Lou has had her head in the books for a while now and was itching to break free and get out on some rock for a change of scenery. The weekend had started stormy on the Friday night and it continued right through on and off. So by mid-afternoon on the Sunday we made a dash for Castle Rock, and sure enough we got a mixed bag but with that came some great sights such as this rainbow as we prepared for the first climb:
Despite all the rain the rock was in great condition, and for the most part was dry although the cracks had a bit of moisture in them. It wasn’t really an issue as we had no intention of climbing hard today and we bumbled up some lines that I didn’t even feel warranted including in the guidebook, other than a line to say this part of the crag offered some short, fun easy cracks:
Right on cue as Lou was topping out the blue sky in the image above disappeared and the heavens opened on us. Fortunately the wind had a bit of oomph to it and I was on the ball enough to cover the rope, so things dried out nicely for me to throw Lou onto another lead. Having been a diligent student and studied hard her brain was a little mushy when it came to adventure, which showed as she piked out at the top of the next climb blaming it on lack of gear:
She then insisted it was my lead for which I already had a plan. When I last climbed here with Howsie he really struggled to get established onto the awesome face. After he tried soooo many times he offered me the lead, and I hate to sound boastful but I walked up it and loved every bit of it. So this time I started with great confidence and buzzing sensation of excitement for the divine face climbing that was to come. But…… try as I might I couldn’t make the move so it was my turn to pike out. Instead I headed up a fun corner system that was conveniently just to the side, so it didn’t feel like I had gone off route (too much!):
After all that palaver Lou insisted that we even up the leads, so I plumped for an easy ramble on another one of those nameless lines. Just to add to the excitement I picked a line that meant Lou had to belay a bit closer to the waves as they crashed in. I climbed it as slowly and thoughtfully as possible but she never got wet, the waves were simply not big enough. Still it was a fun line and fitting way to finish the session off:
The light faded pretty quickly and by the time Lou had followed me up and she was coiling the rope it was time to head back to the car. It was only a short ten minute walk but by the time we got there we were engulfed in darkness. Perfect timing and a great little session, but nothing too hard so Lou had plenty of energy to get home and hit the books again:
Sandbagged 