It was time to head back to an old favourite, and Rongy was keen to join in the fun when Alan and I started to lay the plans for a morning foray at Moses Rocks.  The times got mucked about with, and there was a bit of banter as the plans were rearranged via WhatsApp.  This led to a bit of a mix up with me waiting in Capel and Alan and Rongy waiting at the bottom of our driveway in Peppy Beach.  The departure wasn’t delayed by too much and as a plus it resulted in us not needing to pull out the head torches.  First light was breaking through when we started our walk to the crag, instead of as we started to climb, which had been the plan:

Despite the last few days of easterlies, a rough swell had resulted in the crag being pretty wet.  But unlike the rock at Wilyabrup, the next cliff to the south and visible from where we were climbing, Moses can cope with moisture and the excellent friction makes it possible to climb even in wet conditions.  The reason for a trip to Moses was mainly to head somewhere different with low to mid-grade routes that would be suitable for Alan to continue getting back into leading.  It felt a bit rough to throw him onto the sharp end for the first climb, both in view of the wet conditions and different rock and hence climbing style here:

So Rongy was the first to see just how wet it was, he led us up the left hand side of Many Hands a climb that offers up two independent lines.  While never too hard it did require us to pull out and dust of our slab techniques, trusting nothing but friction for some of the footholds and many of the hand holds being slopey.  A far cry from the more positive holds that are usually found at Wilyabrup.  This certainly made Alan work that bit harder, he has not had a huge amount of slab climbing experience but was going to have to learn pretty quickly:

I led the second route up Gothic Streak.  This is the first climb I ascended on my arrival in Western Australia.  I soloed it as Lisa was reading and Elseya, at not quite 3 years old, was sleeping in the car back at the carpark.  Today it lived up to its name, the black streak a sure sign of where water runs down the crag on a more regular basis.  The black patches were feeling slimy and a little nervous, but there were plenty of opportunities to work round the worse areas.  Alan had intended to lead this route, and seemed thankful not to have after following up after me:

It was however his lead next, and we encouraged him to have a bash at the right hand side of Many Hands.  As we rapped down he was checking the line for gear, claiming there was none.  It didn’t take much for us to convince him to just try it and that he did.  Still learning the required slab techniques, he slipped at the crux and took a decent lead fall onto a bomber tricam.  After that he seemed to have greater confidence and he polished the rest the route off, placing no less than seven or was it eight bomber pieces of gear on the ten meter route:

The conditions did not seem to be improving, the wind had turned to a northerly from which this face was protected.  Great to keep us out of the blustery conditions while climbing, but not so good for allowing the rock to dry.  It did not deter us and we kept climbing, Rongy opted for Johnny Fartpants, a line that I personally feel is over-graded and after bagging a few lines of similar grades today I would still hold that opinion.  It is however a great consistent route that offered more slab practice for Alan, at several grades higher than the first three routes:

Rongy made short work of it, gliding up the rock effortlessly, which is exactly how you should climb slabs.  It is all about balance, technique, body position and control.  There should be no slapping for holds or yarding on crimps or jugs, it’s all in the footwork and very different to just about all other styles of climbing.  I think Alan surprised himself when he managed a clean ascent, keeping his focus at the crux and controlling his nerve just long enough to avoid losing his balance and simply slipping off.  Then for my second route I had to pull my big boy trousers on and went for Victor and His Boa Constrictor:

Now you may be wonder where some of these weird and wonderful route names come from.  Many but not all of the routes on this wall are in fact names of characters in an old UK comic called Viz.  Definitely not a politically correct comic, but one I used to read in my misspent youth and I still think it is pretty funny today.  If you are not easily offended and like some slap stick humour I’d recommend you check it out online.  The first gear on this chosen route is a bolt 4-5m off the deck.  It is probably fair to say that you have to tackle the entire crux sequence before you can reach it.  Regardless of that it does work, and today it felt really good:

Alan indicated that he wouldn’t follow up the line, but we convinced him he should and he manage it without any trouble.  This did mean that his noodle arms were starting to feel the five routes, and this made him nervous as we were keen to throw him on the crag classic Wheely Things for his second lead.  This offers true crack climbing, and if you can’t climb cracks it feels soooo much harder than it should.  Alan confessed to not being very adept at jamming, but he definitely got stuck into it on this route and did really well considering the conditions.  As we come to expect he was never in any danger, with gear that you could hang a car off being placed all the way up this magical line:

It felt just that bit too early to leave, and so we decided to hit another very good crack climb called Cornish Nasty.  The name is a bit unjust, as this route is clean, beautifully sustained and is, despite appearances, well protected.  To climb it in the best style, by which I mean efficiently and without expending lots of energy, you have to embrace the crack and bury yourself in it, making use of all of your body.  This allows you to make the most unlikely reaches and moves in a relatively stable and comfortable position:

There are of course times that it is not possible to bury yourself in the crack, i.e. where it narrows, which is also where it starts to overhang.  The jams are still there if you take the time to look for them, and by using these the grade holds.  Like slab climbing, crack climbing is an art in itself, one that some climbers would call the dark arts.  Rongy showed us the path through this dark passage, but really there is nothing dark about this route and like so many others here it is worthy of far more attention than what it gets:

The crack ends below a steep final headwall, and the finishing moves on this route put you right out there.  With gear below your feet, slopey holds and a featureless top with nothing you can pull yourself over with.  It wasn’t until the very last move that Alan’s noodle arms finally gave up on him.  But he had certainly shown some true grit and thrown himself at both the slab and crack climbing that some of us relish at Moses.  Others are known to shy away from this place because of the climbing style, but if that keeps the place a bit quieter that is all good with me:

Despite feeling like his arms could do no more, I weighed up whether to jump on Fat Slags or Hands Up.  The former would have been the hardest route of the day, and Rongy and I felt that would be pretty unfair on Alan, so I went with the latter and being a slab didn’t require arm strength.  Hands Up is however probably the most continuously flared crack you will find here, gear is interesting to place and even more interesting to trust.  There are no really positive holds and you have to stay focused, which we did to finish the day off.  Although I thought I heard Alan mumble something about probably not ever attempting to lead that last route:

Rongy was very happy to take and keep his climbing shoes off, his feet had been complaining for the last few climbs.  They are not cragging shoes being a bit too technical and tight in the wrong spots to keep on for long periods.  Alan was also happy to call it a day his arms, legs and body in general were telling him it was time to quit.  So we sorted the gear in the howling wind, and watched the crashing waves for a little longer.  The others were probably, but I was certainly, hoping to see a dolphin or two.  But alas despite regularly looking out to sea it never did happen, maybe the swell and waves today were just that bit too rough for them to come in close:

The tide certainly seemed high, and the main beach and little bay that we walk along were all the evidence we needed that the sea had been hungry today and probably over the last few days or weeks.  The water reached further up the beach than usual and had washed away massive amounts of sand, and had stripped almost all of it away from the usually sandy small bay (above).  On the road back there was a need to replenish the energy levels, so a pit stop at the Carbanup River store was in order.  This resulted in us continuing the journey home munching on well-deserved pies, chips and pork crackling, which boys washed down with fresh coffee:

I rolled into Howsie’s driveway at the agreed time, and he came out through the gate staring at me and the wet windscreen with an expectant look.  It had been dry for most of the morning, until an hour before I was due to head out.  Driving into Bunbury to pick him up it had been steadily raining and by now the roads were soaked.  He soon however got the message that we would still be heading up the hill.  There has been a few trips to Welly Dam for me recently, but in these unsettled conditions it is a very convenient spot to take a chance.  As we rolled into the empty carpark at a little while after midday the roads were already starting to dry and Mr Blue Sky was making every effort possible to find the cracks in the cloudy sky:

Howsie had come up here just yesterday with Nadia, Fergus and Frank.  Fergus was keen to try his new binoculars to spot some birds, but for the three quarter of an hour walk they had gone on it had rained.  They had popped into the quarry and every wall was soaking, which is one of the reasons Howsie had been wondering if I was still serious about going up.  I offered to take first lead and wanted to redeem myself on Raging Torrent, which I managed to do after my last efforts trying to follow Rongy up this line.  It was however this time, amongst a bunch of other climbs dry.  Then for the second route, Victim of Authority, Howsie found himself heading up towards Mr Blue Sky who had managed to dispel most of the clouds:

For my second route I had intended to have a bash at Flight Simulator, but the top was running with water and we both agreed it was a dumb idea.  So instead it was time to try Slay Away.  During the worse COVID period, for our area, I managed to pull a hold off the crux while top-rope soloing this route.  It was the first time I had been on it since, and I had to try the crux sections several times, each time I down climbed back to the same position which really doesn’t give you any rest.  With arms burning I managed to unlock a new sequence on the third attempt and then kept going.  Where possible I hung onto the bigger holds shaking out, in my mind thinking about how Rongy had done this during his great lead of T3 the week before:

Howsie also had to work the crux sequence.  Being that bit lankier than me he was able to miss out a move or two, but his arms still felt like they had been worked hard.  It was still his lead next and as he sat on the boulder trying to get the blood to flow through them and reduce the pump, all I could see were the dark clouds forming in the background.  Mr Blue Sky was being pushed to the background again, and the air temperature was starting to drop.  As he had come down from Slay Away I’d somehow managed to convince him to leave the draws on the top anchors, preplace all the draws and then pull the rope on Ear of Fear:

So with the clouds rolling in there was only one thing for it, jump back on the rock and get up that route.  It was again time to climb up and then back down at the crux, with his arms still tired from the previous route.  I’m glad to say he stuck the heady crux moves on the second go and then moved up with an increasing number of groans and sighs. A sure sign that he was getting more and more worn out.  He finally got to the top, later admitting to feeling like he was going to pop off the wall several times.  While he was very happy to be back down and rest his arms, there was no time to waste and he put me on belay, as Mr Blue Sky was showing no sign of working his magic.  As I got to the top the rain came in:

You’d think that was it for our quick dash up the hill, but after we had crammed everything in the car ready to head out Mr Blue Sky was forcing his way back to us.  The clouds broke and so we pulled out the essential gear and headed to Murky Corner.  Each time the sun had hit this corner we had looked over and the water running down made it look really pretty.  For some reason it had been calling out to be climbed since we got there.  So I found myself tip-toeing up from dry patch to dry patch, occasionally needing to trust a wet hold.  Half way up the seepage started to concentrate and veered off to the right, and above it was nothing but beautiful sunbathed dry rock:

It felt only right to jump on one last quick route, so I pointed Howsie to Old School.  Like Rongy and Andrew last week he also wasn’t sure if he had ever climbed it, which again surprised me.  He started up the slab in glorious sun but the clouds were again rolling towards us, blotting out Mr Blue Sky once again.  Howsie relished the route and was very pleased to have squeezed in just one more lead.  I quickly followed up and as we stuffed the gear in the car just in time before the rain again started to fall.  This time it poured down and there were no breaks in sight, so we rolled out leaving the empty carpark as we had found it:

I should start this with a happy birthday to Andrew!  He put out a post to say he was heading up to Welly Dam for a climb and BBQ on his birthday and he managed to bag a magical day.  Being his birthday he suggested a 9am start time, which was pretty sensible as even at that time as I rolled into the carpark it was only 4 degrees.  No one else was about so I took a stroll to check out the dam from a few angles that I have not before looked at it.  The reservoir stretches out for miles, in fact Wellington Dam is the largest dam in the South West and the second largest in Western Australia:

Built way back in 1932 the aim was to create jobs both in building it and then supplying water for agricultural land on the coastal plain.  Being fed by the massive catchment of the Collie River it has in more recent times fallen foul of the release of salt from the upstream catchment that feed it.  This is a result of the upstream agriculture, it is a bit ironic that the water supply for agriculture is being tarnished by the activity of agriculture.  While this mighty reservoir with a capacity of 186,000 gigalitre (almost 75,000 Olympic sized swimming pools) is turning salty, the same could not be said for Andrew.  After all today was his birthday:

The gathering was not just about the climbing but also a social, and as such Andrew soon appeared with Lachy and Rhianna closely followed by Rongy and Alana.  The last time I was here happened to be with Rongy, and the walls were all dripping wet.  Today while many parts looked similarly soaked there was a lot more dry rock than last time opening up more options.  Despite that and due to the big walls being in the shade and cold we opted to play on the carpark slabs in the warm sun.  These don’t offer lots of routes but enough to have a bit of fun:

Rongy started on Irish Stew a mixed route with one bolt and a horizontal break in which you would normally place a bit of trad gear.  As it was we didn’t have any trad gear with us, so he climbed the last few meters with extra care and caution so as not to risk the ground fall.  As we climbed here the non-climbers found comfy perches on the rocks to the side of the slab.  Content to sit in the warm sun with their books and technology.  After Irish Stew it was time for Old School, which I was staggered to hear that neither Andrew nor Rongy could recall ever climbing:

When Kym and I marked the bolts they were placed to allow two routes to be created.  The tricky and thin slab to the left called B Young, and the arête to the right which is what we climbed.  I did offer the lead up to the other two seeing they hadn’t done it before, but they both declined.  It’s a great line if you only use the arête for hand holds keeping your feet on the main face.  It is unfortunately all too easy to escape to the right, which makes it way too easy.  Seeing it was Andrew’s birthday we did allow him to have a rest by doing this, but I refused to allow him to not complete the sequence up the wall itself.  Each time he slipped off I would lower him back down, much to his disgust.  He did to his credit finally link all the moves:

Mark turned up just as we were finishing off on the little slab.  Rongy and Mark had not met before, which is true for many people on our SW climbers WhatsApp group despite the group having been going for a good number of years now.  After a quick and customary socially distanced introduction Mark jumped on the end of the rope and caught up with our tally by climbing up a couple of lines up the slab.  As he was on the second climb Steve drove in with Leanne, but we had already decided it was time to brave the cold and Rongy and Andrew had already made their way over into the darkness:

Andrew was belaying Rongy up Pocket Knife, a climb we had considered on the last trip here but it was running with water.  The route is a reasonable grade that the others could sensibly have a crack at.  When Mark and I joined them in the cold we plumped for A Walk in Central Park, right next to the others so we could keep the social banter going.  While it was colder than being in the sun, it wasn’t too bad and the rock also felt reasonable to touch.  We weren’t alone today and a crew of four other climbers had turned up, somehow we had all managed to congregate in the same area but the chit chat between the two groups was limited once we were done with our two lines we moved on:

Steve decided that he too wanted to enjoy a bit of rock in the sun, and Andrew and Mark were quick to say they liked the idea.  So they set off back into the light in search of The Crack, which would allow Steve to play with his tricams.  Rongy and I stayed in the shadows, while in the background we could hear the cowbell sound as Steve’s gear jangled about on his harness.  It getting close to midday and there were now lots of people milling about.  Not really surprising as it is the school holidays and it was a glorious sunny day to be outside.  Most of the tourists were not watching Steve in the sun, but Rongy who was completely oblivious to all this attention:

He was having a bash at T3, a wicked climb that despite one ledge low down is sustained, long and technical.  A tough proposition and one we do not jump on too often, which is a shame as it really is very good.  I should have given this route a three star classic status in the guidebook, it only got two.  Rongy took his time, hanging on the holds regularly shaking out, as the steepness of the route slowly depleted his energy levels.  Eventually he made it to the top anchors with Popeye forearms and better still without a slip or fall.  I managed to get up the route with the rope above me but not without several rests, one for me to come back to another day:

For Rongy and I it was then time to put the climbing gear away, and he set up camp with Alana next to Kaylenn and his family.  In the background Andrew could be seen still at the top of the carpark slab and there seemed to be quite a queue of people wanting to have a go at The Crack.  It was good to see Lachy climb it well, Rhianna however opted out climbing is not her thing.  There were also others gathered round that I didn’t recognise, and it transpired that Steve had did what he has done before.  Got talking to passing tourists and offered them a top rope so they could give climbing a go.  This is all well and good but I could see Andrew like the reservoir of Welly Dam starting to get salty:

He was not getting salty in the way the slang version means, but as he was perched in direct sun with no shade or hat he was certainly looking pretty hot .  It was by now a lovely 17 degrees with not a breeze in the still air. In these conditions the quarry can become a bit of a heat trap.  I had only ever intended to stay a couple of hours, in view of having been out yesterday, but it was so relaxed and lovely today that my stay extended out to three and half hours.  I did however now need to make tracks, so went up to wish Andrew a wonderful birthday and left him there in this sweaty state.  As I drove out I was quietly hoping that his belaying duties would soon be over so he could enjoy the grub that was starting to be cooked below:

Today Alan had kindly offered to pick me up from home.  Living in Peppy Beach that required braving the country roads, which at the agreed time of the day was likely to be crawling (or hopping) with roos.  That didn’t put him off and so for a change my car stayed in the driveway.  Seeing I was ready a little early I left Lisa in bed with a cup of tea and the poodles, and started to wander down the road.  If I had waited at the house I can guarantee that as he drove up the driveway the poodles would have gone ape and woken up half the street.  Being dark Alan saw me a little late, but soon did a U-turn and came to pick me up:

Today I was going to be doing mostly belaying, as I had offered to allow him to take the sharp end to build up his leading and gear placing confidence.  It was a cold morning and the cab of the car was toasty, so as soon as I jumped in off came the beanie and buffalo.  I then settled down to be chauffeured down to Wilyabrup.  By the time we got to the empty carpark it was light, and as expected there was a heavy dew.  The grass and vegetation was wet, but after a couple of days of dry weather we were hoping for dry rock.  As we approached the cliff we came across a new sign, and there is also one at the bottom of the cliff:

I have mentioned several times now how I have witnessed many more people down here than ever before.  Most of them going for a walk, to take some images or pop down to the beach.  I guess this sign has been put up because of that, it seems a bit obvious you’d think but I guess there are the less observant and sensible amongst us.  We also witness that later in the day as a kid happily picked up and threw a rock over the edge, we of course politely asked him not too and explained why.  At the base we inspected the rock and Alan’s first intended climb, Twenty Questions, looked less than desirable.  Water streaked down the face and splashed out as it hit the ledges:

He was not looking too keen, not only was it a very crisp morning which meant rock was cold to touch but this one was mostly very wet.  But as many come to expect when climbing with me, things like that really shouldn’t put you off and as such I managed to convince him to just crack on with it.  That he did and while it took him a little while at the crux section, he sorted his gear and head and then pulled the moves off with relative ease.  As he was topping out and getting his belay set up Craig wandered along with Julian.  Julian just happened to be down for a few weeks working at the same place as Craig’s wife Oyukha:

As the introductions were made it turned out Julian knew both Craig and I, we had met him some time back when we had gone out to Eaglestone Rock in the Wheatbelt.  I recognised the face but would never have placed it from then, it just goes to show how small our Western Australian climbing circles are.  They carried on along the path in search of a warm up climb, while I climbed up after Alan.  When we got back down we headed for his second intended lead and that meant a bit of bolt clipping.  This allowed Alan to lighten the harness as he climbed Setting Sun:

He said before that he was nervous about this one but it never showed and he made very short work off it  After polishing that route off we caught up with the other and found Craig belaying Julian up One for the Road.  Some warm up some might say but he managed to on-sight it with relative ease.  I had caught wind that he had been here a few times but it seemed that there was lots and lots that he hadn’t climbed, including some of the classics that you might expect.  I scrambled round looking for a few nice camera angles while Alan racked up for his third lead, it was time to place the trad rack back on his harness as he headed for Hope:

Other than that first line everything else we touched today was dry and in good condition.  The rock was certainly cold but after one climb that didn’t seem to worry Alan.  He took his time and methodically placed his gear and climbed.  Making use of wires, hexes, cams and tricams so he could practise the full range of trad gear available.  I didn’t see him place a dodgy piece the whole day.  On Hope there was a bit of a stutter at the crux, needing to rethink his gear and place just one more piece to give him the peace of mind and confidence to then work the crux moves:

It was a glorious day and still we were the only people here.  The sun was creeping round and it felt good when you were in it, but the wind was also starting to turn.  The easterlies that had sent the wind out to the ocean was shifting round to a north westerly and the cold wind started to bite.  I was belaying Alan in the cold shadows of the corner underneath One for the Road unable to escape the wind, as Craig soaked up the sun climbing up Road Trip.  The long runout on this route gave Julian a bit of a shock when he came up second, it certainly adds a bit of spice to the route and one I have mentioned when I led this route recently:

Now with three good leads under his belt I decided to steer Alan towards Thunder Thighs, the easiest climb of the day.  Another trad line but one that just feels different, and if truth be told may be a bit of a sandbag if you compare it to other routes of the same grade here.  It was however not any harder than anything else Alan had led today.  I noticed made him slow down and have think and work his gear a bit more than usual.  He claimed it was runout and a sketchy in places.  After I seconded him up I pointed out that he had placed twelve bits of gear (all good) but he stuck to his guns about it feeling runout.  Like I said the route just feels a bit different:

As we wandered down Julian was experiencing the delights of Inner Space.  He looked to be making good progress and made short work of the flake and slab, but then stopped below the final headwall.  Impressively it only took him a couple of false starts to commit to the runout and exposed finish before he finished it off.  Craig, Alan and I all swear that he seemed to finish it off with a bit of a beached whale flop, as his legs flipped out while his body disappeared over the lip of the final wall.  No discredit meant, as it was another fine on-sight:

By now Alan was indicating that he didn’t have much leading gas in the tank left, and after four back to back leads with minimal breaks in-between I was prepared to cut him some slack.  So as not to raise the grades I headed for Hitching, the name of which Craig seems to mix up with Road Trip.  This route has some marginal gear the crux is protected by two of the smallest, tiniest, lest inspiring brass RP placements you can imagine.  You then end up leaving them several meters below your feet, a fall that they would be unlikely to hold.  This one really did test Alan.  He popped the RPs out and got above where they were placed, but then seemed to get lost and went offline:

Holding on to mot much at all he eventually fell off leaving more skin, from his fingertips, on the rock than he really wanted too.  By now a few climbing parties had turned up, and as we walked down after this route there were also loads of people who had wandered along to the beach.  It was getting to that late morning to midday time when we find most people rock up, and this is why early starts are so appealing to me.  Now as I was belaying Alan on Thunder Thighs I had spied some crag booty, so I climbed the first part of Dolphin Smiles to collect it, one tap and this micro wire popped out.  The question I really have is why was it placed, when I was able to place not one but two bomber cams just below the placement:

We then decided to hit one last route with our packs so we didn’t have to walk them out.  I led up Glory with Julian to my left as he was enjoying a more relaxed climb on Hope.  Alan and Craig then climbed up almost side by side to join us, and as Alan and I got ready to head out the boys headed back down.  Julian was going to jump on Stainless Steel, and I hope he managed to keep up the on-sighting for that route.  Alan and I decided not to stick about to witness it, instead we wandered back to the now packed carpark where I slumped into the passenger seat and enjoyed the chauffeured ride home:

After a fun social day at home playing on the boulder wall in our shed, and watching Wiggins’ latest video, I organised with Rongy to head out on the Sunday afternoon for a quick dash up to Welly Dam.  Saturday night the strong front had had been forecast for Saturday finally came through with Collie getting an inch of rain, but Sunday morning had seemed windy and dry so I was hopeful.  I picked Rongy up early in the afternoon and we headed inland, and soon a few drops were falling on the windscreen.  In the distance we would usually be able to see the scarp as it rises above the flat coastal plain.  Today it was just a mass of grey clouds:

We drove onwards and seemed to be bathed in sunlight, with clear skies above us.  I told Rongy that the blue sky would follow us there.  The roads driving in were drenched and ahead there were clouds, but as we got closer the sky above remained optimistic and sunny.  Finally rolling into the carpark there was not a dry patch of anything in sight.  A group had been picnicking and were just packing up, they told us that they had been sheltering under one of the structure as it had absolutely bucketed down just five minutes before we arrived:

I’ve climbed here in the rain and when it has seemed wet, but the steep walls have usually managed to stay a bit dry offering us a number of routes to play on.  Today however every surface was soaking, water was running down many of the lines and as we walked back and forth trying to decide which lines to attempt we wondered if we would get anything done.  On some routes waterfalls were dribbling down over the overhangs and splashing outwards when they hit ledges making it seem like it was still raining, but the blue sky that had followed us here told us otherwise:

Any routes with black lichen were definitely out, which was most of the lower grade routes.  I kindly offered Rongy first lead, seeing how I have been out on rock much more than he has.  Eventually he plumped for Raging Torrent, a very apt route considering the conditions.  And in view of the conditions I felt like I should place him on belay before he left the deck, not that that would have helped if he had slipped before getting to the first bolt.  He slowly and steadily worked each move, and it didn’t look like he was changing his approach to the climb, maybe there was hope:

He came down all upbeat at how good it had felt, so surely it wasn’t too bad… now I could blame Alan for encouraging me to start bouldering early the day before, so he could get a bit more climbing in, or maybe Geoff as he encouraged us to stay on the roof during the later sessions but that wouldn’t be right.  I came unstuck at the first crux, I really struggled to stick the wet holds that Rongy had seemingly managed to use with ease and elegance.  This resulted in me spinning off the face several times, and needing to work extra hard to finally get up.  Then feeling exhausted, looking for a line that looked reasonable or me to jump on:

That was to be Savage Sausage Sniffer, and by the time I got to the top of the quartz flake I was gassed and slumped onto the rope.  Everything seemed to ache now, but I had to get up this route.  Pulling myself back on the wall I soon found myself near the top with only the trusty Mikey Pinch to secure the lead.  It was however not to be and I was again flying through the air.  Rongy managed to follow up cleanly, and was being kind when he said it would have been different if he had led it.  The sun was still out and he was all fired up so set off up Just Do It, even with a protective overhang at the top this line had water all over it:

He made short work of it, again showing composure and an ability to confidently stick the wet holds.  Needless to say that as I followed up my stellar performance continued with two slips on this route.  After that there was no way I could have gone up any more, my fingers felt raw and everything was feeling achy.  That said it was a lot of fun and for me humbling, but now it was time to pack the gear away and head out.  It felt good to finally slump into the car seat, and as we drove out the clouds rolled in and the rain started to fall:

Howsie has, with the help of Nadia, ticked off a few more grade 20s in pursuit of his 2020 challenge.  In truth I’m pretty impressed that Nadia would have belayed him on some of the climbs he has jumped on.  Especially the short powerful bouldery climbs at Moses where you really need to be on your game when you are holding the rope for the leader.  Today however Nadia was not joining us as we head out to hopefully bag four grade 20s at Bobs Hollow.  No one had put their hand up to drive the rocky 4WD track in, so we decided to walk in from Contos.  Personally I prefer the walk as it is a very picturesque half hour stroll along the Cape to Cape track:

Not that we got to see much of those great views.  As planned we left the cars at 6:30’ish and despite it being a crisp, clear and cloudless morning it was still dark.  Andrew and I hadn’t been as forward thinking as Alan and Howsie and hadn’t brought head torches.  So they didn’t use theirs and we set off in darkness allowing our night vision to build up.  As we walked the track it slowly got a lighter and we watched the far off glow of morning creep in.  It wasn’t until the final stretch, as we approached the cliff top, that we could really see.  We really were the early birds, as there was hardly a bird song to he heard:

As we approached the base of the crag, I mentioned that seeing it was a corker of a forecast for the weekend we would likely be besieged by Perth climbers.  During my last trip here with Rongy, Steve and his sister there were more climbers than I had ever seen here.  Today however there were no tell-tale signs of others, such as draws on the climbs.  There was however a pair of climbing shore hanging in a tree and a single tent.  We got ourselves ready to climb, as a single lady very efficiently got up, packed up and walked out.  We apologised for being there so early, but she said it was fine as she had wanted to get an early start today.  The shoes were still hanging in the tree and were not hers:

