The Organic Climber – Blogging about climbing, RAW foods, vegetarianism, running and cycling.

A blog post has long been overdue here, so here we go…

Life has been pretty hectic and busy lately. Since I ran the Big D Half Marathon (the recap was my last blog post nearly a month ago) back in April I haven’t even had to many opportunities to get in a run or even go climbing. It’s one of those things where you are so busy you can’t even really point to what you have been doing that has made you so busy, but I can say some big changes are coming in the next month. More to come on that. I have actually been procrastinating a blog post because I thought I was going to be able to announce the big news, but that keeps getting delayed.

Anyway, this past weekend I was finally able to make it out to the Wichita Mountains in Oklahoma, probably my last visit for a long time. Overall, the trip was pretty awesome. On Saturday we had a lot of rain, but hiked to Voodoo Wall, a climbing area we have never been to – one that is rarely visited, and the condition of the bolts in the rock reflected that. The vista seen from the climbing area was gorgeous; it was like none I have ever seen in the wildlife refuge. The hike in was also amazing. We crossed mounds of granite slabs, stunning rock formations, canyons, and beautiful vistas.

Due to the rain we didn’t get a whole lot of climbing in, but we did manage to get a few top rope ascents in after the rain died down. The sun even peeked out a few times. I have to say though, I didn’t have my best day of climbing ever, but at the same time I felt some of my climbing skills are improving – such as crack climbing. We set up a top rope on what was probably a 5.10 dihedral that involved lots of hand jamming and lay backs. After top roping four routes we decided to call it a day and hiked back to the cars. The hike back itself was an adventure because there is no established trail to the crag we climbed at. I always enjoy these adventures.

On Saturday we set out to climb Shake Your Grove Thing , a 5.6 climb that is very exposed and ends with an open air rappel back down to the ground. But due to recent rains the creek was very high and there was about a foot of water under the climb, so we opted to climb Unfinished Piece, a route that is mostly 5.6 with a couple of 5.8 moves towards the top. The crux moves are fairly tough and are very exposed. I have lead the route at least three times, this time I was the third climber up the route, so I was essentially on top rope. While working through the crux moves I kept wondering how I ever made them on lead. I often do that though. I find I am more gathered mentally when making hard moves on the sharp end, although I do have moments where I totally freak out and back down from the climb.

After what seemed like hours because of a newbie trad leader leading the route for us, we finished and moved on to climb Captain Crunch, a 5.7 with an airy overhanging exposed crux on the second pitch. I was going to lead the first pitch and leave the second pitch to the group’s hardman Gary who climbs 5.10 trad. Unfortunately we couldn’t find the start of the climb, so we opted to climb Aerosmith, a 5.6-5.8 slab inside a leaning dihedral.

Aerosmith was another climb I have lead numerous times, but this time it gave me fits. I had a hard time just starting the climb, and as I continued on up the climb I sewed it up like a little baby, plugging gear in every possible crack. It has been a long time since I was that sketched out on a climb, let alone one I have climbed multiple times. My plan was to lead it in one continuous pitch, but after getting to the first ledge I decided to break it up into two pitches since I had run out of slings.

Once my second, Bill, arrived at the top (our newbie trad leader) I “offered” to let him lead the second pitch. There were two different variations to take. I usually opt for the harder route with better protection, but Bill decided to go for the original line with poor protection. After nearly falling asleep at the belay multiple times Bill finally reached the top. Upon coming up behind him I found the protection to be worse than I thought. On top of that Bill had two pieces of gear placed that would not have held a fall, and to make things even worse he had a huge run out above a very poorly placed cam. Had he fallen above that things would not have been good, but thankfully Bill is actually a very good climber and can apparently maintain his composure better than I can.

While climbing the route Gary had set up a top rope on Lycra Sheath, a 5.10c he had established on lead in 1988. He hadn’t climbed the route in 22 years and wanted to see if he still had it in him. We raped down into the climb on a second rope and belayed from the top just in case we couldn’t make it up the route we had an easier climb to the left to top out from. First up was Gary who climbed the route without failing. Twenty-two years later and the old man still has it.

