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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Topic Author's Original Post - Sep 2, 2013 - 11:37pm PT
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a Labor Day weekend trip to Lovers Leap…
started off on Friday from Livermore without a plan, but before we hit the 580 we had decided that the best option was the relatively short travel time trip to Lovers Leap… trying to guess where the best opportunity would be to have a great weekend…
to our delight, Saturday morning was sunny and smoke free as seen from our bivouac
and after getting the first coffee of the morning we headed down for breakfast at the parking area… which was amazingly empty
and pretty much stayed that way all day.
We thought to get a quick run on Surrealistic Pillar but that had a line on it all day… we opted for a ropeless warmup of The Farce then a trip up The Groove… but the line was getting longer, not shorter… (amazingly what with the lack of climbers)
so we went to do Deviant, a not so frequently climbed route to the right of The Line… featuring a steep dike hike with natural gear (though sparse) up to the ledge below the Psychedelic Tree last pitch variation. Here is ablegabel pushing the two pitches (in one, with a 70m rope).
here he is pulling the last bit of the terrific overhang section
(the true bidness is below him, unseeable to the belayer).
We finished up by another ropeless warm down on Hogsback, Wave Rider doing a variation at the top that kept it tame.
We didn't get in the 10 pitches we were going for, but it sure seemed like time to have a cold beer back at the car.
That night we had a wonderful time at the home of the gracious Petch who had a shindig already in progress and invited us over. Discretion being the better part of valor, we equally graciously excused ourselves around 9pm to retire to our bivy… so that we could have a productive second day climbing.
The next morning was a bit smokey, there were more people around, we hopped on It's Better With Bacon ablegabel starting up pitch 4 on his way to the top...
we did the route in 3 pitches, and having planned to carry everything over the top, headed to Surrealistic Pillar which was open at the time...
Here he is leading off of a belay above the wide section… on his way to flip the arete, feet on the dike above him to the left, hands on the third dike above,
done in two pitches… (don't go up the gully to the right, even though it looks like the line!).
Down we went, checking out a couple of Slovinian hotshots… and basically in shittalking mode now…
…Petch wandered up the trail, having homed in on abelgabel's distinctive voice and then the party began in earnest. Having consumed all the beers we had on hand, we once again did a ropeless ascent of The Farce, the Slovinian's were thinking about attempting a 12c around the corner which seemed ripe for realtime "color commentary" except for the fact that we need more beer… which we descended to get and returned to the scene… which ended up not so ripe.
Having exhausted these targets of opportunity, our little band of three headed off to Munk's rock to harass the boulderers… four of whom where practicing their sport… with PBR's and other mental excitation stimulators…
less they take us for mere knaves ("is this all you do? drink beer and shittalk?") they were introduced (as was I) to three squeeze problems at the boulders, each one a bit more squeezy than the last… which they gamely followed along…
the last one Petch lead by diving into head first… I did it next feet first and demonstrated the limits of "thickness" all of them were much less thick than I, and all of them completed the round of three… though they didn't show much respect by referring to us as "gentlemen" while thanking us for the fun.
Though ablegabel refrained from the second and third chimneys, he was schooling the Slovacs in handstacking and overhanging wide problems, which he managed to send… I started but he assured me that I wouldn't be able to do it in my Tevas, and I took that as permission not to further skin loss anymore than the last squeeze (which left a bright red patch on my ribcage… much to the delight of the young bouldering crew all proudly showing off their red patches).
All in all we left quite contented, lots of fun was had… that is the point, isn't it?
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mucci
Trad climber
The pitch of Bagalaar above you
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Nice!
Good to see you two in a relaxed, repeat mode! With copious beers...standard.
Man ropeless waverider? There is that one section a few pitches up when you move left toward manic dep that would be pretty darn intimidating, after a few beers though.
Cheers!
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 3, 2013 - 12:05am PT
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well, no beers on the Wave Rider tandem solo, and if you keep to the line up and right, it is tame (as I said before)...
for me, a lot of beers = 2, that sets the scale here...
I'm a light weight in these matters...
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kaholatingtong
Trad climber
Nevada City
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indeed, that is the point. good stuff here. cheers.
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Joe
Social climber
Santa Cruz
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haven't visited the taco in a while and this was a wonderful reminder that the forum can be a fun place to visit...great write up and pix Ed...
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BLUEBLOCR
Social climber
joshua tree
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Sweeeet Ed!!
Those roots are really Good!! And ur stories of hanging with Peaches (Petch) and forever AbleGable bring fuzzie feelings to my soul! Seems like only yesterday I was there doing the same thing. Climb'in, Swill'in, and Spray'in! Sometimes even putt'in up roots and build'in houses. Say how does Petch and Hiedi's house look? Did he tell you the story about us pouring 68 yrds of concrete in the foundation?
As Petch will say;
The Leap Provides!
Live on Fuzzy Feelings!
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Joe
Social climber
Santa Cruz
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Jim Clipper
climber
from: forests to tree farms
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^^^ Jerry lives! (and climbs)
very nice, well done, carry on.
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RyanD
climber
Squamish
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Nice Ed, thanks!
Some of the most interesting granite on the planet right there. Quality!
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amyjo
Trad climber
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Perfecto!
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mcreel
climber
Barcelona
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What, no run up "Labor of Love"? I guess it wouldn't make for very interesting reading, though: "hike dikes, clip, hike dikes, clip, hike dikes, ponder, move sideways, hike dikes, clip,...,clip, rap."
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Dikes for the memories!
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justthemaid
climber
Jim Henson's Basement
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Meh.. really would have liked to get up there this year again but it wasn't in the cards. Looks like you had a fun time..
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Nice Ed! Went there for one day with TM Herbert in the early 70's.....a return trip is in order.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Great! California still had the bear that graces their state flag.
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Norwegian
Trad climber
dancin on the tip of god's middle finger
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thanks, ed.
i should have crossed paths with you
for i was about, all weekend.
i'll see you in (3) weeks?
same place.
mucci, too?
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SCseagoat
Trad climber
Santa Cruz
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Very nice....a favorite spot!
Susan
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Dapper Dan
Trad climber
Menlo Park
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lol 'shit talking mode' ... been there .
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mcreel
climber
Barcelona
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I once met Warren Harding at the boulder, that was pretty cool.
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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I love to sleep while others leap.
Too real, Ed. Too real.
Vintage o.s. weekend.
Enjoyed it behind closed eyes...
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