This image belies the fact that we drove in during first light, which is starting to creep in a little later in the day. By the time we were ready to rap in the sun was already spreading across the land, washing away any chance of a near full moon picture. Today was Howsie’s choice. He picked the Northern Blocks and The Terrace, so I knew what was on his mind:
Despite first light being that little bit later these days, it was still a tad early for Peter. And as he arrived we were just finishing up on our warm up climb. The image below doesn’t show that route. He was used to accessing the wall from below, so rather than walk all the way back to the top and rap in as we had, Peter soloed/scrambled up to join us on The Terrace:
With three of us there was the chance for me to make like a mountain goat, and scamper about looking for the better angles. Resulting in this post having a few more images than usual. To compensate I’ve cut back on the writing. I knew enough about Peter’s abilities to encourage him to jump on the second and progressive warm up climb before the main event:
Then it was Howsie’s turn but he wasn’t sure if he was feeling it. Both Peter and I have a no pressure approach to geeing someone up. This is how Howsie found himself on his second 24 for 2024. It was a doozy. Steep, unrelenting, and not always obvious to read climbing. And while it may not look like it, he was doing exactly as we had told him… “just have fun”:
He put a lot into it, and managed to get half way up, taking quite a few falls along the way. Falls that were completely safe being such a steep wall. All you can hit as you fall being air. The only issue however is how to get back onto the wall, as you dangle in nothing but space. This added to the hard work, every time he got back on the rock to give it another shot:
Eventually he conceded and a top rope was set up, with neither Peter nor I keen to lead it. No one got a clean ascent, but Howsie now knows what to expect for next time. Despite expending a fair bit of grunt on the 24, Peter in his completely calm way decided to jump on a fingery and sustained route with two rooflets. Watching him climb was inspirational:
Cool and calm, despite the climb not offering any true rest positions. Just hanging there figuring it all out. Howsie was toasted and struggled his way up and I slipped off the crux sequence several times, as we tried to mimic the clean lead we’d just watched. It was time to dial it back so we went to the Northern Blocks, where Howsie jumped on the sharp end again:
Here we grabbed the “crag booty” Howsie had spotted when we first arrived. A lone quickdraw on the last bolt of one of the routes on this taller wall. Due to the time spent on the harder routes, the sun was starting to edge high in the sky. To the point that Peter had to shield his eyes as he looked up on the last line of the day. One we were glad he led:
Howsie and I both managed to follow up with no problem, but we agreed being on lead with tiring body’s and the sun in our eyes would not have been a good way to end the day. Peter was also content and ready to wrap it up, rightly feeling pretty chuffed with his leads. So we sorted the gear under the watchful eye of this Nankeen Kestrel (Falco cenchroides):
Howsie and I both heard the familiar call of the kestrel, as we climbed. But his eyes were sharper than mine, and spotted it. While he was exhausted from a very fun morning, his sight had not been affected. Proven one more time when he spotted saw this beautiful Rosenberg’s/Southern Heath Monitor (Varanus rosenbergi) as we approached the cars:
Sandbagged 