Regardless of your beliefs Easter is often seen as a time for people to spend with family, and of course eat chocolate. Not surprisingly the call out to see who may be available to get out went unanswered. Each of my normally trusty partners in climb busy with family and/or other things. So on Friday, while the household was dark and quiet, I slipped out the door for a solo mission up to Wellington Dam. Visibility was below a thousand meters for parts of the landscape, being shrouded in fog and making the rising sun glow orange for that bit longer:
This made me think the bowl that Wellington Dam reservoir sits in would also be cloaked in dampness. Surprisingly the fog was already on the rise when I arrived, having reached the peaks round the valley. But the air was still filled with moisture, and I sweated my way up four lines before calling it quits. I had jumped on a couple of tricky climbs but not tricky enough to account for the constant beads rolling down my face. Being honest the main reason for rapping up after only four lines was more due to the holiday makers drifting in:
I’m not one for crowds or being observed when I climb. It is my way of meditating and ridding myself of those lingering thoughts that can build up during everyday life. As it was a quick solo mission, I got home early to allow some family time before we had to get dressed up for a social to celebrate a birthday. The party was out of town, so there was no escape for me once my social cup was full. It ended up being a long night and despite only getting approximately six hours sleep, meaning I woke up a little groggy, I was keen to get out once more:
I didn’t lie when I said the call out went unanswered. I checked in with Pontus separately who said he was a maybe. Having overdone things in the Perth quarries, he wanted to see how he pulled up. Sensibly deciding it was best to rest up rather than risk turning the niggling pains into something more serious. Josh then piped up at the last minute, when his weekend plans were scuppered. Driftwood Bay was our target today for several reasons. A key reason being I had never seen anyone else climb here so we would avoid the Easter climbing traffic:
Also Josh only had one very fleeting experience of this place, when we were chased way by a short, sharp, and rain loaded storm cell (https://sandbagged.blog/2022/05/28/chased-away/). The ragged looking crag offers reasonable length climbs, a good variation of features, and a few runouts to boost the exposure levels. The lower grades suited Josh, and also me today. Although they felt that bit more serious, as like yesterday it was feeling humid. I had the feeling of Déjà vu wash over me, when I got to the top of the first line dripping with sweat:
The rock also had that greasy feeling you get when the salt spray drifts landward, something we noticed was happening when we walked in. None of this stopped us and we both thoroughly enjoyed what the place had to offer. Josh even hinted he might be keen to have a lead, as long as it wasn’t anything too silly. But before he took the pointy end, I racked up three fine lines. Allowing Josh to warm up and get used to the nature of this place, while the sun crept that bit higher and begin to burn off some of the dampness:
He set off looking reasonably happy and confident, popping gear in from comfortable stances. That was until he got to the final headwall. Here the holds became more rounded and the footholds more slabby. Despite being some 20m below, the change in his body language was loud and clear. The rap line was tantalising close, offering a get out of jail of free card. But I was pleased to see him battle with the thoughts building up in his mind. Eventually, the temptation that lay within reach was resisted and he made the final moves and topped out:
We called it a day feeling like we had sweated enough, sadly without a skink, lizard, or snake in sight. We were however rewarded on the walk out seeing a Rosenberg’s Monitor (Varanus rosenbergi) and Bobtail Lizard (Tiliqua rugosa). I’m not sure if the Rosenberg’s Monitor or we looked more surprised when we came face to face, all of us immediately imitating statues. We broke the deadlock making the first move, so we could continue our journey. This included a pit stop at the Margaret River Chocolate Company, where we loaded up with the obvious to help reduce the busy delivery schedule of the Easter Bunny:
Sandbagged 