Recycling

After a bout of wild weather promising slightly damper conditions I put the word out there for this weekend, which didn’t look too bad.  Wiggins was keen, and after I suggested I was open to a late start he promptly suggested a 7:30 meet in Capel.  The timing was great as I got to see the sun poke it’s head out on a fresh misty morning.  It was not however quite what I meant as a late start, as the mercury would only reach the mid-teens today.  Wiggins told me later that he thought 7:30 was late for me and didn’t want to push it any more:

Mileage was the aim of the day, and that considering the likely less than perfect conditions we aimed for Driftwood Bay.  This little crag gets very little attention, nestled between the cleaner, more accessible and in truth more solid crags of the main Willyabrup cliffs and the northern blocks.  It however provides nice length routes, each of which are varied and fun.  With little action the rock can be suspect in places, the lower band comprises a soft and after rain mushy basalt and there is the occasional bit of decorative limestone coating the granite:

As we drove to the crag we did wonder if we were wise going out, as it rained on and off for most of the journey.  We continued on regardless as out to the west the sky was brighter and we could see breaks in the cloud, and with light westerlies forecast we were hopeful.  While winter brings inclement weather it also brings the joy of watching weather systems and procrastinating about what will come.  Something that can drive Lisa a little potty, especially if it is a bigger full day or overnight trip being planned, as this can go on for a month before the trip:

While as you can see there was some seepage, there wasn’t a huge amount and the main cliffs were pretty good.  The lower black basalt felt as dodgy as ever, and with no gear placements (not that they would hold) it allowed me to take a few images from afar as Wiggins made his way up to more solid rock.  Wiggins wanted to come here because he hadn’t been before and also it was a perfect place to get some mileage in, he had however forgotten he seconded me on this line when I put it up way less than five years back.  So Cauliflower Soup was our first tick:

While the grades are low it is hard to run up these routes as the rock often looks broken and fractured.  While it gives that perception it is mostly good, but a cautionary knock is often required to check that is actually the case.  It certainly has more than its fair share of suspect rock, but that is really because it doesn’t get the traffic the other crags do.  The gear is wonderfully varied and allow true old school placements where slings and other passive gear come into their own, one of the reasons I like this place:

Below you can just make out the bay that give this crag its name, a small area where piles of rubbish often collect.  A great place to go and see what can be salvaged, but today despite the recent bashing the ocean had given this coast there was relatively little to be seen.  In true trad style we setup old school belays often making use of a single boulder to rap a sling or rope round.  No doubt some will frown upon our approach in this age of bubble wrapping things and needing to have layers upon layers of backup plans and safety:

We of course went lead for lead, now that we realised that Wiggins had in fact been here before.  I did however, try to leave the gems of the place for him to lead as he obviously would have no memory of them.  Not to say the lines I picked were scrappy, this one in particular was the stand out I led on the day, a fine start up a crack and flake system that provided consistent interest and intrigue, and one put up by none other than Steve.  Old Crate is a another example of what I love about the place, corners, flakes, arêtes and overlaps all in one fun packed route:

Wiggins picked one of his own creations next, Pick Pocket must surely have been a line that was climbed in the old days of the 70s to 90s before we came along.  There was however no record of it so we bagged it in September 2014.  It was loads of fun and halfway up he came across a surprise.  While from our scan from a distance it had seemed there was little beachcombing opportunities we had a chance to recycle some crag booty!  Wiggins found a wire that jiggled about, too fiddly to get out on lead but not for me on second with a rope above me:

Considering I have recently been climbing in temperatures that reached the high twenties, and today was a mere mid-teens at best, it was getting surprisingly toasty.  We had been right to keep driving as blue skies abound and the light winds did little to stir the air.  So despite the waves crashing in we were not being covered in salt spray, and instead we were soon in T-shirts soaking up the rays.  We even spied a couple of skinks lurking in cracks, watching carefully as we placed gear in the entrance to their homes:

It is possible to walk to the base of this crag, but it is a bit of a bush bash and so it is much quicker to walk along the goat track along the top of the cliff.  The track is a bit loose and you need to tread carefully to avoid tumbling over the edge in a few spots, all adding to the adventure of the day.  To rap in I’d brought the second and shorter half of an old retired lead rope.  The other half was fully retired a few months back, and this half may follow suit after this trip.  This shorter half wasn’t quite long enough for today but we managed, by down climbing the last bit:

Crab Slab was next on my list, the one of the first routes put up at this crag way back in the 70s and with great passive gear placements.  Wiggins and I agree that there is nothing more satisfying than a solid hex placement, it slots in and just looks like you can hang a car of it.  This is probably the most chilled line here due to having the best rock with ample gear.  For this reason it was also the route I sent Alan up to pop his trad leading cherry in October 2013.  It is also the day that we put up a few fine lines including one of the crag classics:

It may look like Wiggins is repeating the first route of the day, but the first line had gone left round the nose and up the arête and slab.  This line follows the wide corner.  There are two must do routes at this crag, and this 70s epic called Integrity is one.  I advised Wiggins that small wires were needed.  So he promptly set off without them… and had to run it out on what even I would call less than perfect gear.  The first half of this climb is particularly awesome, on solid rock often requiring complete faith in full smears for your feet, which fortunately stuck today:

I then took on another of the old routes having to trust some large creaky flakes up the start, not just holds but to place the gear behind too.  They are probably good and I gave them a good tug, but we agreed that we probably wouldn’t want to put them to ultimate test!  This route probably had the sketchiest move of the day.  Stepping onto and up the slab from this position is particularly nervous, probably more on account of the gear below than the moves.  I find a strange satisfaction from these situations, which is another reason I love this place:

Now I mentioned earlier how we had found some crag booty for recycling and it would only be right to make use of our new piece of gear, which I have donated to Wiggins seeing he saw it first.  It was only used once, by me of course, and was aptly used behind one of those creaky flakes just add extra spice on spice!  In this world we really should be recycling more, I somehow doubt that Wiggins is of like mind with this particular find.  I suggested a soak in some oil and it might come good, so next time you are out with Wiggins it might be worth checking his wires:

As the light westerlies brought the next bank of cloud overhead Wiggins set off on the last line of the day.  Sure Footed is the second must do route here, the lucky find of Alan and me and a fitting end to the days climbing.  As I followed up, with a pack on my back, the tricky bottom crack made me work and I knew it was time to call it a day.  I like to stick to even numbers, but if you have kept track we hit seven lines.  I managed to keep it together and we didn’t rap back down, instead packing up and heading out after carefully along the track: