Great Head and Dark and Stormies
Saturday’s adventure started with breakfast in sunny, 65 degree weather at Cafe This Way. As we pulled into the parking lot, one of the cooks noticed the Mondo strapped to the Bimmer, stuck his head out a window and asked where we were bouldering. Rolling around town with a crash pad awkwardly strapped to your car definitely gets you noticed by the local climbers. After coffee, a breakfast burrito, eggs benedict, sausage, and lots of bacon, Tex and I were ready to climb.
Moving on to Great Head after digesting a magnificent breakfast, we warmed up with Jenn and Hannah (who apparently worked at Cafe This Way and had shown up moments before we did). As we were warming up and taking sweet pics of the ocean, a lady from a larger group (from Boston) down by the cave decided to come up to our area and place a T-Rex in the background of some of our shots. It was pure awesomeness.
T-Rex lurking in the background. Rawr.
Meanwhile, a second large group of boulderers, also from Boston, had made their way over, and it appeared as if the boulders were about to be overcrowded. As luck would have it, the second large group turned around and left to explore other areas since they saw the first large group climbing; 5 minutes later, the first large group packed up and moved elsewhere.
Tex on Warm Up Left V2. People in the background packing up.
Jenn made this Warm Up V4 look much better than S.A.D.
Left with the whole Great Head area to ourselves, Tex was convinced to find an FA with a near impossible reach and to name it “Because I’m Tall”. He eventually found a route slightly below the main cave with a huge opening move coming out of a roof. While he stuck the first move, he failed to send the rest of the problem, thus allowing me to send it and name it “Dufour, I Am Stronger Than You”. Note that this was probably not the FA, but our names are better than “Left Line” and “Center Line”.
Dufour failing at being tall.
S.A.D. being stronger than Dufour.
Finishing out "Dufour, I Am Stronger Than You" on crimps.
I proceeded to return to the main cave and work Right Line (V5). At this time Jesse showed up to work some V9 in the cave and provided us with some beta, a much needed extra pad, and a spot. The problem started under the roof, moved to the edge of the roof, and used a sweet heel-toe cam to pull around the roof edge. While no one move on the Right Line was terribly bad, the landing under the crux was a definite back breaker, and after taking a solid fall, I was done mentally. No send this time, but a good project nonetheless.
Jesse protecting S.A.D on Right Line crux.
To wind down from a day of good oceanside bouldering, we decided to refuel at Rosalie’s Pizza, and hit the Lompoc for a few Dark and Stormies. Our ironic waitress was right on point and saved us the trouble of having to verbally communicate our orders. From there, we paid a visit to Jeremy at Acadia Mountain Guides to shop for some shoes and figure out Sunday climbing plans. As the shop did not carry the proper shoe sizes for us, we decided to return to the Lompoc again where our favorite ironic waitress kept the Dark and Stormies flowing through the night. We were eventually joined by Jeremy and Park Ranger Dylan, who offered us lodging once again.
