Day One
The first day of our trip was a little rough. We didn't hit the road until 6:30am and stopped several times on our way for gas, lunch, bathroom breaks & driver switches causing us to arrive at Miguel's just before 10pm. It was a Saturday night, so the place was b-u-s-y. Initially we thought we would hang out and socialize for awhile, but fatigue quickly settled in and we decided to just pitch the tent and call it a night. Except, we didn't get much sleep. It was pretty loud with people staying up until about 3am talking... Crazy climbers.
Day Two
I wasn't psyched to hear my alarm go off. We met my partner's friend for breakfast around 8:30am & then headed to Muir Valley for the day. It was great to climb with someone who had experience in the Red & could recommend the best walls to hit for our individual climbing levels. My first climb/lead was a heady 5.7 & I had a mini meltdown on it. It felt way harder than a 5.7 at the crux and I didn't have my lead head dialed in yet. I took some time to pull it together & finished, but it was definitely not the best climb to start out on. The rest of my climbs that day were all strong & enjoyable. We also met a couple of guys from Baltimore who were leading 5.10 & made plans to join forces with them to climb at PMRP the next day, along with my partner's friend.
My tick list for the day, all at Muir Valley - Bruise Brothers Wall:
- Lead - Trundling Kentucky, 5.7
- Lead - Send Me On My Way, 5.9- **My favorite climb @ the Red!**
- TR - Workin' For the Weekend, 5.10c
- TR - Rat Stew, 5.10a
- Onsite - The Offering, 5.7
Day Three
We met up with the boys at Miguel's and caravaned to PMRP in 3 separate passenger cars due to everyone's different schedules that day. FYI - you probably shouldn't go here if you don't have an off-road 4x4 vehicle, or if you care anything at all about your car. You need to navigate crazy gravel unmaintained roads to get there. I just grabbed onto the *oh shit* handle in the passenger seat and kept telling myself "thank god this isn't my car". At one point, everyone had to get out of their cars and push one of them out of a ditch. We didn't even make it to the legal parking area... that road just looked like a series of continuous ski moguls. We all parked illegally on the side of the road and just hoped that we didn't get towed.
We went to the Gallery Wall, which was mostly above my lead ability. I ended up only TR'ing 3 routes here. They were longer, quality routes so I was OK with it & still a little sore from the previous day's routes. My partner decided to project her first 5.11 here. She couldn't pull through the end of the roof on lead & decided to TR it at the end of the day to figure out the moves. I think this was the first rappel that she had to set-up on the trip & made a couple of critical errors. She didn't tie a knot in the end of her rope & didn't lower her rope all the way to the ground. Basically, she set herself up to rap off of her rope about 20' above the ground.
I had just finished cleaning a route of my own when I saw her getting ready to rappel at the other end of the crag & something told me to go over and give her a fireman's belay. When I arrived at the base of her route and saw the situation she was in, I panicked. Her friend had already left the crag & the Baltimore boys were off scouting out their next climb. I told her stay put & stop rappelling so I could think through what we should do. She freaked out and decided that she was just going to keep rappelling - still not sure about the logic here - but, she was weak and sore from working the 5.11 and didn't think that she had the strength to stay put. As she continued rappelling, it looked like she was going to make it to a ledge, so I let her continue and bit my tongue.
Luckily, the boys appeared back just as she was arriving at the ledge and I yelled to one of them to help. After running over and quickly assessing the situation, one of them free climbed to the ledge and helped her fix the rappel. It was one of the scariest climbing situations that I've witnessed & I was so shaken by this that I almost burst into tears and my hands were shaking. Something had told me to go over to my partner & I had initially brushed it off, telling myself "she'll be fine, you should change your shoes & get some water", but then a stronger feeling washed over me & I went. Always listen to that voice in your head that tells you to do something -- especially if it speaks twice. There's no doubt in my mind that she would have rappelled off of the end of her rope & sustained serious injuries had I not been there. After this incident, we called it a day. I had rented a luxury rental for us that night & we decided to leave early to check in.
My tick list for the day, all at PMRP - The Gallery:
- TR - 27 Years of Climbing, 5.8
- TR - Murano, 5.10b
- TR - A Brief History of Climb, 5.10b
We decided to take a full rest day. We were both sore & still shaken up from the previous day, so we spent the morning lounging around the rental. Miguel actually showed up to check our hot tub & gave us a tour of the larger rental on the property, which sleeps 14. He was really interesting to talk to & has seen what he described as two generations of college kids over his years of running Miguel's. Super nice guy.
In the afternoon, we decided to venture out and explore the Natural Bridge. It was a beautiful day and we had fun taking pictures and enjoying each other's company.
This was our last day in the Red. We decided this was the day that we were going to hit it hard. It was just the two of us, so there were no distractions. We headed back to Muir Valley and started at the Land Before Time Wall. This is where I onsited my first 5.9. It was awesome! My partner thought I was going to fall at the crux & ended up pulling me pretty tight, but I hung on. We had the crag to ourselves, so I wasn't being shy about letting out some pretty serious grunts on the big moves & she mistook my grunt as a potential fall. This wall is where my partner left her leave biner. She had attempted an awkward 5.10 & ended up backing out rather than risking a fall. I didn't blame her - it was pretty sketchy. I didn't leave a biner on this trip, but this idea is still front of mind for me in pushing my limits. After running out of dry climbs at this crag, we headed back to the Bruise Brothers Wall where we had started our trip. Here we found a few more climbs & I ended my day and trip feeling pretty strong.
My tick list for the day, all at Muir Valley:
- Lead - Prehistoric Ext, 5.8+
- Onsite - Ryanosaurus, 5.9
- TR - LittleVipor, 5.10b
- Onsite - CH4, 5.7
- Onsite - The Bee's Business, 5.7
Day Six
After packing up the car, we sadly drove away from our rental & headed to the Lexington, KY airport to drop me off. I left most of my gear in my partner's car as she was continuing on to Ohio to visit family/friends for the weekend before driving back. It was a successful first trip to the Red & I'll definitely be back here climbing within the next year. If only it wasn't such a long car ride away!
