morning to install the interior lighting, and we wired up the the light in the back of the van. We also spent some time troubleshooting a fuse that continued to give us some problems.
Satisfied with our accomplishments, we returned to Hoback Shield.
I was ready to climb my second lead ever! We headed up the hill with some other climbers who had arrived shortly after us. I quickly made my way to the climb - they were not stealing the Shady Grove from me! It was a warm day, so it would be especially nice for Joey, my belayer, to be able to stand in the shade.
Be prepared for a dramatization of a relatively short and comparatively easy climb:
The climb was somewhat polished - this means the rock is somewhat slick. The holds were also somewhat tiny, so I would need a lot of finger strength on this climb. I got all ready to go - and Joey double checked and triple checked all of my gear. I stick-clipped my first bolt and headed up the climb.
As far as I could tell I was going to have to be moving a bit around the rock on this climb. First start off to the right, head up for a few moves, traverse over to the left, follow a diagonal line up to the right, head over a roof, and then follow a diagonal off to the right. A whole lot of moving around - a far cry from just going straight up. I was pretty excited though, it was going to be challenging.
I headed up past where I had gotten stuck. I was determined to stick it out all the way to the top. I headed up to the nice line in the rock heading up to the left. The holds were small, but there were some good ledges to hang from. I was having a little trouble securely placing my feet - the combination of slightly slick rock and teeny-tiny holds made for very careful foot placement.
After successfully clipping in two bolts, I was headed for the roof. This was going to be tricky. My former nemesis on my very second lead climb!? It was going to be time to use the golden quickdraw (Joey's very favorite - and luckiest quickdraw). I was above my last piece of protection, with the rope dangling from my harness. I was feeling strong and pulled my self towards the roof. Once there, it looked like more of a road-block than it had from the ground. I placed my feet, and reached with my hand to place the quickdraw. Stretching like a yogi - I clipped it.
Adrianne pointing to the 'golden quickdraw' after lead climbing over a small roof!
Lead climbing "Shady Grove" a 5.7
I very slowly pulled up some rope and like a sloth - clipped the rope into the quickdraw. Well now once that was over with - I still had the roof to contend with!
I felt around above the roof, and found a few small crimpers to hold on to. I would have to move my feet to get over this one! After some grunt work - and some fast moving feet - I made it above the roof to a wondrous ledge! What sweet relief! I stood there relishing my accomplishment - but only for a moment. I had the last clip and the rest of the climb to contend with. It was going to be a bit tricky.
What I hadn't realized from the ground was that from the ledge, I would have to step out onto the bulge above the roof. The move onto the bulge in the rock was going to be before I could clip onto my next bolt. If I fell from there, I would take a large swing and be hanging in mid-air!
This took a bit of my brain capacity to process. I spent quite a while strategizing about which would be the best place to put my hands and feet. Some places seemed like they offered great hand holds, but the rock was dirty. Some foot holds looked great - but they were just out of reach. I just needed to commit. I put my foot on a dish - I reached for a hand hold...
Sweet success! I felt secure on the bulge, and headed up to the anchors. Lead climbing is nerve-racking - but I was elated I had made it!
Next we headed over to the main wall - and Joey conquered La Bamba, a 5.10a with two roofs. It got a little hairy on the second roof, he needed a second attempt and a bit of a rest. So would anyone going over a 4 foot roadblock!
We moved over to the pair of climbs Joey had done the day before. There was another set of climbers on Hook It (Joey's nemesis) and he was excited to see how they did it. They were a pretty fun quartet - singing Outkast lyrics, and rooting for each other as they 'hooked it'. Their heel-hooks were less than graceful and equally successful... But they were certainly entertaining! One of the guys had never climbed before - I'm not sure I'd want to start out on a 5.9+ ... but he was game for it.
Joey re-climbed Drill and Repetition - he was planning on doing "Hook It" - but he was wiped out. I climbed "Drill and Repetition" - cleanly - no falls, and no rests! It was fun climbing right next to the quartet of monkeys working on "Hook It".
After the climb, it was getting late - and we decided to move out.
We were looking for cell service - I wanted to see if my mom had made it out to Los Angeles okay (she was on an adventure of her own.) and Joey was anxious to make progress towards Colorado.
We ended up driving for several hours until we made it to a tiny diner in Pinedale, WY. It is called the 'Patio Grill and Dining Room' - and I highly recommend it:
My Yelp Review of the Patio Grill & Dining Room
We were full, we were happy, and we got wireless internet - what else could we need?
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