Bill and I were not as successful. Bill eventually made it up, but once it was my turn things didn’t go so well. The trend of a crappy climbing day continued. I ended up having to climb out on Leaning Tower Direct, a 5.9 blocky dihedral that required a lot of very awkward and strenuous moves.

After our Lycra Sheath experience we decided to call it a day, as it was around 5pm at this point. The journey back (as well as the way in) was quite an experience. We made our way around and over lots of down trees that had recently fallen over or broken off during a recent ice storm. The Narrows as the area is called was pretty devastated. It looked like a bomb had gone off. There is a trail clean up planned the first weekend in June, but I will no longer be around to help out with it, but that isn’t a bad thing! Again, more to come on that.

Climbing, Trip Reports by OrganicClimber
Climbing, oklahoma, trip report, Wichita Mountains
2 comments

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Crab Eyes as seen from Lost Dome in the Wichita Mountains.

All week long the weather forecast called for partly cloudy skies with a high of 65 degrees in the Wichita Mountains. The plan was to go explore a rarely climbed area called Treasure Cove. I had wanted to explore this area some time, and I had finally found other climbers willing to make the journey, but things took a sudden turn Saturday morning before leaving. The forecast now was calling for rain through 10 a.m., but this was no big deal, as we would be arriving in the parking lot shortly after this, but what concerned me was the chance of thunderstorms at 2 p.m.

We still had a solid four hour window to get some climbs in, but since the beta I read about Treasure Cove indicated it was very difficult to get to we opted to head to Crab Eyes to climb Come Get Your Love, a 5.10a that I have had my heart set on for several months now. I was tempted to just give up on this too though and climb on Upper Mount Scott, which only requires a short 3-5 minute hike to the base of the climbs, but thankfully my climbing partners for the day were psyched to check out a new area.

So, about 10:30 a.m. we began making our trek to the well recognized rock formation known as Crab Eyes. As we made our journey down the trail I was surprised to see us arrive at the base of another formation called Echo Dome. I had been here before and Crab Eyes could even be seen off in the distance. So, we thought we must have been on the wrong trail and decided to just start blazing our own path towards the formation.

After climbing down about 75 yards or so we stumbled back upon a trail and figured we must be back on the right path, but was we journeyed further down the path we quickly realized it was taking us away from our destination, so being the smart climbers we are we decided to blaze our own train again and just start walking toward the tall formation. It was about this time I asked Naren if he brought a headlamp, he replied by saying, “I always bring a head lamp when I climb with you” ; followed up by accusations of being epic prone. Sure, I have had epics before, but I have way more successful climbing days than I do epics. He only remembers the epics.

After several minutes of hiking other rock formations began blocking our view of Crab Eyes, but after continuing on in the same direction we spotted the tops of the eyes just beyond another rock formation. We also saw another trail, so figured we were on the right path, but as we continued we noticed the trail becoming fainter, but saw karnes that seemed to be pointing us in the direction of Crab Eyes. We aimlessly followed these karnes into a field of boulders covered my thorns, so we back tracked a bit and once again began blazing our own trail, which once again brought us back on to a main trail and not soon after Crab Eyes were bigger than ever and the base of the climbs was well in our sight, but there was one problem – our climb was on Lost Dome, not Crab Eyes!

After viewing beta in two different guidebooks I got confused about where the actual climb was. Photos I saw made it appear that this climb was just a few hundred feet to the west of the formation, the guide book even referred to Lost Dome as “Crab Eyes Area”. So in my mind Lost Dome and Crab Eyes were one in the same, but boy was I wrong.

So after some hairy down scrambling off the west side of Crab Eyes we found the main trail again and referenced our guide book again and used the compass on my iPhone to get our bearings and discovered we were only a few feet from the trail split to Lost Dome. We didn’t realize this though until we started down the trail again. After a few paces I just happened to look left and see the train branching off. Shortly after that we found ourselves at the base of Lost Dome; and this time we where exactly were we needed to be.

Normally when stuff like this happens I get to the base of the climb and lose it, but this time I was still psyched. I was harnessed up and ready to go, gear and all, before my other partners. As I sat down and slipped on my shoes a smile came to my face and I muttered under my breath, “I’m so psyched!” This was they key indicator to me that I was ready to climb – I was ready to, “Get My Love On!”