Today was all about Howsie.  Bob’s offers steep limestone jugging, there are not many easy routes here and those that exists are at the southern end.  Howsie already had a game plan mapped out in his mind, which meant knocking off the three 20s at the northern end first.  You’ll recall that Alan and Andrew, if you have been keeping track of my posts, are just getting back into things and building up their fitness.  While I was confident they could give a few climbs here a good crack, leading was another matter.  So the three of us mulled about as Howsie began to stretch and get ready for this first battle:

The first line was also the shortest of the day, Puk Puk Sen, and as the guide says it provides “a gentle introduction to this wall”.  Meaning of course everything else is harder, so there was no point in my putting a rope up for Alan and Andrew yet.  Howsie managed to get up the route, but not as cleanly and efficiently as he would have hoped.  Being the first climb I guess that was to be a little expected, but it was a good start and one more grade 20 was in the bag.  Andrew was up next and managed to get half way up before declaring that his arms were giving up and slipping off.  Once you are in the air it can be tricky to get back on the wall, so after trying several times and wearing himself out he eventually came down:

I had decided that I would also lead every 20, so pulled the rope and went up.  There really isn’t anywhere in the south west like Bob’s, so unless you climb here you can never prepare for it.  It had been seven months since my last trip here, and it was a bit of a shock to the system when I jumped on that first line.  The rock as expected felt cold, but I had forgotten just how sharp the holds were.  Added to that you could feel your back and shoulder muscles working hard all the time, in fact your whole body has to work to climb these steep lines efficiently.  I too found that first route harder than it should have been:

The next line on the radar was one Howsie had never been on, Right Fin.  He set off (above) while Andrew got ready to belay Alan on the first line.  Offering me time to take a quick few “where’s the belayer” snaps before he reached the first bolt.  While it is almost twice the height of the first line, it does offer a more gentle vertical start up the right side of the fin.  Bridging in a fine position, until the wall above steepness up and looms ominously above you.  After that it is steep and juggy and you are always hanging on your arms, and this is where body position becomes critical to make the most of your feet:

As Howsie was enjoying the relaxing start of Right Fin I was observing Alan.  He had started well but as the mid-wall steepened up and the holds became smaller and a bit more spaced he was struggling.  I did wonder how much the boys would get done today, but they had both been here before so should have had an idea of what to expect.  While I was watching Alan, it was more Andrew’s belaying style that caught my attention.  He had been sitting down away from the wall, no problem with me I do that often, but when Alan unexpected fell it resulted in what looked like a less than comfortable belay position:

Once Howsie had launched up the steep terrain I stopped watching the antics on the first route and focused my attention to where it should be.  I could hear him breathing deeply.  I felt like I could almost hear him thinking his way through the route, reach for a jug work out your feet positions and push up with them.  All the while looking about to find the next jug and then repeat it again.  At times you underling stalactites, side pull flakes or yard up as high as you can to reach a more conventional jug that you can just pull up on.  He was very chuffed as he clipped the lower offs, in a very steep position holding onto what seemed like small holds.  That was however an illusion, as after the steep terrain to get there everything would feel small:

Two out of two, and he had a celebratory double fist pump as he came back down.  Alan was meanwhile was still working hard on the first route.  So I pulled the rope on Right Fin and lead it myself.  As I hoped, the clumsiness on first climb was seeping away and I could feel my body starting to fall into place.  Being able to see and work through the required movements with confidence.  Making them more efficient and clean, but more importantly controlling my mind to have the faith required to go for and pull off the moves.  This was so important on the steeper terrain where you need to coordinate and tension your whole body.  It felt really good, and as I came down so did Alan after he had conquered Puk Puk Sen:

To give Howsie a bit of a rest before the next route, Andrew set off up Right Fin and did really well.  He managed to get to the top with only a couple of rests and afterwards said he didn’t realise that it was the same grade as Puk Puk Sen.  Not surprisingly he very happy, as he came back down.  So with a bit of a rest Howsie did a bit of a warm up routine to prepare for Thyeses Feast, which starts up the left side of the fin.  It was pretty comical and I secretly videoed it, but you’ll have to be on the local WhatsApp group to get to see that!  Once warmed up Alan and Howsie set off on either side of the fin:

Alan was getting gassed as the climb steepened up and had to rest.  The problem with this was that Andrew had replaced a short extender with a longer one, as it looked like the rope was dragging over the rock above it.  This meant that when Alan rested he ended up quite a distance from the wall.  Andrew had been belaying some way back from the wall and once there was tension on the rope he wasn’t able to walk towards the base, as the ground closer to the wall was lower.  So as I belayed Howsie, I had to push Andrew, while he was hanging in space, so he could get to the wall.  Once there he hung on to then allow Alan to push off the rope to try and get back on the wall.  It was all very comical:

Alan did finally get back on, but was so tried from the effort of it all that he couldn’t finish the route and came down.  It was a reversal of Andrew and Alan on the first route, the only trouble being the gear and rope was still up there.  Also Howsie had failed to get to the final lower offs.  Thyeses Feast is renowned to have a thought provoking and hard finish.  Howise had done the route before and knew this, and I would usually avoid the climb because of it.  So as he rested up, I first climbed back up Right Fin to clean the route and then tackled Thyeses Feast.  I also failed where Howsie had, but after a rest on the rope I found an alternative sequence and managed to clip the anchors:

The top moves, the way Howsie had climbed it and tried to follow, required you to get a great pocket but then have to heal hook your left foot deep into it next to your hands before going up.  His approach was to work your way rightwards to holds that were not inspiring and it felt that if you fell you would seriously damage your left foot.  The sequence I found avoided all this and went left of the pocket, so feeling rested and having chatted about how to tackle the final head wall Howsie set off with a new game plan.  It was all looking good until the final move, where he stuttered for way too long and just didn’t use his feet effectively, finally gassing out and falling.  He gave it another go and again fell, by now he was really tiring and it was not to be:

