Another four day week. Um, there is a risk I might start to get used to this, but it can’t last forever. Only until I have reduced the leave I have built up. My rationale for taking it being that I’m doing my bit to help I reduce the leave liability risk of my employer! This suits Howsie a treat seeing he does not work on Friday’s. Today we made good use of the opportunity to progress his 2024 challenge, at Wilyabrup. The only concern being whether my legs would hold up. Lisa is not content with Pilates, weights, and her Saturday morning ocean dip:
She convinced the Peppy Plungers that they could meet on Wednesday’s after work, and pound up and down the 119 steps of the Peppermint Grove Beach lookout. Sitting atop Mount Stirling, it is the tallest peak between Bunbury and Busselton. There is however no stopping to enjoy the view. Once up it is time to go back down and hit repeat, her aim is to manage ten laps by April. This week I suggested I might be keen to join, as I really do need to do amore cardio based exercise. We did eight laps and Thursday morning I was feeling great:
Then DOMs (delayed-onset muscle soreness) started to creep in, and this morning with every step I had to take downhill my legs really were not impressed. On the plus side, and for those following my car drama’s, it’s finally been resolved so I was able to drive this morning. It’s only take close to four months and three different mechanics to get there. As we walked in I pushed my complaining legs top the back of my mind and suggested we climb a few of the lesser climbed routes. I topped out on our first route, Verbosity, as the sun crept over the land:
My calves were burning as I bridged up the initial corner, but I wasn’t giving into them. Howsie then hit Hole World, above, and not being a route he has been on very often it did make him stop and think. Mind you it is fair to say that the runout at the crux is a little unnerving. My next line was one Peter recently aborted on, no doubt due to all the other routes we had done and the fact that the sun was bearing down the rock face. I had to focus, and grunt a bit, to get up A Pocket Full of Nothing but didn’t notice how my legs felt, not once:
As I was grunting away, Pontus was quietly going up Hope, as shown above. Learning the finer delights of trad climbing. He is travelling about and in the areas for a while, and managed to hook up with Sam for a day. While we didn’t know either of them, we discovered Sam and we have common acquaintances. Numbers were exchanged later in the day in the hope of getting out on rock another time. Boosting our options of people to get out with, just as the numbers in our local crew have started dwindle. Down to business now, and it was time for Howsie to get serious:
As we wandered down from my lead, Mick walked in with a couple of clients. We had a chat, as we always do, and he was excited to hear Howsie was going to try The Spin of It. His fourth 24 for 2024, and a climb that neither of us have ever been on. Mick didn’t give too much away, only mentioning a couple of things. Not enough to unlock the very, very reachy crux move, from which Howsie popped off a couple of times. But maybe third or fourth shot he managed to stick it, just as Mick was hanging over the edge showing his group how to abseil:
Howsie was beaming and rightly so, it is not a grade we often attempt and it was a storming effort. This time for our decent I managed to save my legs, by making use of Mick’s rap line. Back down, Howsie hinted he needs to get back on the line to get it clean. Although not today, and he almost seemed a little surprised as I suggested another line. Continuing with another often overlooked line, I kinda romped up The Unbolted and the Beautiful. My arms were a bit more tired than I expected, and the feeling of achiness somehow made me also notice my legs. In fact most of my body was starting to suggest it was time to wrap it up:
But not before one last route to even up the leads, and Rhys’s Rapid Retreat is yet another rarely climbed route. Strangely three of the climb obscura we scaled today are my creations, I’ll admit they lend themselves more to the true traditional aficionado. Howsie was definitely feeling it on this line, as he battled up the steeper sections. As did I. And listening to our bodies I suggested we didn’t climb out with packs on Hope, in search of Carpet Pythons, as we had talked about doing at the start of the morning. No objection was raised:
Sandbagged 