The route looked easier than expected from the base, but as I began climbing my tune changed pretty quickly. The starting moves off the ground were pretty tricky and it required placing gear, but after a couple minutes of fooling around I was up on the rock placing a #1 red Black Diamond cam into a horizontal crack and making my way up to the first bolt, but not without some hesitance.

After clipping the first bolt I felt safer, but saw the run out to the next bolt was a little above my comfort level for such vertical terrain and the more difficult grade, although this section was no harder than 5.9. After standing there for a while I eventually made the moves to the second bolt and had my belayer hold me there while I evaluated the next moves. After analyzing the route I cooled my head a bit and placed a piece of supplemental protection that was purely a “mental piece”, and I was off again and made it to the third bolt without much of a problem, the next bolt was a little closer than the previous, so I continued up on thin edges and balancy moves, after clipping my quick draw I hung there again gearing up for the next moves.

From here I had one more bolt to clip and then the crux moves to another bolt. I was slightly hesitant here, but once again managed to calm my nerves, made the moves and clipped into the bolt, I was now at the crux section of the route. I was in a pretty good stance so was able to stand there a while and evaluate the route. It was going to be dicey: so after a couple of meager attempts I had my belayer hold me once again.

After evaluating the route a bit more and making several attempts I finally made one of the two crux moves and was now at waist level with the bolt. From here I was going to have to make another sketchy move up to a downward sloping ledge with some sharp edges to hold on to and nothing but smearing for foot placements. I hesitated a number of times and finally decided to just go for it, but I freaked out again, taking a 10-12 foot fall past the first crux move. Since I had already made the move I allowed myself to pull back up to where I was and give it another go.

This time I saw something I hadn’t seen the first time. I large slot that I could use as an under cling for my left hand. This ended up being key to pulling up onto the sloping ledge and standing up to clip the last bolt. After hanging the a bit and catching my breath I decided to go for it again and was back to where I was when I fell, this time with a cooler head, yet still with a sense of desperation, then suddenly I remembered the huge slot I could use as an undercling. I fired my left hand into the slot, smeared up the wall and then stood on the ledge. After this I was able to comfortably clip the bolt.

The route at this point was pretty much done. You could see the chains off to the right, but they were just out of reach. I was going to have to make one more move  to reach them. After evaluating the route I saw what I needed to do and began making the moves, but my rope wasn’t moving my belayer was keeping me tight an I yelled “ROPE” but it only got tighter, he had thought I wanted him to take in rope, I could feel myself being pulled off the wall, so I yelled, “SLACK”, and finally I was given the slack needed to comfortably clip into the anchor. For a moment I thought I was going to be taking another fall, but held on tight and avoided the effects of gravity.

After we all finished this climb I climbed the route again and then decided we should climb the interesting looking dihedral just to the right of Come Get Your Love. It wasn’t in the guidebook, but it looked fun. We doubt it was an FA, but for all we know it could have been. The start of the climb was very tricky, but after those initial moves the route eased up a bit and was a blast to climb.

After finishing this climb it was already 4 p.m. so we decided to head back to the car since it would be getting dark soon. We had cloud cover all day, but didn’t get one drop of rain until the hike back. We also discovered on the hike back we missed a key turn in our journey to Crab Eyes. After crossing a creek we should have taken a right, following a trail along the creek bed, but we continued on the trail straight. Had we followed the right path we would have easily gotten to Crab Eyes and still had time to correct our mistake and get in other climbs, but on the bright side we now know two different ways to get to Crab Eyes (not that we will ever climb there, the ratings on those routes are sick).

Some people might consider us crazy for driving the 2.5 hours for just two climbs, but to me it was well worth the journey. Especially since I had wanted to do this climb for a long time. Even if I didn’t climb it clean, I had fun and I got to take a nice fall, something I hadn’t done in a long time. I think taking small falls like that every now and then helps you become better. It reminds you that not much is going to happen if you fall. Falling really isn’t that bad, just so long as the gear holding you is solid.

