A lot has happened in the last couple of days, so I'll sum it up here. We headed to the base of the climb a couple of days ago - Pete and David were supposed to have two pitches fixed, which they did. Another party was on the climb, but they had planned only three days to do it and realized that was not nearly enough time, so they bailed.
Anyway, we fetched our gear from our hidden stash and discovered that Pete, while digging through our stuff to borrow a hammer, did not stow our sleeping bags back in a way to keep the rain from getting to them. They were both sopping wet and mildewed when we pulled them out. So, we headed home to wash the sleeping bags and dry them.
At this point, the clue bird was starting to land with me...I realized that a 20-pitch route that would take 10 days to complete was not really what I wanted to do for a first big wall. I was starting to feel overwhelmed and very anxious to the point where I could not even sleep. Kate and I talked it over and decided that yeah, we should've gone with our original plan and climb a 3-day wall so I would have a good intro to it before committing to such a big climb. I made the decision (and believe me, this was not easy) to let her and Pete climb and I would stay behind. So, my dream to climb a big wall is still not happening...yet! We will climb Washington's Column (our original plan) in the spring to give me a better foundation before climbing something more serious on El Cap.
Now back to the story...we then went up to the base of the climb yesterday, now armed with Kate's dry sleeping bag, and sorted my gear out so I could carry it down (yes, this is the "walk of shame"). We finished that and then waited...and waited...and waited...and waited for Pete and David to do whatever it was they were doing up the second pitch (they were bivvied there) so Kate could head up. It was decided that David would fix the third pitch. David is a brand-new aid climber and we knew this could take a while. It was now past 4, so we once again called it and headed home.
I drove Kate in this morning and we once again walked up to the base of the climb. We were happy to see that the third pitch was indeed fixed. At this point, we felt it was necessary to get David out so that Kate could head up. After we did a remote simul-haul to get Kate's pigs up to the second pitch, David rappelled down and Kate jumared up. She and Kate were going to haul the pigs up to the third pitch and bivy up there tonight.
I had mixed emotions as I walked off today. I was sad that I was not doing the climb, but at the same time, relieved as it was a bit more than I was ready for. I know that technically, I am ready; but 10 days is a too much for a first big wall. I know that the El Cap is not going anywhere and that what's best for me is to start smaller. Also, due to the delays, it was going to be pushing it for me to get down to Joshua Tree to start my new job on time.
So, Kate's up there and she is going to kick some ass!
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