Heading inland

A 4:30 departure and Craig and I were on the road north to an inland crag near Pinjarra, just for something different. As the sun poked over the horizon at 5:30’ish it had a red hue due to the controlled burns that are being carried out as spring sets in:

An hour later we were at the crag and I threw Craig onto the pointy end for his first lead (and climb) in a long time. This climb is never too hard but awesome being sustained from start to finish. There are not many routes t Boomer Crag but they are worth repeating. That’s lucky as this was my third trip here:

It’s a short 20m crag but situated high above the valley with a view of the coastal plains stretching away. Being surrounded by bush and loads of grass trees there is the continuous sound of birds, and even better lots and lots of red-tailed black cockatoos who happen to be one of my favourite:

My lead next and jumped on a slick rounded arête, both previous times I seconded this one and found it nervous. It’s a full value slabby arête with smears and crystal pulling moves, and being on lead focused my attention and I loved it:

As I belayed Craig up the sun was poking its head over the hill but the way the crag is situated we could still climb in the shade. It was just the belay at the top when we would be in the sun:

The arête didn’t trouble Craig one bit, so he hadn’t lost any of his climbing technique:

So I got him to lead another slab climb of equal grade, which was full trad and most of the gear in the first half was small, small wires. These unnerve many people, but we are both used to using and trusting small gear. He had a bit of Elvis going on, but managed to lead it clean even keeping his head with a decent runout in the midsection:

I then lead the crag classic this great crack, but no images I’m afraid. It is a stonking climb, and it was the first time I had led it, having offered up the lead on my last visit with Howsie. On the rap down we noticed a new line but I hadn’t heard about this so I had no idea what grade it would be, but it looked fun and doable:

Four climbs down so time for a cuppa. The good thing about climbing with Craig is that he always brings a thermos, so it was time for a cuppa at the crag and a breather to contemplate what next as the grades were about to go up a fair bit:

After a bit of debate it was agreed that I’d try a climb I’ve eyed up on each visit that just begs to be climbed. Howsie it is as good as it looks. I twice went for a reachy hold and just got it before my other hold pinged off, so it was an exciting lead. But my parent head kicked in towards the top and I bottled on one move. No stress it was awesome and we both loved it:

I did attempt the new climb but failed miserably, it was steep, sharp and reachy – oh how looks can be deceptive! So I plumped for another line that was graded 21 but man was the start impossible so I did a batman start. I then carried on with sharp holds that threatened to pierce my fingertips, with the bolts off to the side away from the holds. It was a very bizarre line. Having seen me work hard on it and with steadily rising temperatures as the sun rose in the sky Craig was not that keen. So it was time to pack up go to the Pinjarra bakery and head home.