It may be dead but I couldn’t resist including an image of this Hairy Stone Crab (Lomis hirta), mainly because it is the first time I have found one. While the name includes the word crab, it only has three pairs of legs in addition to the claws. This means it is not a true crab and is a carcinisation, or non-crab crustaceans that has evolved over time to form a crab-like body. They only grow to about an inch wide so this one may have died of old age. We spotted it as we rock hopped along the coast to the Playground, and were equally fascinated by it:
We being Craig, a different Craig to the usual one, and myself. Mikie had introduced Craig to the group a little while back. When I posted that I was up for a cruisy Saturday morning out, he jumped at the chance to join me. An easy trip was on order after I went to see a sports medical practitioner last week. The good news being that I was advised not to stop all activities, the bad news was that I have added tennis elbow to my golfers elbow alignments. I had to have a giggle when the practitioner asked if I was a professional climber:
Unlike the Hairy Stone Crab I did not pretend to be something I am not and was pretty clear that I was not a professional climber. Despite this, after quizzing me about how much I climb he wasn’t so convinced. Now all I can do is wait on an x-ray and ultrasound to see just how much damage I’ve done. And like the Hairy Stone Crab, age is not on my side. At least not in relation to the time it will take to heal. Back to today and Craig didn’t know me from a bar of soap, but was willing to put his trust in me when I said I would teach him trad climbing:
The Playground was the perfect place. Short low grade lines that suited both my need to take it easy, and his need to be on something easy. Allowing him to focus more on learning how to place gear and practising good rope work. We had just had a glorious end to the week, only to be greeted to the ‘slight’ chance of a shower this morning. Craig made no mention of this as we walked in, having picked up from the chat on our group that I wasn’t adverse to being out in damp conditions. He also found out on the walk in that I liked a bit of adventure:
I took us along the slippery boulders on the coast. At times needing to wait for a set of waves to calm down before making our way across the wetter sections. I was the one to fall foul of this folly, being hit by the spray of a wave and getting soaked from head to toe. All I could think was how pleased I was that I had bought a waterproof case for my phone. Craig followed where I went and we eventually reached The Playground. I started to download knowledge before Craig racked up and tied in, and it looked like we may have been in luck:
We even managed to get a line in, before the rain hit. Most times along this coast we get a short sharp shower and can sit it out. Then, being so compact and with no porosity, the gneiss will dry out quickly. The ‘slight’ chance of a shower was however a ‘bit’ misleading. It rained, rained, and rained for the next two climbs. Even then when we thought we had got through to the other side, it came back. Craig climbed on unperturbed, taking lead after lead. Water was running down the rock and we were both soaked to the skin. And still we continued:
With each climb I checked the gear, his belay set up and anchors, and we talked through various elements. It was a rare thing for him to put a foot wrong, which was pretty impressive considering it was his first time of leading, first time of using trad, and even more so the conditions that we were out in. That did however finally change and the sun won out, which was very welcome indeed. Working our way from right to left the wall got steeper with each climb, and it was the fifth route below that was Craig’s undoing:
Taking his first lead fall on trad, and then taking several more at the same spot before admitting defeat and sending me up to finish the job off. We had a bit of a chat about grading, both for lead climbing and bouldering. At this place a few of my solos have been significantly upgraded, which I am still not convinced about. However, that aside he will be happy to know that the climb that had pumped him out so much is suggested, on The Crag, to be a V2 boulder problem. Not put off we kept moving left, below:
Another climb that made him work hard, but with perseverance he managed a clean ascent. There was no testing the gear this time, and again I was not able to fault what Craig had put in. He did however make the route that bit harder for himself, as a result of starting to tire and not thinking about technique as much as he could. I though he was going to be keen to bail and call it a day, but instead said he had one more lead in him. This time the climbing eased up, and it was a pleasant line with the sun on our back. A nice way to wrap up the session:
There was of course the walk back to contend with, and I did wonder if Craig would once more blindly follow my footsteps back along the coast. He did. Admittedly the sun had dried up most of the boulders nicely, although there were a couple of sections for which we had to be careful with our timing. It was Craig that fell foul on the return trip, but not to the same degree. Trusting in mounds of seaweed he lost a leg thigh deep, fortunately out of harm’s way as the waves crashed behind him. I get the feeling Craig will be keen to get out again:
Sandbagged 