It was hotter than we’d have liked and the route was going to be in the sun. Both of us knew that, having been stuck in traffic coming back from the mountains just the day before and passing Lovers Leap right around 6pm. But the 0% chance of rain was an enticement to get out on a multi-pitch climb and this one was on both of our to-do lists.
After pulling off 285 we hiked down to the creek and quickly located a log bridge across the barely flowing stream. We then turned up stream for a 20 feet to a little drainage and followed the climbers trail to the base of the rock. The lower portion of the climb was so blocky we weren’t sure where it was best to start or sure if it mattered. Gary was coming off a few weeks of no climbing, so he choose to take the first lead to get back in the game.
I got to hang out in the shade at the base while Gary sweated up the first pitch and eventually located some bolts just above the first ledge to belay from. It was a fairly long pitch, and he’d placed a lot of gear. After following and re-racking, I decided to step just a little to the left to start the second pitch.
I soon reached another ledge which would have also made a decent belay (but with gear), then continued to follow the dominant crack angling up the face. I could spot the exit pitch (well marked by the “goal posts”) and realized I was nearing the cave after 30 meters of climbing. Another couple and I reached the cave, to find less shade than I’d been hoping for.
Still, I alternated crawling back into the cave for a little shade with standing out on the ledge watching Gary climb up.
Gary decided that while he was pretty hot and tired, that he’d like to take the last, crux, pitch. He traversed left on the ramp to get in a little gear, then pulled the easy overhang to reach the next ledge and the start of the hand/finger crack.
Tired, hot and finding he’d placed cams right where he’d like to stick his hand, he did a little hanging on the rope before reaching the top and calling “off belay”. I wondered just how hard this 5.7+ section would be as the extra length of rope snaked upwards and came tight on me. Time to find out.
Turns out my hands must be a bit smaller than Gary’s, as I could get decent hand jams in the crack that was only finger-width for him. That made it much easier for me and I was soon at the top of the climb.
We decided to for-go the 3 rappels in the sun for the walk off that would be more shaded, even though we’d have to do it in our tight rock climbing shoes. Descending that way only took about 15-20 minutes, and would have gone faster if we’d known the route. Definitely quicker than rappelling.