Climbing, Trip Reports by OrganicClimber
5.10, come get your love, crab eyes, lost dome, rock climbing, Wichita Mountains
2 comments

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One of the things I like best about living in Denton, Texas is the relatively easy access to some of the best climbing in North America. Just 2.5 hours away from my door step are mounds of pristine granite. I started off my blog with a post about Quartz Mountain in Oklahoma, which is actually a part of the same mountain range.  The Wichita Mountains offers everything from easy 5.6 trad climbs to hardman 5.14 sport climbs, there is even a plethora of bouldering to be had and plenty of FA’s still up for grabs.

The Wichita Mountains is actually the only National Wildlife Refuge in the United States that allows climbing, so climbers in this area consider themselves very privileged to have great access to such pristine climbing and not have to make long treks out west.  Most of the climbing here is traditional, but there are a hand full of bolted routes, most of which are bolted ground up. Once of the classic bolted lines is an 80 foot tall Dr. Coolhead, a 5.10b with only two bolts.  However, if less run-out sport climbs are your thing Half Dome is your crag, offering a hand full of routes ranging from 5.8 – 5.10+.

This weekend I will be heading out to my stomping grounds to help teach a beginners climbing clinic with the Texas Mountaineers. We offer the course a couple times a year. The follow up to the class is a weekend of climbing at Robers’ Cave in Oklahoma were the students will put into practice everything they learned in the clinic this weekend.

The photos you see here were taken back in April with photographer Andy Chasteen who was generous enough to let me tag along on a photo shoot with him. It was awesome to go on a trip and focus mostly on shooting because I am typically too focused on climbing, yet love shooting climbing. For more photos from the trip, view the slide show on my photography web site.

View more photos from the trip here!

Climbing, Trip Reports by OrganicClimber
andrew tower, bouldering, emily harrington, oklahoma, photography, rock climbing, trad, Wichita Mountains
4 comments

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I was very hesitant to head to the Wichita Mountains for a day of climbing this past Sunday due to the forecast of 100+ degree heat, but my climbing partner for my upcoming trip to Colorado insisted on going. I decided it would be a good idea since we needed more practice on multi pitch routes together.  I also have wanted to lead Crazy Alice, a 5.8 zigzagging crack – classic trad lead. I had top roped it for only the second time last trip out their and was confident I could lead it. The idea of bagging this lead also had me psyched for the trip.

Our alarm went off at 5:30 a.m. I was in such a daze I didn’t hear one word from the radio announcers voice. We had only put in five hours of sleep, but quickly got moving and were out the door before 6 a.m. About half way to the Wildlife Refuge I realized we could have slept in another 30 minutes and still arrive just as the gate opened. So at that point I slowed down a bit so we could get better gas mileage and we took our time at the only rest stop we made.

About an hour and a half after our stop we arrived at the gates to our climbing area – The Narrows. In the past the gates had always been open early, but today they were not. We arrived about 10 minutes till 9 and ended up waiting until 20 after, during this time about 10 different cars drove up to the gates in hopes of getting in, but we were the only ones that stayed to wait. During our wait we decided to tape up for our climb and organize our packs so we would be ready to roll once the gate opened.

After the Ranger opened the gates we quickly made it to the parking area and hit the trail almost immediately.  As we approached our climb I our fist climb would still have some shade on it, but as we got closer I saw that it was in full sun. At this point the temperatures were already close to 100 degrees and I was feeling exhausted from the two mile hike in.

Once we arrived at the base of the climb I was feeling a little weary so I drank more water, ate a bit of food and took my time gearing up for the climb. After being fully geared up I sat in the only shaded spot we had at the base of the climb (everything else as in direct sunlight). After I felt only slightly better I decided to start the climb and just get it over with so we could move on to a climb in the shade.

As I started the climb I had a bit of trouble with the start, but soon figured out the moves and was on my way up, climbing with great confidence. Although the rock felt like I was touching a hot frying pan I was fairly ok if I jammed my hands deep into the crack. Once I got about 20 feet up I started feeling fatigued, my confidence began to wane and I rested on a marginally placed piece of gear. I became frustrated; my hopes of climbing the route clean on my first lead attempt were shattered. I overcame the frustration though and continued climbing. After placing a couple more pieces of gear I placed a bomber number two Camelot and yelled to my belayer, TAKE. At this point I was starting to feel heat exhaustion kick in so decided to lower down and rest a bit before finishing the route (seeing as how I had already rested on gear and was not going to have a clean ascent).

