Left the mountains and met Sid in Winthrop where he showed me some obscure crags around that end of the Methow. A couple sport pitches, but mainly excellent bullshitting.
Slept in the car at Early Winters Campground and met Sid again the next morning for a jaunt up Kangaroo. An excellent car to car loop, back in the flipflops by 1045, when Diamond and Liz drove past, headed to Mazama.
Down the hill again, snacks at Mazama store, and cragging in town. Fun at Fun Wall, hot as shit. A few easy pitches before it was time to soak the dogs in the river and get to work on a case of beer. A few more pitches once it cooled, and when cragside etiquete began to become unreasonable, we headed to Winthrop for a pizza, sitting outside in shorts, marveling at the concept of summer.
Medium-early start the next day with Diamond for a scenic cruise up Spontaneity Arete (8 pitches, 300m, 3rd class to 5.7) on the Petit Cheval (S side of highway, 3 miles E of Washington Pass). A 70m 9.9mm and a ski backpack was the wrong kit, and the beautiful-looking descent gully was laughing at us for not bringing skis as we downclimbed and rappelled hundreds of feet of ridge. Nonetheless it was an excellent outing to get the gears tuned up for climbing lots, fast, soon.
Back in Seattle, the clouds have returned, drawing the curtain on what was an incredibly good run of stable weather in the region.
Pete up the up above Lake Ann.
Steep and destroy.
A photo offering no clue as to the snow conditions on Kangaroo.
You can see it in his face: Seasonally Affected Radness Disorder.
This episode brought to you by the Ford Motor Company.
