When I got a call on Friday night from Brian, I really had not made much in the way of plans for the weekend in regards to climbing. From the weather forecasts that were playing on the TV it the hopes of getting any climbing done was pretty slim. So, when I agreed to go out a climb with some of his students from the course he was teaching my hopes were not very high in getting any good climbing done. Flashes of drenched slabs and wet cracks splashed through my mind as I drove across the pass towards Leavenworth in a driving rain that never let up all the way there. As I pulled over to crash in the back of my truck along the side of the road, I took extra special care not to get my gear completely wet.
After not being able to find the campground that Brian and his students were camped at, another blow was dealt to my hopes of actually climbing the next day. I woke up around 6:30am the next morning to partially cloudy skies and a rising thermometer which seemed to be drying out most of the rock that was visible. I quick dash to get donuts and some yogurt at the grocery store and I found myself in the Snow Creek parking lot hoping that everyone would arrive as had been planned. It only took a few pages of reading in my book before Brian showed up with a student, and then everyone else slowly started to filter into the parking lot.
All in All, there was a total of twelve of us going up to a relatively new crag above the Snow Creek trail called the Pearly Gates. This crag was discovered after the forest fires of 1994 that scorched the Snow Creek Valley and subsequently downed trees that obscured view of the crag. Being that the Approach is a short 20 minute uphill Hike, it has rock of superb quality, and many routes available in easy to moderate difficulties, it has become one of the most popular crags in Leavenworth. Being that I had not been to this crag before, I did not realize the treat I was in store for as I sweated my way up the hill to the base of the routes.
For our warm up, Brian led Cloud Nine(5.9) which is a great hand-Crack with a funky start. While I sat around taking pictures and a bit of video, he styled it with no problem. Then I took a go at it on top-rope and found the jams to be superb. This right leaning crack was the perfect size for my hands down low, and then widened a bit to where a bit of trickery was needed to proceed. It finished with a bit of Jug pulling through some blocky rock that was topped with a short section of low angled Slab before the anchors. So far, I was very impressed with the area as I wondered back and forth looking at routes.
Now that I was warmed up, Brian gave me the sharp end or the rope and we moved over to Celestial Grooves(5.9+). I bouldered up to the first Hand jam and placed a Cam before jumping back down to the ground and tying into the rope. Those first moves looked to be pretty strenuous, but I was confident I could pull them without falling (well, okay not that confident since I preplaced a piece of gear). Once on Belay, I stemmed my way back up to my piece, clipped it and the hung from my hand jam as I moved my feet to a higher back-step position. I reached up and found another Bomber hand jam and continued up on the strenuous moves to where there was finally a large jug Hold that I could Hang off of and fire in another piece of gear.
As I continued up, the climbing did not lose any intensity as an awkward Mantel on top of a small pedestal threatened to lob my off the rock. Above this, the crack got thinner and the hand jams turned to painful fingers locks that I lie-backed off of to get to another good rest position. I plugged in a couple of pieces that weren't worth anything and kept on going up to where the climbing finally eased off and a large ledge marked the belay anchors. It was a superb route that requires your attention pretty much the entire Pitch and it was my boldest Lead on trad in many years.
After I reeled in Brian, we rappelled back to the ground after setting up a Top rope for the others to give a go at it. It stymied several of the students, who couldn't quite manage the bouldery start into the groove above. One other did manage to get it Clean, Mark, who made it look easy as he pulled up through to the "Thank God" jug that provides a welcomed rest.
After this fine workout, Brian again took the hot end and lead up Veins of Glory (10b) which takes some thin flakes and cracks over a bulge to a roof. While trying to figure out how to get over the roof, Brian hung a couple of times, but pulled through afterwards with no problem. It was my turn on top-rope and I sailed through the lower section and kept in mind the Beta that Brian gave me once I got to the roof. This Crux Move consisted of a two fingered Pocket that you under-cling with your right-hand as you reach over the lip and stick your middle finger in a shallow Mono-doight. Moving your feet up left, this single digit hold is not terribly strenuous, but the balancy moves required to move off of it definitely get your attention.
By this time, it had become apparent how popular this particular crag had become since the short time of it's discovery (at least short in respect to most other areas where climbing has existed since the 50's in the area). It was a bit past noon and there were at least a dozen other people who had showed up along with the dozen that we were climbing with. Everyone was exceedingly courteous, and we offered several times to let others use our ropes, and/or pull them if they wanted to lead a route we were hogging. Though it has been a long running complaint that some rock climbing courses given by local outfits have a tendency to clog up routes, my experience was entirely on the other side of the spectrum from that.
For our final route, somehow Brian coaxed me into leading the first pitch of Milky Way(10a). As I tied in, I noticed that though there was a Bolt next to the starting crack that had it's hanger removed. Though the bolt was unnecessary due to proximity of Natural Protection, I wondered if it was removed maliciously or by someone with good intentions. One thing that I did notice while hanging out in the parking lot before everyone arrived, was a notice to climbers about new route development. One rule effectively read, "Do not place bolts next to cracks," so I wrote off the missing hanger to enforcement of the local ethics, for which I have no complaint.
In lew of the bolt, I plugged in an orange TCU and then a yellow one a little higher as I tried to figure out the moves to get above the starting Dihedral. As I moved up past the yellow TCU, I tried back-stepping to get myself higher and then suddenly found myself falling. I hung for a minute, and then pulled through to the slab above on non-existent holds and small edges. From here the climbing eased relative to the starting moves, but the thin slab climbing definitely kept me attentive as I worked my way up on disappearing holds. After reaching the anchors, I pulled Brian up and he led the second pitch which consisted of some more attention-grabbing slab climbing.
By this time, it was getting to be about beer-thirty, so we rapped the route with a final rope-stretching Rappel and packed up and headed back to the parking lot. Everyone gathered around for a final debriefing, in which I felt like a bit of an outsider, but still managed to throw in a few one-liners to loosen up the mood. It was this group's final field trip before being let out to do there own required trips to complete their course, so it was good to listen to their experiences as beginning rock climbers. It had been many years since I had begun climbing, so it was nice to be a small part of the start of other's climbing careers. Good luck to you all.