Split tips and wanderings

Black Sheep has one IPA on tap and it is delicious!

Yesterday, I saw Alexander off at the Black Sheep with an Americano. We had a blast climbing together and seeing each other the last 4 days. Now he has to go back to the "real world" of graduate school (not like they need him any more than I do...) while I go back to my journey of climbing blocs.
I've slowly been getting my system down for cooking and cleaning using a minimal amount of water. I realize now how difficult it is to be economical in my cleaning and cooking. I'm experimenting with using the pasta water as my water for soapy cleaning later. I'm still not as efficient as I'd like as I'm blowing through water as fast as it evaporates out here in the desert heat.

Two burner doing work!

That being said, I love using this two burner stove! It was a last minute purchase, but has been totally worth it. I can cook eggs on one side and bacon on the other, or pasta and sauce. Crazy, I know. Anyway, since I'm just car camping the whole time I don't need anything super light and fancy and this does just the trick.

Anyway, the last two days of climbing with Alex, we spent in the Buttermilks and then the Happies. The Buttermilks were enjoyable and I finally got footage of me climbing Fly Boy Sit! Alex projected it for a while after flashing the V5 arete problem but got stuck right before doing the last big move to the lip. He'll back back to finish that one, no doubt. We then got back in the car to head a little down the road to a boulder all by itself called the Get Carter boulder. This boulder has some awesome problems on it, most notable being Seven Spanish Angels (V6). At this point, however, my fingers started to give me issues. My left middle finger pad started separating from the nail causing me intense pain and making climbing less than enjoyable.

So tender... Skin otherwise in great shape

I still managed to finish Seven Spanish Angels after an epic 2 hour session on it, but the next day in the Happies was not very happy at all. Alex, however, had a great day of climbing. We unfortunately didn't get footage, but he climbed the frustratingly hard Acid Wash Right (V9), while I got stymied on the Jug Start to Acid Wash Right which was a V7. We then took a look at a climb called Rave (V7) which would've been a hell of a lot better in cooler conditions. Even so, Alex still almost did the damn thing in the peak of the heat. It was unfortunate that our days of most psych weren't completely lined up, but it is always fun to climb together.

Today I spent the day wandering around the hills of the Buttermilks, trying to find the Pollen Grains and Secrets of the Beehive areas. I parked at the Peabody boulders and started hiking up, with no clear idea of where either of these areas are.

6 days no shower. Dat hair...

After hiking around for a few hours and not finding anything, I headed back to the car. On the way I found a pair who were top roping one of the peabody boulders and asked for directions.

Pretty view, but not the right way.

Finally, armed with good beta for how to get to these boulders, I got back in my car and drove to the proper parking lot. After a short 10 minute hike up a well worn trail, I came upon the first of the magnificent Pollen Grain boulders.

Spectre (V13) F.A. Dave Graham

Next up was the Suspended in Silence boulder that had a crazy mouth-like feature on it called Lidya's Mouth.

Suspended in Silence (V5) is the rightmost chalked line.

Lidya's Mouth (V3). You can fit inside that whole feature.

While hiking around I photographed a cool bird that was making low passes over the sagebrush. Can anyone identify what this bird is? It had a white body and black wing-tips. I think it's a bird of prey that was coursing for jackrabbits because it was making very low passes to the ground. Either that, or it was showing off for me.

Aerial Action!

Coursing.

Right after taking these pics, I got up, close, and personal with a rattlesnake. I was feeling out holds on a small boulder past the Suspended in Silence boulder and heard a rattle then fast slithering on the gravel. I flipped shit and booked it out of there like a jackrabbit running from a coursing bird. With my adrenaline pumping, I ran back to the car and drove to civilization. 

Next post I'll put up some videos of climbing Seven Spanish Angels and Fly Boy Sit. I also have a video of Alex and me sessioning Pow Pow. I'm going to take a room in a motel in a few nights and should get it all uploaded then. Until then, enjoy the stills!

~Wandering Ack