I lowered him down, and he looked shattered.  So with the rope almost at the top I tied on to try the new found sequence ground up.  Resting in a good stance below the final steep section I pulled my thoughts together.  Then as I pulled into each hold and worked my feet, it all felt too good to be true and before I knew it I was clipping the anchors.  It all happened to fast so Howsie asked me to point out the sequence as he videoed it.  No doubt he will be watching that video and committing the moves to memory for his next attempt.  That was not going to be straight away.  And seeing Alan and Andrew were also not keen to try the route I cleaned it as I came down:

We wandered down to the southern end of the crag to climb in the sun.  The crag classic, or at least one of them, Shaved Cats was the fourth grade 20.  The boys were pretty smashed and after something less intense, so we pointed them to the most protected climb here, Lovers Nuts.  With eight bolts on a 15m climb, the clips are almost to close as they break up the flow of the climb.  But when you are tiring that isn’t a bad thing and I was very pleased to see Alan jump on lead, and doing really well.  After having worked his arms so hard on the first two routes the crux bulge was however too much for him, and a rest was in order:

Now you may notice that I have jumped from Howsie on Shaved Cats to Alan and Andrew.  So back to Howsie… the last grade 20 is very different and while it is still a steep climb it is not as overhung.  This means it is more technical climbing and the holds, at least lower down are more fingery.  He managed to get to the third bolt, but was looking increasingly uncomfortable.  The next crux moves were simply too much and he came off.  Looking exhausted I offered to climb the route so the draws were in, which he accepted.  But before he attempted the route again we went round to watch the others climb so he could try to rest up:

I was pleased once more when I saw Andrew pull the rope down, so he too could lead Lovers Nuts.  He climbed it in almost in identical fashion to Alan making good work of it all, expect the bulge.  So while Andrew was resting before tackling the crux, Howsie and I walked back round to Shaved Cats.  He stood there for ages contemplating how he was feeling and decided to top rope it, as he was simply too tired.  It was a good move, as got as far as he did before and fell, he tried again and once again fell.  It was time to throw the towel in, so he came down and settled down to belay me as I went back up and cleaned the line:

We all wondered where the last four hours had gone.  That is how long we had been at the crag and it had gone past in a flash.  Their muscles were however telling them that they had been working hard, and they surely had given it everything.  It is also worth noting that no one else, other than a few hikers who had peered over the edge from the top of the cliff had come along.  So we packed up and took the boots that were still hanging in the tree, and started the walk out.  As we got to the top of the crag we met Shane and Charlie, who Alan had camped out with the night before.  Their walk in to meet us was no mean feat for Shane, who had just run 70kms the day before almost making our efforts of the morning seem insignificant:

It was a lovely walk out, a perfect day with perfect views.  The six of us marched along the track, often stopping to take in the breathtaking sight.  Eventually we got back to the cars and went our separate ways, Alan, Shane and Charlie were going to set up camp at Contos for another night under the stars.  While Andrew, Howsie and I drove off.  On the way back we stopped in at Burnside near Margaret River, as we had done on the way down.  This is where we had picked Howsie up from, and is where he had stayed over after an evening of band practise.  This had involved two hours plus of drumming, which I personally think hadn’t helped his cause on rock today.  Still it does mean we have to come back so he can bag the other two grade 20s, and no one was complaining about that:

Alan, Steve, Rongy and then Leanne all hinted at wanting to get out for a session, so we headed down to Wilyabrup on Sunday morning.  It was hard to read the forecast but we thought it would be OK.  I did second guess the decision when five minutes before I was meant to meet the crew in Capel, I received a text from Alan.  He had stayed in Margaret River on Saturday night and said it was “pissing down”, my three word response was simple “it will pass”.  And we drove down to see if it would.  On arrival it was dry, but still hard to read.  Shouldering our packs we walked in:

Despite it seeming like we had all left the carpark at the same time, we couldn’t hear any chattering behind us and when we got the sty and looked back there was still no one in sight.  We assumed they would be OK and soldiered on.  Rongy wasn’t sure what to climb today, and not sure how the day would go he decided to start on an old faithful to warm up on.  I did however tell him he could only take a single set of wires up for this one, not that the limited gear on his rack would pose any issues.  It was not until he was off the deck that the others caught up with us, also unsure what they would start on:

After enjoying the familiar holds and sequences of Hope I discovered that despite the on and off again rain over the last few days the rock felt good.  So I decided to test myself with the nervous direct start for Waterfall Second Folly.  It is a steep wall with rounded holds, so friction and dry rock is important.  The first gear is also tricky to place so you have to hold the positions with arms slowly pumping out.  Today however it all clicked into place and I felt good, hanging there comfortably placing gear and even taking my time.  I enjoyed the feeling, which is rare thing on the start of this climb:

Half way up I could hear the cowbell sound of a hex being placed.  Sure enough as I peeked through a horizontal break I could make out the hex as it was slotted in by Alan (above).  He happened to be climbing up the other side of the huge hanging flake.  Eager for a few reasonable climbs to lead and place some gear he had opted for Tom Thumb, a great choice in my opinion.  A nervous start with limited protection and a traverse over some high ground, followed by fine varied climbing with lots of gear options.  To round it off some would even regard exiting the crack as a steep and exposed finish:

