Joshua Tree – Stichter Quits 5.7+


Ann has agreed to head out early, before tea, to do this popular climb, provided we return for tea immediately afterward. It works well. We arrive around 7:30 and have Echo Rock to ourselves. After I clip the first bolt Ann persuades me to try climbing some edges to the right, which ends feeling like a 5.10 move. When I’ve done it I insist that she follow the same way (which she does). The climb follows this bumpy sort of arete bulging out of the face. One side of the arete is a slippery-feeling black patina. There’s an exciting mantle on a a sloping hold on this before the final clip and easy runout to the top.

Afterward I mention that we could do one more climb if she wants, but my offer is interpreted as an attempt to weasel out of our agreement (which I promptly keep).


5 responses to “Joshua Tree – Stichter Quits 5.7+”

  1. Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

    i was doing a morning run. it was nice. got warm quick though.
    i found a very obscure bolted line on a formation i have never even seen before.
    there is a nice looking crack on it as well.

  2. not sure about the “before tea” reasoning.. i mean, it only takes a couple minutes to boil water.
    it’s not like you had to go out and pick tea leaves, dry them, chop them, encase them in a bag.

  3. It’s the drinking of the tea that consumes time. It can’t be hurried, and it can’t be combined with climbing or any non-stationary activity. It’s a meditation of sorts that backfires if interrupted.

  4. i.e., when it’s Ann who’s drinking the tea, it would be Dylan who suffers the consequences (the backfire) of any threat to the peace and solitude of Ann’s tea ceremony. Crossword puzzles and reading are acceptable and combinable activities.

  5. huh… i alwayz do my best off trail running while sipping piping hot tea.

    i had 3(!) insulated mugs of tea today.

    my fukking heater is fukkingdam stupid. it comes on for 5 seconds. shuts off for 20 seconds. then comes back on for 5 seconds. then… so on and so on.
    it’s like if the thermostat goes down by .00025 degrees, it kicks the heater back on to heat the house .00026 degrees… then shuts off.. then comes back on. then shuts off. then comes back on.

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