After resting a bit and drinking more water I began to climb again. This time I was tired by the time I got back to my last piece of gear, likely because I climbed so fast and got my heart racing. I again had to rest before proceeding with the climb. After gaining my composure, or so I thought, I began to climb again. Shakily I paced another cam blindly into the crack, which turned out to be bomber, and reached for a draw to put on the cam; while doing this my hand trembled as I pulled off a cam and draw at the same time, dropping a number three Camelot 40 feet. I watched it hit solid rock and then bounce into the dirt. My yells of frustration echoed throughout the canyon walls.

But after the frustration subsided I began to climb again and as I neared the top I placed my last piece of gear and still had about 12-15 feet of climbing to go, so I gathered myself mentally and confidently climbed the last section of the route. Once I reached the top I pulled off my extra locking biners and clipped in to the chains and alerted my belayer I was clipped in.

My plan at this point was to belay him to the top and photograph him coming up the route, but by my this point I felt heat exhaustion had completely kicked in and there was no way I was going to be able to safely belay him to the top without potentially passing out. So, I lowered back down to the ground. At this point I sat there for about 15 minutes sipping on water and pouring it over my head until I felt a bit of energy come back. After that I belayed my partner to the top so he could clean the route. By the time he had come back down to the ground I felt my energy restored and decided we should try to find a climb in the shade.

About this the only other climbers we saw that day were leaving and told us about an area I had not been to yet that would be in full shade. After seeing my next projected climb was in full sun we opted to seek out this coveted shaded area.

After hiking another two miles back to the car I was once again feeling exhausted, but after eating more food and drinking more water I gain re-gained some energy.  Searching for this shaded wall, The Meadows, was slightly more difficult than expected, but after pulling out the compass and realized we were heading in the wrong direction we managed to get back on course and find our destination without much time lost.

Because we were so weary we opted for an “easy” 5.6 bolted route. However as typical in the Wichita Mountains the route was fairly run-out. The first bolt being about 30 feet off the ground (although we realize latter I passed one about 20 feet up) spooked my confidence a bit, likely from the heat exhaustion, but I began the climb anyway and found a supplemental gear placement about 15 feet off the ground, once I pulled onto the ledge above my piece of gear I was able to make one more move up and clip the second bolt. I quickly yelled back down to my belayer, TAKE. My pride was shot, I rested on a 5.6 climb, but in the end it’s always better safe than sorry.

I eventually got to a point on the route that I felt like I couldn’t move any higher, I looked up and it appeared the next bolt was about 20 feet away. The bolt also looked HUGE. I thought it was some sort of weird anchor. In fact, I thought it was the anchor. So I lowered down to get a bail biner to go back up to clean my draws, but my less experienced partner decided he wanted to try finishing the route. I feared he would fall, shattering has ankles on a ledge, making our trip to Colorado a bust. I didn’t want him to go, but he wasn’t going to not let me belay him up.

So, I gave him the gear he needed and told him how he was going to have to clean this strange looking anchor I saw. After that John was quickly off and arrived at the last bolt I had clipped and rested there before proceeding. As he attempted to move up he took a couple of falls. I encouraged him to just leave the bail biner and lower off, but he insisted on proceeding. I prepared myself to run back as far as possible to prevent him from hitting a ledge, but to my dismay he made the moves and reached out clipping the anchor without having to girth hitch it. WHAT THE CRAP, I thought. How did he clip that anchor, it was HUGE. I realized then the heat exhaustion must have made me hallucinate, seeing a regular sized bolt as an oversized horizontally placed bolt.

After some struggle to make the final moves John realized he couldn’t finish and lowered back down. I then jumped back on the rope and climbed back up to the last spot he fell.  It took me a while to spot the anchors because the blazing hot sun was just peering over the top of the cliff, but after several attempts I finally managed to reach the anchors, clipped in and then cleaned the anchor and lowered off, removing gear along the way down.

