There’s gold in them there hills

After way too many messages by Glen to try and delay the start of Saturday’s events we eventually landed with what Lou and I had agreed at the very start.  A 7:30 meet at the crag for a bit of very relaxed “get back into it” morning of climbing.  Today was about being a bit more social and not so much about the climbing, although we had in mind yet another person’s self-imposed challenge for 2020.  Being a more relaxed social gathering even Lisa came out with us, which hasn’t happened for some time.. We arrived at an empty carpark at 7am:

Unlike the others Lisa and I decided to walk in from the normal Wilyabrup carpark.  While the car is more than capable of negotiating the access track to the crag, I’ll admit I’m not a fan of 4WDing and secondly I like the walk-in.  It’s was a 40min walk from the car to the crag, but most of that is along the coast, hopping along boulders or strolling along rock shelfs.  The whole way you get an undisturbed view of the ocean, the familiar smell of the weed and a great spectacle of rock architecture that varies along the way:

The tides have been very low of late, and the areas where the boulders can get wave washed were all bone dry.  These sections can get a bit dicey when the tide is higher, as you both want to take your time on the slippery rock but also don’t want to go too slow so as to avoid getting caught out by the waves.  Today we didn’t have that problem and that was probably a good thing, as Lisa would confess she is not the most well balanced person on this terrain.  Even though. like me, she is wearing the appropriate safety footwear:

We got to the crag late by 10min but still managed to get their first.  In the background you can see a crag with a big roof, which is Lost Buttress.  There is some good traditional fun to be had on that crag, but the routes there were a bit too long and get a bit more serious for kicking off today’s challenge.  We were going to have a play on the Playground, a short but fun crag with a sandy base allowing for both a bit of not too hard roped climbing and as much bouldering as you can manage:

In the image above you’ll have to squint pretty hard to see it, but the cars had just rolled in at the top of the hill.  Just above the white scar that cuts through the vegetation.  Another reason I don’t like driving in here is that the access track is straight down that scar and it is susceptible to erosion.  It only gets used on the rare occasion by climbers, as this is not a well frequented area, but does get used by people fishing who want a sneaky place to camp overnight.  The troops were soon in attendance and the fun could begin:

It was a relaxed start, and Alan has finally come out to play on rock.  He’s been fixated on mountain biking and also more recently road biking.  While I have to confess to having indulged in that activity a lot, mostly in the UK, climbing has taken over my life and any other sport that dares eat into that valuable time on rock.  There is a long traverse along the base of the crag, it is probably about 60m in total with some pretty steep sections that keep you on your arms.  Alan’s noodle arms, as he will call them, were no match for the entire traverse:

The main reason for coming here was to kick start Lou into 2020, and her goal to lead climb Twenty Questions at the main cliffs of Wilyabrup by the middle of the year.  It has been maybe 4 years since she took her ground fall at Moses Rocks, and she has not been out much since then.  While always on the peripheral this is the year that she has decided to get back into it and set herself a gaol.  So she was the first one on the floppy end and we kept a close eye on her encouraging her to trust her gear, which is hard when you have witnessed it rip out before:

She kept a cool head and we made her test every piece by fully weighting it, discussed direction of fall and rope work and eventually she popped out on top.  Better still she placed a range of passive and active gear, there is definitely a need to build her trust in the active gear which had been her downfall previously.  As the image above shows there is not much respite from the sun at this location, Lisa was taking in the view of the activity from the rocks protecting us from any waves and was in full sun already:

Today we were not at risk from any waves, in fact I had also brought my snorkel gear in case it was calm enough to go in.  Unfortunately it was not and there was just that bit too much swell to make it worth trying.  Lisa while joining us was content to kick back, watch us for a bit, have a chat and then immerse herself into books.  There were even dolphins that cruised past a few times early on, something Lisa never tires of seeing.  She is the queen of the rock armchairs and this place has not just armchairs but full on recliners, it was her kind of heaven:

