Glistening

Beach arête.

 

My return to Leavenworth after nearly three years was of course nothing short of a good time.  In fact, fresh out of the car we greeted with steins of beer, large brats smothered in onions and mustard, and reggae music.  My good friend Laura and I battled through Labor Day traffic to find ourselves in the dirt-bag lap of luxury.  After swilling copious amounts of delicious boot jack IPA and pointing out the shoeless appearances of the band members we wandered aimlessly through the heavily populated streets of downtown Bavaria and ended up at the Twelve Strings brew pub and a highly entertaining performance by the Dusty 45's.  The lead singer, whose quaff was nothing short of a miracle in style and antigravity magic, switched between guitar/trumpet/and lead singing while accompanied by one of the greatest rhythm guitarists I've ever seen, a giant bass, and a singing drummer (unusual, yes).  They led us up and over hills of original songs, and then guided us gently through some very good covers (Beach Boys, Johnny Cash, Billy Holiday).  The show culminated in the lead singer lighting his trumpet on fire whilst atop the bassists' knee while the bassist was playing.  If this wasn't the greatest start to a climbing trip EVER, than I'm not sure we have the same standards. 

Sending Darth Maul (V.4) at Mt. Home.

 

Our attempts at bouldering were highly sedated by the overpowering heat we encountered in the canyons.  Still, we managed to cover a lot of ground and get up a few things. 

Chase on the Classic (V.2)

Laura on a send burn of The Dildo (V.3)

Just the tips!  Laura nearly bags her project Dyno 101 (V.3)

Chase takes down a classic 5.8 trad climb at the Pearly Gates.

 

Thank god for shady trad climbing spots.  Our first night was enhanced greatly by pint after pint of liquid courage and after enough of those we were chomping at the bit to plunge head first into a full day of alpine trad climbing.  This means we 'talked' about doing the Serpentine Arete, but the reality of it was we ended up sleeping in and eventually making our way to The Pearly Gates, a beautiful little trad and sport crag nestled in the shade high up on the side of Icicle Canyon.

Lindsey tackles a very nice 5.8 trad climb called Cloud Nine.

 

The best part of the weekend was meeting two new friends Chase and Lindsey.  Their hospitality, encouragement, sense of humor, and genuine good nature was refreshing and inspiring.  I had a blast hanging out at Lindsey's trailer making good food together, listening to music, and just shootin' the shit.