We topped out at the same time and busily got our belays set up.  He was facing north and I was looking out west, and across the ocean all I could focus on was a big bank of rain.  It was predicted to be fresh westerlies with a 6m swell.  The wind was not that strong and seemed to be more of a south westerly, which was good as all the northerly faces were protected but this also indicated that the rain bank would head our way.  The ocean also certainly didn’t give the impression of having a 6m swell, which was a shame as I was looking forward to huge crashing waves:

Rongy followed up, and I could feel by the rate of his progress that he was finding the start a little tougher than I had.  Despite indicating that being the case he still managed a clean ascent.  Finally making it to final head wall of the Inner Space Wall, which provides a steep headwall where you need to trust smears and high feet to top out well above your gear.  When he took the last piece of gear out I suggested he now had the option of shuffling right to take on the harder top out if he wanted, but he decided again that:

Watching the movement of the clouds it looked like the high clouds might be taking a different path to what the winds across the water and land would indicate they should.  It looked to be shifting more west with a slight southerly slant.  Time to coil the rope and head back down, for another route in the hope that what we had seen was right.  The last thing you want is to be half way up a route when the rain hits.  We left Alan belaying Leanne and then Steve up his route, as rain was also falling north of us:

While Rongy hadn’t sneaked right for the harder finish up the headwall on my route, it must have appealed to him as he plumped for the line that lead there.  I’d climbed the big flake to the left of him, and was taking image of him while sat atop the boulder that can be seen at the top of the crag.  Total Awesome was in Rongy’s sights, a fine direct line up the wall in-between two equally fine flake systems.  While we got a few drops of rain as he led this climb, we had seen it as it was and the rain bank that looked to threaten us earlier had passed south of us:

As I followed him up, working my way through the crux it was my turn to feel like I was tiring.  It is probably more that when you are on lead you are very focused and put thoughts of tiring arms, not quite feeling it and anything else negative aside.  The last thing you need to be thinking about while on the pointy end is reasons that you may not make it up leading to a slip and fall.  On second with the rope above you I guess you let your guard down and those thoughts can creep to the fore a bit easier.  Before walking back down we took advantage of the height to watch Steve start up Orryjohn:

Back down and I had two routes in mind.  I wasn’t however sure if the dry feeling rock might have been making me think a little silly.  So I put them both to Rongy and let him decided, and that he did we me then tackling the nice long 30m pitch of Simple Suicide on the mighty Steel Wall.  With only two bolts protecting the upper wall, this route always feels very run out and is aptly named.  To put things into perspective, all the other routes up this wall have anywhere from three to six bolts.  Putting that to the back of my mind I relished the dry grippy rock, small crimpy holds and got down to business:

Rongy followed me batman style with his cape flying behind him.  The wind was picking up again and you could feel the temperature drop, but looking out we were pretty sure we were once again in a safe bubble that would force the rain either north or south of us.  Coming out in these conditions of uncertainty, add an extra element to the whole experience.  More often than not we find that we still end up climbing heaps and the rain somehow manages to pass us by, but on occasion we do get it wrong.  Wandering down we found Steve sitting out looking at the waves, having conquered Orryjohn:

Leanne had given it a go but found the first wall, which Steve was shown climbing up a couple of images above, too difficult.  It has been a several years since Leanne has climbed, and her arms and muscles just were not accustomed enough to this vertical activity.  That said I also feel that when this route was originally climbed, back in the early seventies, they would not have climbed the initial wall.  Instead going up the gully to the right to get established in the crack system.  Back on the deck we found Alan well and truly getting stuck into the crack which turns into a fun wide chimney at mid-height:

Once again I think I must have got into Rongy’s head, as he decided that he was going to jump on the other line that I had suggested as one of my possible leads.  Personally I always feel a little intimidated by Fat Chance, but Rongy doesn’t and seemed to make short work of it… until the top wall when he noticed a hold was missing.  This made the move long and balancy.  With less secure holds and I could see him stutter for a bit and then slap for the next hold, only just sticking the sequence.  I followed up and sure enough the right hand hold that would normally unlock the last slab was missing:

The move was now that bit more tenuous but we found another way to unlock a different sequence and make it work.  The last time I was on this route was in November last year, when Craig led it during a trip with Rongy and I.  I had a sneaky feeling that the hold was gone back then, but it was not until I typed this post and checked my past images that I could confirm this.  Sure enough there is an image of the very move Rongy almost slipped off, which Craig with his lanky reach made look so much easier:

Wandering along the top of the crag we found Alan tied in and ready for his next lead, Fairy Floss.  We had a quick chat and then kept moving, back towards the taller walls to be found on the northern cliffs of Wilyabrup.  Despite it being a bolt clipping exercise I went up Fishing with Dynamite, as it’s a nice sustained long pitch with some good positions and moves.  Plus it was keeping the grade at a consistent level to the last three climbs.  The perfect rock made it all the more delightful and it was a good way to wrap up another great the session:

Alan was sat on his perch belaying Steve up Fairy Floss as we wandered back, as Leanne could be seen wandering along the nearby beach looking for intriguing images to snap.  We checked in with them and it seemed that Alan was easy with whatever and Steve was just about ready to head out, decision made and we went down to sort the gear one last time.  Rongy was having a chat with a group who had only recently wandered down, and were setting up a rope on Hope as we polished off our last route.  Finally it was time to take on the last climb, back up the walking track:

Other than the small group we were the only climbers out today, but we once again was plenty of people walking.  The trudge up the crag with full packs usually makes the legs ache, and it sure did today.  So it is best to find a pace that works and just stick at it, which is exactly what Rongy, Alan and I did.  Despite all leaving the base of the crag at the same time we somehow had managed to get back to the cars, and a full carpark, a good five plus minutes ahead of Steve and Leanne.  They brought up the rear as this time the rain didn’t pass us by, and we (briefly) thought about the poor people who had only just set up at the crag: