Katie, Matt, Emily, and I drove to the Gorge for two nights of Phish and two days of climbing. We also met up with Matt's brother Brian and his girlfriend.
Friday night's Phish show was the first show I have seen in about 10 years and it definitely brought back the memories. They played many new songs which I have never heard before, but still plenty of the classics. The first set opened with Down With Disease and also included Stash, Possum, Destiny Unbound (a first for me), the ultra classic Sneakin' Sally Thru The Alley, and ending with the every funky Cavern. The second set opened nice with Moma Dance and included Taste, Fluffhead, Bathtub Gin, and Harry Hood. They also encored with Slave! After the show we drove back to the Feathers to camp and found people climbing at midnight with an insane lighting setup and huge speakers. It was quite annoying, but Emily got them to kill the music.
We were all pretty lazy Saturday morning, but eventually we got in some climbing at the Feathers in the shade. I led a 5.7 to warm up on and everyone climbed it, even Matt. Then Katie led a really fun 5.8 in style (her second 5.8 lead) and then I led a 5.9 to finish off the day. It was overhanging for a short section and got me nervous, but was not that bad. We were all pretty hot by then so we drove down to the river and had a great refreshing swim.
After the swim, we drove back to the Gorge, made some dinner and relaxed. The second night was also very good and I was able to run into my old friend Matt Owen during set break. The first set opened with an old tune, Mango Song. The first set also included excellent songs such as Tweezer, It's Ice, YaMar, Wolfman's Brother, and Antelope. The second set did not include alot of songs, but each one was extremely long and equally insane. The set opened up with a 23 minute Rock and Roll which went into Makisupa. We even got to hear our YEM. What a great night.
We had another lasy start to the day on Sunday, but eventually we got more climbs in. Katie led two 5.8's (her 3rd and 4th 5.8 leads) again in style. I am definitely proud of her and how fast she is improving and how her confidence is building. I then chickened out on leading a 5.10a, but waited till the 5.9 was open and climbed that one. Katie then ran up the climb after me. After feeling more confident, I attempted a different 5.10a, which looked easier than the other one I didn't climb. Of course it turned out to be harder. It was steep, pumpy, and sustained. And about half way through the climb my arms were exhausted and I couldn't hold on to anything which made the rest of the climb pretty scary. I hung on a bolt for a long time and thought about bailing, but Katie, Matt, and Emily kept their faith in me and I finally finished it. After that climb, it was getting late and we were again very hot. So we drove down to the river for a swim before the long drive home to Seattle. Lucky for us, there was a 1-2 hour traffic jam at Cle Elum to make the drive longer.
Climbing pictures can be found at http://alpinenapping.com/main.php/v/mountains/2009/vantage-08_07_09/
Led:
Altar of Sacrifice 5.7
Shin Smasher 5.9
Satan's Little Helper 5.9
Blood Blister 5.10a
Top Roped:
Jesus Saves 5.8
The Uprising 5.8
Don Coyote 5.8
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