I first started climbing at Tollhouse Rock six years ago. It was my first exposure to granite slab climbing, and it was scary for me. But I kept at it, practicing on the mossy sandstone up at Skyline Slabs, and learned to love it. I've gone back to Tollhouse several times a year since then just because it's so much fun.

This particular weekend most of my climbing buds were out skiing, so I hooked up with Gene's friend Brad, a surgeon from Modesto.

Saturday morning I met Gene and company on the access road -- he was taking some new folks up to introduce them to the Joy of Slab, much like six years ago. In the meantime, Brad and I set off towards what some folks call the Hippo Wall. This black-streaked route is 5.8-ish (5.9 in Slater's book) and I think I took my first lead fall at Tollhouse here -


We did three other routes to warm up. The leftmost one is called Taking a Bath With Strangers, and I remember once my friend Mike Z leading it wearing a Batman cape and mask :)

Next we got on Elephant Walk (5.7), a classic finger / hand crack.


After rapping off the first pitch (it goes up for about four more pitches) we walked over to the Tollhouse Traverse (5.5), another classic route. A party was already on it and looked to be taking their time. I decided to go do Falling Star (5.8) instead.


I'd led the first pitch of this one before and always rapped off, but this time decided to just keep going.



At the third pitch belay I looked at the 20+ year old topo again and wondered where the fourth pitch went originally. Finally I decided to finish on the last pitch of the Tollhouse Traverse, doing the mantle move for the heck of it (the slab finish was occupied).


I always wonder how that mantle move is 5.5 -- clearly I need to eat more Wheaties :) We'd had a full day of climbing and we got back to the car with the sun low on the horizon.

On Superbowl Sunday we decided to go check out Squarenail. I'd never been there before, but Gene & co. had done a few routes on Friday afternoon at the Elvis Wall, just below the Aid Boulder, so Brad knew the way. We warmed up on a couple 5.9's on the left where Gene had left a toprope. I pulled the rope and led one of them after TR'ing it first.

To the right was an area with a steep but short bulge in the middle, and a choice of 5.6, 5.8, 5.9 and 5.10b routes up it.


I led the 5.6 (Graceland) and TR'd the others. Really fun, though the 10b was a little above my pay grade :)

We did another 5.7 bolted route in the middle (Elvis Has Left the Building), then moved over to the big feature to the right of it.


Led the five bolt route on the very right edge of this thing -- felt 5.8-ish, to the right of the three-bolt 5.7 (Are You Small). We also did the 5.8 along the left edge, Easy Rider; a bit grainy, but still fun.

The friction here was a mix of things -- some places had big crystals and no holds for palms-flat smearing, others with micro edges more typical of Tollhouse. All fairly short (<30m) routes but fun stuff.

Brad is a longtime mountaineer and new to trad climbing, but did well. I was psyched to bring another new person into the fold, as it were.

On my way home I stopped at Taqueria Maranatha in Madera and enjoyed one of their spicy burritos, the perfect finish to the weekend. My father was from Sichuan, and to my way of thinking, good food should make your face burn :)