That climb would conclude our climbing for the day. We were both obviously exhausted, getting our butts kicked on a 5.6 climb when both of us can climb much harder. After a few minutes of resting we headed back to the car and loaded up the gear. The plan after that was to head to a deli we saw in town for sandwiches, but at this point I was SO hungry and wanted more food than just a sandwich, so with the help of my iPhone we managed to find a Chilis that was off the main drag that cut through the town of Lawton, Oklahoma. John enjoyed a juicy burger, medium-well, I inhaled a black bean burger and entire plate of fries, including some of John’s. I regretted eating that much food about 30 minutes down the road, but it was very satisfying at the time of consumption.

The lesson learned this day was simple. Never climb in 100+ degree heat. My car was registering 106 degrees when we left, when I checked the weather on my iPhone in town it gave a temperature of 103 degrees, so no matter how you look at it, it was crazy hot out there and no amount of water helped us to stay hydrated. Between the two of us, we polished off 8+ litters of water.

I can say this though; this trip will make us REALLY appreciate Colorado this summer! I can hardly wait to climb in temperatures below 90 degrees. Hopefully we are lucky and will experience a few 75-degree days. That would be so sublime!

The photos you see here are of Crazy Alice (5.8) that were taken from my first trip out here in April of 2007. It was a magical experience that included crossing a “creek” that was really a river at the time due to recent rains and ended with snow flurries as I toped out Crazy Alice for the first time on top rope. So, it has actually been over two years since I returned to the climb. Despite the heat exhaustion it was well worth it and I am confident I will climb the route clean next time.

And for those of you that might be wondering what the new Subaru Outback looks like, here she is…

Climbing, Trip Reports by OrganicClimber
crazy, crazy alice, fatigue, heat, heat exhaustion, hot, oklahoma, Outback, rock climbing, Subaru, The Narrows, trad, Whichita Mountains, Wichita Mountains
4 comments

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My local crag (area where I go to climb) is two and a half hours away from my house in Denton, Texas. To me, this is close. It definitely beats the four-hour drive to Austin to climb. I often make day trips out here to get in a full day of climbing. We will usually leave my house around 7 a.m. (since the gates to the climbing areas don’t even open until 9 a.m.) and arrive around 9:30 a.m. We will climb until it gets dark or we just tire out from pulling hard.

Yesterday my friend John and I headed out to the Wichita Mountains in South West Oklahoma to get some training in for our trip to Colorado. We only got about four climbs in, but it was well worth it. We climbed the classic Dihedral (5.7) then top-roped Crazy Alice (5.8) and Aerosmith, a spicy two pitch 5.8 climb that rewards you with a stellar view from the top of Leaning Tower along Cache Creek. From up here one would never think you were in Oklahoma. After that we hiked back to the base and heeded to an area called Upper Mount Scott. Here we climbed another classic route called Atomic Knee Drop (5.6). The view from the top of this climb overlooks the gorgeous Lake Lawton and behind that are rolling green hills with lines of electricity generating windmills, John said it reminded him of Scotland.

After that climb we were done for the day and headed back to Denton, arriving home around 8:30 p.m. Providing me enough time to do some laundry, take a shower, and Ice down my injured fingers while reading Rock and Ice magazine before heading to bed. Even though I was reluctant to go since I will be out of town again next weekend climbing in Austin I was glad I made the trip. It turned out to be a great day of climbing.

Any climber that hasn’t been to the Wichita Mountains should definitely make a trip. The place is quite magical. Rock and Ice has recently run a feature on the area, mainly highlighting the history of how the area was developed. Another neat thing about the Wichita Mountains is that it is the only National Wildlife Refuge that allows climbing. Pretty cool! But I can’t take it for granted because access could always be revoked. If that ever happens it will be a sad day.

A day trip like this may sound crazy to some people, but to an obsessed climber it’s just life. I remember reading about another Texas climber that would take weekend trips up to Colorado just to climb for a day! I’ve been tempted to do that many times myself.

I will be posting some of my photography work from the Wichita Mountains here in the near future, so be sure to check back.

Climbing, Trip Reports, Uncategorized by OrganicClimber
oklahoma, rock climbing, trad, training, trip, Wichita Mountains
2 comments

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