Steve too fancied getting in on the leading action.  The last time I took him out to Welly Dam we decided that maybe he should not be leading but seconding was alright.  However, today he had already set his sights on a line.  I found out afterwards (as in when I got home) that he was chatting to Lisa and Alan and pondered whether it was better to ask for my permission or forgiveness.  The reason being that he had picked a steep rounded corner and I could see straight way that it was be a bit of a battle and would have advised against it:

Still he got up it and the merry band of climbers all had a bash at following him up it.  It was a very traditional style of climb and as such had some people a little puzzled, the line can be seen at the left-hand end of this image.  Glen was next up on the floppy end and he too was testing his gear.  Being in much of need as some practise as Lou, as he has to get both his body and mind back into climbing fitness for a trip over to Arapiles later this year.  As you can see it was a very relaxed time with lots of stopping, even when on lead, to have a yarn:

I confess to not leading anything, other than Lisa I was the only one.  I had travelled light with just the essentials, which had made it possible to fill the bag with the snorkel gear that I didn’t end up using.  My intention for the day was to watch, encourage and have a boulder.  The traverse, a few problems and following (soloing) people up their chosen lines was enough to keep me moving and to stretch the body.  The only semi-serous boulder problem I did was Slime Ball, that was as hard as it needed to get on a day like today:

Steve was soon at it again, and again had managed to pick a line that was a little feisty.  I have to admit that this time I had steered his eye, as he was looking for possible routes.  I had intended and tried to get Alan to have a bash at this one, but I turned my attention to other goings on and Steve snuck in and grabbed the gear.  It was more of a battle than his first line and he took a few rests on the gear, eventually pulling through the roof onto easier territory.  All I can say is that it is a good job that these lines are short:

Everyone else had a bash at this route and managed to haul themselves up with a rest or two, and poor Alan hurt his finger.  Again Lisa didn’t partake, in fact she had fallen asleep for a little while, a dangerous thing to do in the sun.  The only other person who didn’t get up this one was Masie, but that was entirely understandable.  While she had climbed in a gym many years back, and only stopping due to the gym closing, this was only her second time on real rock.  She had already followed up a few lines and this one was just a bit too hard:

Masie while not getting up Steve’s route had been tutored by Steve on how gear works and how to place it.  So she was next up to take on a lead, not bad considering it’s only her second trip out!  Under the watchful eye of many she placed the gear and made her way up Chimpanzee, which also happens to be Tom’s first ever lead on trad!  For those unaware of Tom, he’s a very talented and powerful climber who learned the ropes with us.  Masie was going well placing good gear and looking comfortable:

The route has a very fun finish up a crack on a steeper wall that has good holds above it, but you can’t see them.  As such it is a heady climb and even more so as a first lead.  However, if Masie was nervous you would never have noticed it.  She smiled the whole way up and topped out in fine style.  Something tells me she will be back out with us again to have another bash at leading.  Now you may also be wondering why I haven’t given you the names of all the routes, well that is because none of the others mentioned have been written up before:

This crag really is not frequented by many people, the routes are never too serious in the grand scale of things.  That said they are fun and for this band of good climbing folk it was the perfect tonic that was needed to get the new year started.  And just when I thought Alan wasn’t going to have a lead today there he was, having got over his injury and was romping up the line that Lou had started on.  It was to be the last climb of the day and I think it is fair to say that everyone had a fine ole time at the Playground:

Lisa and I left the crew as they packed up, well as we were leaving Steve and Glen were actually fossicking for gold having found a band of black dirt with quartz in it.  A sure sign that there’s gold in them there hills, or so they reckoned.  The walk back along the rocks was over way too quick, and as soon as he headed inland and up the steps to gain the ridge it felt like the heat had turned up.  Back at the previously desolate carpark there was not a space to be found, the main crag was no doubt pretty busy today, so we had made a good choice of location: