Washington

Some more back blogging, this time from Washington.  After getting rained out in Squamish, I bailed to Leavenworth for a couple of weeks in October.

Rob Guinn flashing Pimpsqueak v9.
Maybe the best problem in Leavenworth.

Rob and I also spent a day in Gold Bar.  It was cool to see the area and climb a few problems.  The rock quality in Gold Bar was very good, just like I had been told.  The rock and the setting, specially in the forest, reminded me quite a lot of Squamish.  Will be nice to get back there and also check out Index.

The moss covered forest of Gold Bar, WA.
Karma is probably thinking, "why am I suppose to stand on this log?"

On my last day in Leavenworth I managed to do the first ascent of a project on the backside of the shield boulder in lower forestland.  Autopilot starts on Cruise Control, and climbs up and left across the face.  I think its around v11, but I'm never very sure about grades.  Perhaps it is more difficult.

Sam Johnson put together a nice video over at Koan Bouldering

Autopilot FA from Sam Johnson on Vimeo.

I also made a quick stop at an area called Tum Tum.  Named after the nearby city, Tum Tum is a small area close to Spokane.  The rock there is ok, and there are some cool problems.  It's not a destination, but if your around Spokane and want to do a little bouldering, check it out!

Here is a photo of a fun new problem I did in Tum Tum.  I'm calling Rule of Thumb, in reference to a key thumb catch (kind of a week connection but whatever).  It's probably around v10.

Rule of Thumb v10, TumTum, WA.
Photo Jon Eastman

Now I'm back in Colorado for a month of work.  Then back west!