The Simple Joys (and Unexpected Trials) of Table Rock

Before I get going on my post about our recent rip to Table Rock last weekend, I want to say that it's been busy as hell lately with starting school, and things are only going to pick up from here! So apologies in advance if my posts get a bit more rare. I love blogging on climbing and will try to update on my adventures as much as I can. But if it comes down to having the time to either go climbing or blog about climbing--I'm going climbing! As I mentioned awhile back, not sitting at a desk for work for 8 hours a day really cuts into my blogging time!

As for Table Rock: I love this place. I learned to lead trad here 15 years ago and I've always loved the laid back routes. It's such a great place to train new multi-pitch climbers like Melissa. That said, we had a damn mini-epic this past weekend on Rip Van Winkle (5.7). It re-learned me on the notion that you should never underestimate a climb, ever. To make a way-to-long story short, our rope got stuck on the 2nd pitch and a lot of downclimbing, rapping, and reclimbing ensued. Also, the guidebook's route descriptions seemed off and the top 2 pitches never seem to get climbed. We actually had to launch a huge dead limb down the face so Melissa could follow one pitch. This 4-pitch route took us 7 hours! WTF?! I felt mired in gumbyland; this from someone who has climbed Half Dome. Gumbyness can strike at any time, I guess.

Anyway, here are a few pics from our misadventure! And remember, always bring your headlamp (we didn't!)




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