Chipmunks can Climb 5.13

I've never seen a chipmunk climb a route before this weekend.  It's pretty awesome to watch.  They don't have any technical moves, just fast and fearless movement.  I was standing at the base of my first 5.7 trad lead trying to get my head together & convince myself that I could do it when a chipmunk approached. As if to show me that it wasn't a big deal, the chipmunk climbed my route right in front of me.  It was exactly what I needed at that moment.  I burst out in nervous laughter & that seemed to calm me down.

This lead has been a long time in the making.  One of the goals that I had set for myself this year was to lead a 5.7 trad pitch by the end of the summer.  Well, I achieved my goal!  It happened a couple of weeks late, but weather played a hand in that, as I was suppose to try my 5.7 lead a couple weeks prior, but got rained out.

My partner and I were at The North End of Cathedral & had just finished climbing an intense 5.9 crack route called They Died Laughing.  My crack climbing skills are pretty weak, but I managed to land some decent finger and hand jams following him.  After watching me on this route, my partner thought I should go for my 5.7 lead on a crack route called Kiddy Crack.  I walked over and checked it out.  It looked intimidating for a 5.7, but the crux was low & I knew that if I could get past the crux, the 5.7 lead would be mine.  I also pacified myself that I could bail at any time and pull on as much gear as I needed to.  The goal was to just do it.

Next climbing goal: lead a 5.7 trad pitch clean!