Back to Golden!
Friends Doug, Liz and Sean all agreed to help Mark and I redeem ourselves on the walls of North Table Mtn this weekend. We met at the trailhead on Saturday morning at around 9a, and headed back up to those dark, south-facing basalt crags looking for another adventure.
It was so nice to be back out climbing with the gang! There’s a bunch of photos up in the gallery.
I’m not going to wax too poetic about the trip. The new guidebook makes trips to Golden so much easier, and we got there early enough to hop on some classic moderates before the crowds showed up.
We started out the morning with Mark leading Pack ‘o Bobs (5.7), and Doug put up a brilliant lead on Wholly Holey (5.8). Per the usual, both climbs felt stiff for their ratings. I think Liz is the only person who didn’t come down from both complaining about how the climbs seemed to be harder than 5.8, but this could be because she is sweet and doesn’t complain. Thankfully, this time, Mark and I both felt better on the rock. While I couldn’t pull the roof on Wholly Holey, I felt strong and confidant on the other two, and Mark had good climbs without too much pain either.
Around lunchtime, we headed over and put up ropes on Windy Days (5.8) and Pee on Dee (5.8), with Doug leading the former and Mark the latter. We all took laps on these routes and decided they seemed much more in-line with their grades. It’s likely we were all starting to get warmed up by this time, and felt more comfortable with the slopers and hidden crimps at North Table. I was unimpressed with Windy Days, as the anchor was too low over the roof to make pulling over it necessary or fun, and the route felt a little contrived. Pee on Dee, however, was the gem of the day. A lovely crack and face climb that was just the right amount of fun.
After four climbs, we were all done for the day. The sun had moved into the western sky, and clouds were starting to build, making our sunny cliff suddenly chilly. We packed up, and headed out, only to find out when we got to the cars that it was only 2:30 in the afternoon. Oh well, it felt like a good long day!
superb photos. i love the one of liv asleep on the rocks. thanks again for letting me tag along.
i appreciate that the one solo shot i got was of me on my stupid phone. Liz has now made that the image for when i call her. guh.
Sean, it was great having you out there! I thought the pics turned out nice as well, and your shots were great too!
Doug, there’s totally another pic of you in the gallery being a fantastic belayer (solo in the image). But yeah, anybody who starts surfing the net on his/her iPhone at the crag deserves the ribbing they will inevitably get! I like Liz’s idea… think I might have to do the same!!