As we hung around camp trying to motivate to go climbing, Eric and his Boulder-friend Chris dropped by to chat. They were heading to the Crack of Doom on the Morning Glory Spire (aka the Incisor). We ended up going to the same formation to climb on the opposite side.
We opted to climb a three-pitch route called Morning Glory. The first pitch was non-stop, solid, gripped, breath-holding slab the entire way. I really can't understand the slab aficionados out there! I mean, some slab moves here and there is one thing - but nothing but slab? It baffles me.
The second pitch was everything I love in a climb. Just enough small edges to get one to the top of the pitch. It was quite beautiful. The third pitch had a powerful first move (okay, okay, I missed the critical undercling) which spit me off the wall like a gnat. After the first series of awkward moves, the pitch went to the top. All in all, a very fun climb. It was windy at the top, but for a change, it wasn't freezing. Such a welcome change.
After rapping, we walked around and did the classic "Skyline" trad climb. It is immediately clear why this route is a classic. Super fun climbing!
Next we went up a fun sport 10b to the immediate right of Skyline. This route is called "Fall line". The bottom had a weird feeling start, but after that, it was great. I find that at least everything we did in the COR has the awkward or difficult crux at the bottom.
Following this, we wandered over to the Anteater Formation. Dave soloed a pretty crack which put him in position to stand on top of a big balanced rock. Dave and I have so much in common, it's freaky. This however is not one of those commonalities. I could not be paid enough money to stand on top of a rock like that!
We finished the day on a climb called Scream Cheese. Why is it called Scream Cheese? Probably because the climber screams when they fall off the heinous slab at the top. The guidebook even stated that the slab turns most climbers into whimpering crawlers at the top. Pretty accurate description of my time on this climb.
We went back to camp and had a nice meal of nature burgers and margaritas. We then walked up to the Boulder crew's campsite and enjoyed music and songs they performed. I was so exhausted, I started falling asleep at their campsite. Time to go to bed.
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