Early Spring Sunset Rock

Nick holding Locks

Went to Sunset Rock with Nick and Jacob on Sunday, April 9, 2017. Beautiful weather. Cool fleece temperature in the awesome morning shade, hot t-shirt weather in the afternoon. Explored the area farthest from the parking lot. It was super crowded. Too many dogs, too.

Blond Ambition (5.7+)

Nick on Blond Ambition

Second Sun (5.9+)
Harder than our first climb. Jacob led and was forced to take low down on the face with two solid cams. Then he needed to bail to the right near the top because of bad pro and shared anchors already in use to the left.

Jacob leads on Second Sun

I cleaned. Some idiot climbed below me on the 5.7 to the right, and I was worried I would drop a rock on him. Then when I was lowering, I was worried I would run into him. So Nick didn't even climb this route.

Mercenary Territory (5.8)
Nick led and pulled on the tree to get through the low-down crux. This was a blocky 5.8 with a nice roof for the grade. Jacob cleaned and I top-roped. The face section at the top was difficult to protect but had good holds.

Nick on Mercenary Territory right before the crux

Northwest Conversion (5.9)
I led this two-pitch route in a single pitch. The first pitch was so easy it felt more like an "approach". The route was not as hard as I had expected, but it was a bit chossy, so I was afraid to pull out rocks if I fell on pieces. The line meanders quite a bit, especially when done as a single pitch, so I was rather careful to extend pieces and place them thoughtfully to avoid rope drag. There is a fun, thin crack at the top.

Here I am on the start of Northwest Conversion

Nick had an easy time cleaning this, and Jacob top-roped it. The sun was coming out by now. I had been cold and wearing my fleece in the morning, but after this I stripped down to just my t-shirt and sunscreen.

Pancake Flake (5.9-)
Jacob was rather nervous about leading this route, but it was not as hard as he expected. It is a long flake that forms an undercling/crack that makes for some great hand-jamming. It had lots of features to work with. Weird, but fun. I cleaned, and Nick top-roped. I had to place several directionals on the descent to keep Nick from swinging if he fell.

Jacob belays Nick on Pancake Flake

Train Time (5.10a)
I led this easy 5.10. This is a fun climb with a little of everything thrown in. We were really warm at this point. Near the top I traversed too soon where the climb rejoins the more direct 5.11 route. I had to rest on an alien cam that I placed there. Then realized that I only had to continue up a bit more before traversing right and the going became much easier. Nick cleaned the route, and Jacob top-roped it for the last pitch of the day.

Kenton near the crux of Train Time

All-in-all a great day. We each had the opportunity to lead two routes and climb six.

Heading back to the parking lot...