Cathedral 5.9

Gil is perfectly correct: Yosemite is a zoo, but has awesome climbing. I can't confirm or deny any illegal camping on my part,
but I did enjoy being referred to as a ninja (sort of). I think the Valley would be an awesome place for a summer trip. There
are some seriously good free and big wall climbs there that make the Northeast feel pretty small by comparison.

I went to Cathedral this weekend with Sarah. Saturday we did Diedre, which is rated at 5.9+, which is probably one of the cruel
little jokes the guidebook authors like to play on you. I had a tough time on it when I tried it before the Valley, but I did
pretty well on it this time. There's some seriously steep moves on it. I'd show you some pictures, but after we hemmed and
hawed a lot bringing a camera, and finally brought one on a later climb, we didn't end up taking any. Bleh, whatever. Then we
got on Pine Tree Eliminate. Sarah took her first whip on it, which I think she was fairly stoked about.

Today we went to check out Recompense. I've been trying to get on it for months, but there have always been people on it. Of
course, today was no exception. So we went to do The Book instead, which is another one of these 5.9+s. I think it's
legitimately a 10. But whatever. Sarah linked up Funhouse very handily and then I led The Book. I had fallen on it before,
but I managed to lead it properly this time, which was nice. I even protected my second properly in the interests of "safety"
(I know, pshaw). We finished off on the last pitch of the Prow. I thought there were good fingerlocks, but they didn't feel as
"dreamy" as Mountain Project promised me. Then we went to the Barber Wall, which we'd never been to. People kept giving us
vague descriptions of where it was, so we just decided to go and try to find the trail. Of course, what happened was we got off
route, and then ended up hiking down and up in a big circle. Eventually I ran into Kayte, who gave me a big hug, and then told
me the proper way to get there.

We wanted to do Nutcracker and Chicken Delight, but both were occupied, so we got on something called Layton's Ascent (5.9). I
told Sarah she should try to lead it, and then if there were tears, then I would finish it. She got up to an awkward little pod,
got some pretty decent gear, and fussed around with the moves for a while. Finally she decided to go for it, and seemed to be
doing pretty well and then pitched off. I think she had kind of a heart attack, but was psyched about it, too. There weren't
any tears (thank god). There was this other guy on Nomad Crack nearby, and he took a tremendous whip. One of his pieces pulled
and he came pretty close to a groundfall. But that's not how we play it in the HMC, right? We're all about good gear and solid
climbing. Ostensibly. So she tried it a few more times, and then gave up after quite a good effort. I was certainly
impressed. I got up to the same spot, and then hand jammed really hard. In fact, my hand hurt so much I hung on a piece so I
could look at it. There was blood on it. But then I put my hand right back where it was and kept climbing, since there didn't
seem to be any better options. Yeah, I'm pretty much a wuss. But we had a good time. Trad climbing seems to be really fun. I
can work really hard on a 5.9 or a 5.10, not tweak myself, and still feel good. I've come around to the opinion that the trad
doesn't feel hard because the grades are sandbagged or the gear is weird to place. I have a perfectly good sense of what grade
means what now, and I'm fine placing good gear, even from weird uncomfortable positions. I think the climbing is just
different, and I'll just have to get used to it. One of the things I'm getting used to is crack climbing without gloves. It
rips up your hands, but it feels so good. (I've already made the obvious analogy, so don't bother.)

What kind of rad shit are the rest of you up to?