The Carnival Boulders

Lisa on Giant Man(V4)
A Rubber Boa? on the way to the Beach-Forrest. Cool.

Sunday was a family day trip to the sunny slopes of Leavenworth. After a late start, I drove the three hours to Leavenworth! I wanted to check out the Carnival Boulders, an area in Icicle Canyon that I had yet to visit. I really enjoyed there(Except for taking a suicidal trail up, I was too far up canyon) After finding the correct trail, Lisa and I started ticking off the classic warm ups. She managed a flash of Giant Man(V4), and recomended a down grade. I though it was a little soft but still hard for guys with less grace... After a struggle with the Rib(V4), Lisa and I ditched the sunny slopes of Icicle to hit the shaded side of Tumwater Canyon. (Lisa had an interesting endeavor of a V1 mantel, chalkless and shoeless, the granite also happened to be in full sunlight and it took her some effort to not fall off) On the way out we ran into a tired Derrik and Kyle so we decided to go to the Beach-Forrest for some nicer temps. They rested in the cool water as Lisa and I got to work on Goiceachea, V9. At first, I thought I couldn't do the start. I pulled/nothing on the start. Lisa, meanwhile cruised to the big lunge and got decently close. After stealing her foot beta for the start, I managed the route with only one dab. 20 minutes later, I repeated sans dab and was glad to have sent this cool line(The top out was ugly though) The first move is a lunge to an incut crimp on an overhung, move the feet up, then cross just above to another incut crimp, move the left to a slopey crimp, right foot up to start rail and huck with everything to a big crimp on the lip. Lisa could do everything perfect except hit the crimp on the huck, she touched it but couldn't snag it! It was a short trip but fun, Lisa and I both sent the Terrible(V7), which is a kinda cool problem. I'm pretty happy now with my bouldering and I feel ready to push my limits on some of the harder test pieces... -jimmy

Finally...

Whoo0-hoo. I finally managed to get out to Leavenworth and climb! Sort of. The car was packed with Alexe, photo dude friend of Lisa, Russ climbing team superstar, and of course me. This was Russ's first outdoor climbing trip so we rolled into the forestland parking lot. To my surprise, only one other group was there. We warmed up on Breadline (V0) (the start broke a little) then Lisa set to work on One Summer Crouch (V6) which she eventually sent. I surprised myself with a first go repeat of the shield (V7). After messing around, we ventured to upper forestland so Lisa could work Kobe Tai (V8). Meanwhile, Russ and I headed out to do some easier stuff. We made our way over to Bad Moon Rising (V2), a slab, which took him only three tries to complete. First try he fell off the start, second try fell off around ten feet and scidded down(scarrry), third try sent so easily it made me jealous. He frikin cruised right up it! I managed the flash but with some hesitation (Sadly, I didn't get to try the Hessitator V1) After doing some other porblems we finally move on to the Sword. Lisa doesn't fully understand the art of a Leavenworth day trip, she thinks that time is to be easily wasted ...
Once we arrived at the sword boulders Both Lisa and I ticked off, The Sword (V3), The Dagger (V3), and Yo, Baby (V6). Russ did another V2 flash of the Classic. I also managed a send of Cole's Corner (V8/9) via a shoulder ripping dyno. With little sunlight left, we headed over to the Cotton Pony and played on the Pony Ride(V4) and Tampax Arete(V4). It was a pretty good trip but the sun is still blkazin' hot, fall is just around the corner an' I'm dying to turn it... -jimmy

Here are some pics from Yelm...
A crag, route quallity unkown
The Balla Boulder, potential traverse through steep part.

More Boulders

Wow, Yelm is turning out to be a hot spot for a bunch of so so boulders. Today, I wanted to go back down to last place off of the paved road, but the gate was open so it was a no go. There was one other access gate owned by Warehouser closer to the main highway. so after riding around on different trails for an hour, I found two pretty cool/solid boulders with a dozen or so easy problems. It probably has about a 25min. bike approach on flat gravel and maybe a 30min(probally less) walk on ATV trails. Brush will come this winter once huntin' season is over. The rock isn't conglomerate which is nice. just a quick update... -jimmy

View Larger Map

More Climbing in Olympia!

Since all my rides for a Leavenworth trip fell apart, I decided to stay local and check out a hunch I had 'bout some local climbing. Boy, was I rewarded. Awhile back I checked goolge Earth for some steep looking walls and found some near Yelm, on Vail Loop Road. I tried to check this place out earlier, but the road online is actually a gated Warehouser road. The second time the road was closed due to high fire danger. This time, all was good. I saw two potential crags(Rock quality unknown) but what I was huntin' fer were BOULDERS. The first one I found was a weird basketball shaped boulder, which is conglomerate similar to the near by Fossil Rock. A little father away there were 6 or so more in a little valley. The quality is iffy but it IS climbable. I'll be back with some pictures and a brush. The approach is a short 20min. bike ride on a PAVED road! There is rock near Oly, but consider it adventure bouldering... -jimmy

Click the link for a view from google earth of the boulder

View Larger Map

RAIN! In Leavenworth

30% chance my but! What was going to be a multi day trip with a couple car loads ended up being a fun day trip and one car. I went with some realitively new climbers who happen to be going to SPSCC too. Ryan, his sister Amanda, and Jimmy and I headed over the pass in rain and rolled into a cloud/Leavenworth. This has never happened to me before. We optimistaclly set up camp and headed over to the Swifterwater cave where a group from the Circuit Bouldering gym in Portland were huddle. We joined them for a bit and Ben was there(I met him in Squamish). I felt pretty strong in the cave, flashing the right route and getteing the middle left line in a couple goes(No top outs, it was raining). After debating what to do, we ventured into the tourist trap and walked around. We stopped in a cheese store and had some really good sweet/nutty cheese, so we bought a 1/4 pound and some pastries and headed to camp for dinner. After dinner in the rain we headed across the road to The Lefty(V7). The thing was hard and trick, but dry(though drips seemed to hunt down Jimmy). We made up a couple of lines. After messing around we called it quits, packed up and headed home. It was a harsh intro to outdoor climbing for Amanda, but next time it will be dryer, I promise!
On Sunday, Lisa, Eric Givins and I sped on up to Stone Gardens to test our nettle inside of the storm. I surprised myself flashing most V6's but getting shut down cold on V7's and up. It was good training to get on non-Jimmy routes, and not know the sequence. Hopefully next weekend is dry, so I can get on some nice granite. On side a note, I aquired the Mamzama Guide book and the place looks really fun, future trips next year... -jimmy