We did the 'grueling' ten minute approach to the quietest part of the Needles so far. One bummer about this place is the noise. There is a lot of noise. Endless Harleys drive by needlessly revving their engines. And if it isn't motorcycles, there is a parade of helicopters flying tourists over the Needles. It's a weird contrast to have the visual beauty of being in the middle of nowhere outdoors and at the same time to get the audio assault of man's noisiest machines. Super weird contrast.
The Outer Outlets were silent. And no others were around. It was lovely. Dave headed up the first pitch. This pitch was sort of like crawling among the incisors in the mouth of a giant dragon. It was fun.
Pitch two required an airy traverse followed by a slightly overhanging traverse on rocks that looked sketchy. No photos of this pitch. It just didn't lend itself to photos.
The last pitch included a crazy move under a roof into a chimney. It was a leg dangler. Then one headed up some crazy unprotected chimneying and finally into daylight. From here, it was a long but featured unprotected section to the top. Every pitch on this climb was completely different, and every pitch different from the ones we'd done the days before.
The summit was cool with some pools of critters and an excellent view of the surrounding landscape. We goofed off on the summit before rapping down, hiking out and heading home.
The drive was long and happily uneventful. It was nice getting home and seeing the birds. They were very happy to see us too. Henri flapped with joy so much he passed out. This is becoming his standard thing to do when we return. I'm glad he's happy, but I can live without his passing out.
2 comments:
Wow! Looks like an amazing trip, even though you had to suffer through and exchange with The Tool.
Of course, this is Emma's alter ego commenting. :)
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