Ann graciously goes back to camp for beer while Ted and I set up a TR on Big Moe in Echo Cove. Ted sends it twice. I get a bit further on it than last time, finally getting a foot into the big divot, but come up a few inches short of the next hold.…

After breakfast Ted and I look at Dogleg and Double Cross, but they are both busy. So we wander over to The Flake and he starts up. The beginning chimney looks a little scrunchy even for him, then he exits right and puts a piece in that provides plenty of rope drag for the rest…

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…

Ann and I pull ourselves together by 8 o’clock and drive south. Sort of. We get hungry and stop in Kramer Junction for breakfast, but still make it out to the swirled, jumbled rocks of New Jack City around 10. We have Roy’s printed-out guidebook, but can’t make much sense of it, so we just…

When Ann, our friend Alice, and I pull up into the Whitney Portal area, all I know is that there are some climbs on the Candlelight Buttress I want to find. I have a general idea where the buttress is, but I’m not sure which of the massive granite faces south of the Whitney trail…

Bradley Davis (one of Curis’ kids) shows promise as an up-and-coming climber. Ted, Clare, Walter, and Greg join us for an early evening session by the Little Loaf. Ann now easily climbs some of the problems here that stymied her earlier in the year. In contrast, I fail on some of the harder problems I’ve…

An afternoon at Fossil Falls provides plenty of amusement. We play with a toprope on Ride of the Valkyries, 10c, which I eventually manage to lieback my way up. Ann plays with the camera and I wander around the old riverbed. Finally I lead Eagle, 5.9, which I’ve been wanting to do for a while.

Our first instinct in the morning is to relax all day and forget about climbing. But after a good breakfast at the Idyllwild Cafe we decide to at least hike up to look at Suicide Rock. And bring some gear just in case. Randy comes along and gives us a tour of his old stomping…

I start the day wandering around the county campground looking for Roy & Walter, but it’s almost empty. I call Roy’s cell phone, and he says they’re in sites 7 & 8. Eventually we figure out that they are in the state park campground. We join Roy, Randy, Walter and Kelly at Jan’s for a…

Today we’re looking for a few sport climbs to occupy the morning before I head into town. We look at Cannibal Crag and Riding Hood wall, but they’re sunny, so we head into the park again to Calico Basin. On the hike in we have to climb around a slimy green pool. Jezze dog can’t…