Oktoberfest

Even though the last weekend was Oktoberfest, Cortney and I decided to join the masses travelling over the mountains. We camped on Saturday night and then climbed at Mountain Home the following morning with Joel, Michelle, Jeanna, Blue, and Leah. The weather was incredible and everyone was in high spirits. Cortney climbed quite well, sending The Barn Door and Andy's Arete, on her first try of the day. I had a good time repeating many of the wonderful climbs in the Pasture, and made a quick excursion down to the South Seas, where Joel and I climbed Desert of the Real, which is strangely listed as a project in the guidebook (what were they thinking??) It is a high slab with a tough start followed by enjoyable moves on gorgeous granite holds. Much credit goes to Joel for opening it on the day, although this one has to have been climbed by someone else before...

After our extended morning session we headed up the Icicle to climb at Forestland. We went straight to the Practitioner where I made a bit of progress but still flailed. I am making better linkage through the lower part, but the very last move remains super-hard for me and is going to take a seriously good day to stick on link. Fortunately, it's such a good climb that it's even fun to fall off of... over and over again.

Happy Monkeys

Jeanna tops out a warm-up in The Pasture

Cortney tops out The Barn Door

Michelle working on Darth Maul

The view from Mt. Home

The Practitioner

Cortney working on The Pony Ride

The Swiftwater Cave