Winter Day In GB

Apologies for what might be the longest-ever delay between posts here on NW Granite - it's been a long month.

Here are some pictures from a fun weekend day two weeks ago in Gold Bar (after this day, I crammed for finals for two weeks and then traveled to the East coast). It was was a bit of a trek from Reiter Road up to the Clearcut, but well worth it. The woods were quiet and ORV-free, and the crisp, dry granite more than made up for the 45-minute hike. Though we can't yet benefit from it, the most encouraging part of the day was seeing that Manke Timber had re-graded the entire road; in the state we saw it, it now seems feasible to drive a Honda Civic all of the way to the top of the clearcut. As far as I know, it has been over ten years since the road was re-graded, and this is a wonderful silver lining to the DNR's winter closure. Much thanks to Manke Timber for putting money into the road and continuing to allow climbers to access and enjoy recreation on their land in the Reiter Foothills.

The Road At The (former) Spring 09 WashoutThe Road By The Scab Boulder Parking Below Fraggle RockJohnny Warming Up - Awesome Rock!

Our climbing day was relatively short, and quite cold, but the WA monkeys sill managed to send some good things. Johnny Goicoechea was able to (quickly) manage the first ascent of Positive Vibrations, a super-obvious two-move problem at the edge of the clearcut that is listed as a project in Central Washington Bouldering. Way to go Johnny! Drew Schick also sent Joel C's Funpuppet in an impressive last-ditch effort. Cortney made progress on the 5-star problem Unholy, and I... had fun playing on some nice easy climbs.

Kyle Attempting Doja DirectDrew Schick On Dave's ProblemCortney On UnholyDrew Playing Below Dave's Problem

After several months in the library, my skin was garbage, but I still had some fun climbing and got myself psyched by looking at all of the amazing lines that I have yet to do. At the top of my list is Volition, Joel Campbell's 5-star squeeze arete that has some of the most perfectly-sculpted holds in the forest. This one is on my bouldering "bucket list," and I can't wait to try it later this winter with more skin.

Volition - WOWIE!

It was a fun and encouraging day in the Clearcut for all of us, and I look forward to some more crisp Winter days in this magical area. Until then, so long Gold Bar...

A Beautiful Gold Bar Sunset

WCC + Access Fund Comment on DNR Gold Bar Plan

Sorry that I've been slow to post recently, I don't have much excuse besides the fact that I traveled to the flatlands for the Thanksgiving holiday and have been living in the library since then. However, with all the time I spent playing outside this Fall, I can hardly complain about having to crush some books for a few weeks.

I don't have any pictures to share, but thought that I would post the comment that Ryen Godwin, Jonah Harrison, and I wrote to submit to the DNR on behalf of the Washington Climbers Coalition and the Access Fund. You can find it here. It's short and sweet, but hopefully makes it known to the department that we are another responsible group of non-motorized recreationalists that use the Reiter Foothills. It seems like 90% of the comments they receive will be from ORV users, so it is important that we make our voice heard.

Hopefully I'll be able to get out to GB for a day this weekend - if so, pics will follow!