Tomorrow Bob will be heading out back to MN. But before leaving he wanted to take one more crack at a climb here in the Granite Dells that annoyed him previously. Initially he thought it was only a 5.8, but re-reading the guide book, Prescott Bouldering by Bill Cramer, we found it was a 5.9. More explanation for why it was annoying.
Around 2 p.m. we took a quick walk into the Dells, and got ourselves unpacked and ready to go. We got under the climb (which is a lead climb) and took another look. Long distance to that first bolt! Oh, and the name of the climb? Perfect Idiot. After playing on it for a while I could see why.
Before we got under way I taped up a few fingers. Over the past week I’ve made quite a mess out of two finger tips. The rock here is pretty jagged. Sure, climbing on rock you’ll get scraped up, but this place seems to have some extra jagged stuff. Go figure.
At least this time I didn’t leave any extra skin or blood behind on the rocks. Can’t say the same for Bob. After he climbed, and I started in I noticed a ton of bright red blotches near the first bolt. Sure enough, he’d been bitten pretty good.
After the first ascent we figured out a way to rig up a top rope scenario using a pair of bolts the next climb over. Doing this one was a bear, and we both fell several times. So, with the top rope set up after the first lead we had the opportunity to abuse ourselves some more trying to work out the best approach. Sorry to say, a best approach was never settled on, but we did both get worn out searching. Something to work on again!
Where are the pictures of me you ask? Well, when it’s just two people, and one is on belay, I’d really prefer the belayer is at the ready, and not working out a snapshot of me. 
On easier spots maybe, but on this one there weren’t a ton of great places to hang out and rest a spell. Ah well, maybe next time!
So, last climb in Prescott for the next few months for Bob. If I’m still here (working on it), we’ll climb again in October. Ah, there goes my climbing partner. I’ll have to start bugging Andy now, or searching in town. Shouldn’t be too hard to find folks though!
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