Sammy Hagar...in Leavenworth?

For 2 days, Lindsay, our good buddy, Drew, and I spent climbing on the outlying hills of Leavenworth, Washington.

We arrived in Leavenworth Saturday morning around 10am. This town sets itself apart fromother Pacific Northwest towns because of its Bavarian theme. Leiderhosen, A Maypole and more Bavarian architecture and home decor than you can shake a stick at. For further effect, many people (I have my suspicions that its the tourists!!) feel the need to dress in traditional Bavarian attire. Strange and embarrassing at the same time. We did see an older woman walk into the Leavenworth Waffle Haus with a long dress, stockings, and what seemed to be a corset on beneath her low-cut blouse. Flattering, I think not.

After getting lost trying to find the Special Spot/Retardant Rock, we eventually found the right pullout along Rt. 2. The approach to the cliffs can be likened to scaling a NJ beach pitched at a 30 degree angle for 35 minutes. Very dusty and hot, treacherous at times, and taxing on the body, mind and soul.

We eventually arrived at a small, but exquisite little cliff with some bolted climbs--our warm-ups for the day. Drew and I led and Lindsay followed a great route called "Gun Rack" , and then Lindsay led a testy 5.8 trad route of which the name is still a mystery, and at which I am still shaking my head because of the loose nature of it. That girl is an animal.

Our main objective for the day, however, was a route called "The Javelin". The route is splashed on the cover of the most recent guidebook for Leavenworth, and when I saw the picture I knew I had to climb it. A strikingly thin flake that requires the climber to layback and undercling up the entire left side of the finger-shaped feature while delicately smearing your feet on the adjecent granite wall. Tricky, pumpy, and mixed bag of gear and bolts, to boot. I had a feeling that I was going to enjoy this line. As sure as a Mabel barking at another dog, we all loved this route. At 70 feet, it was long enough to give us a good pump, but short enough for all of us to be done within a hour of our arrival.

That night we camped off a nameless forest service road near the Snoqualmie River. The water added a nice touch to the otherwise sleepless night we had due to Mabel being a little too pre-occupied with all the outside noises.

I think Lindsay was awake first, but I took over Mabel duty as soon as I realized Mabel had gnawed threw her tether and was running freely around our campsite collecting sticks and hiding them in the woods. I tackled Mabel, brought her under control, then she and I strolled down to the river, stuck our faces in to wake up, then meandered back up to camp. In the matter of a split second after returning to camp, Mabel was off like a flash into the woods chasing a deer. Knowing I was going to have a bear-of-a-time finding her, I let the chase run its course, knowing full-well that Mabel would eventually come back. When she arrived back to camp with her head hung low, she knew she shouldn't have done what she just did.

We planned to leave early on Sunday afternoon, as Lindsay had to work that night. We had a much easier and enjoyable hike up to our destination on Sunday--Clamshell Cave Rock. An assortment of moderate slab/crack lines littered this sunny little crag that sits high atop a hillside overlooking a fork of the river we had just camped along. On our way out, Drew and I ran into a fellow who looked like Sammy Hagar. Bizarre.

Next weekend we're spending with Jim and Jessi (aka Jedi), our farmer friends from Bend, Oregon. We're seeing The Police in concert on Friday night and hiking around Mount Saint Helens on Saturday. Should be a hoot.

Job update: I think Lindsay is liking her job more now, and I am still unemployed (as approved by the wife), but will be substitute teaching beginning the start of the school year.