Beacon: No-lights, moonlit run up YW...?

[JosephH]

Yeah, I do bring a headlamp to use for about 10 seconds on p2 and another on p3, but otherwise the thing is lit up like high noon once your eyes are adjusted. Missed the last one, would like to catch this one. Anyone game...?

 

[kevbone]

Just got back from Beacon. Did young warriors. What an amazing climb!

[letsroll]

damn wish I saw this earlier. damn, damn, damnnnnnn, daaaaaammmmmnnnnnn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

You find anybody?

[JosephH]

Geoff was up for it Friday, but I wouldn't mind a lap on it Thursday night either. Gotta see how the cloud vs. clear thing is as well as it may have just been shot to hell; but that would just mean we'd have to use the headlamps more...

 

pm me...

[dan_forester]

go do it Will - you'd like that climb I bet

[billcoe]

Dark and wet, like you like your women!

[LostCamKenny]

Beacon at night just isn't the same as it is during the day. I thought it would be really super exciting, but it was kinda mellow. During the daylight you can see your exposure and position, making for some exciting moves (if you haven't done the route over and over again). I thought that climbing under a shroud of darkness would add an extra element of excitement, but it didn't. In fact, since I couldn't see straight down the SE face when I came off the slab the move was much less satisfying. I'm sure that YW would yield a similar experience under these conditions - of course I have no intention of climbing again until friday afternoon so I don't even know why I'm posting on this thread, except that it said "beacon."

 

But don't let me be a downer - its still really fun! Someone should go with him - of course Joe will do it even if no one else goes...

[ivan]

Dark and wet, like you like your women!

and like them, best done drunk

[LostCamKenny]

Dark and wet, like you like your women!

and like them, best done drunk

...and stoned!

[JosephH]

It's not a new climb, it's just a context change and one that brings out how well you really know the climb or not into sharp focus.

 

Women? Night, day, dusky...it's all good.

[JosephH]

Heading out ther now...

[JosephH]

Dods and Menopause down. The sun and the moon dance together for a moment while Young Warriors rest in the shadows.

[JosephH]

What a day and night! It was perfect out there in every respect. good temp, no wind, hardly anyone there - perfect. Got on rock a bit after 4pm and got in 18 pitches by midnight with an unexpected hour and a half break from 8:30-10. Got in Free For All and Dods to Big Ledge where I hooked up with Bryan and Zack. On rapping back down, Bryan and I then did a quick run up to the high anchor on Menopause. After that, those guys had to split so we head for the cars and I started leisurely cleaning up the back of my car and racking for YW when an ugly domestic scene begins to unfold.

 

I was just re-racking gear for YW when this tall, young brunette appears out of nowhere crying hysterically and asks to use my cell. As she's talking on it a car pulls up on the other side of the bathrooms and a guy starts yelling her name. She hands the phone back to me and goes over to the car where a lot of loud talking and shuffling in and out of the car commences. I couldn't make out what was being said or exactly what was happening, all I know is it was going on for way too long when Vivian rolls up and is on them and a few minutes later two sherrif cars pull in to back her up.

 

I keep sorting out my gear and get ready to head down the trail when Vivian comes over and wants to know what I saw and heard. A few minutes later one of the deputies does the same asking if I saw the guy hitting her and the next thing you know I'm writing out a witness statement. By this point it's going on 10pm and I'm thinking the vibe is blown and I should just bag it, but end up heading down to YW anyway after letting Rhoda know I was going to be home later than expected.

 

By the time I make it down the trail and start YW the moon is already pretty high up and coursing to the west and this turns out to be a good thing. All the previous times I've done full moon romps on YW I've started about 8pm and, I guess because the moon is still coming up and the angle of the shadows isn't quite right, I've had to use my headlamp for a moment at the p2 crux and twice on the first half of p3. Last night however I never needed it at all and in fact stowed it and my helmet at the bottom of the pack under the rope along with my shirt - it was warm and way lit up! Turns out a later 10pm start is really the way to go.

 

And while I have to agree with Ivan that climbing in real darkness with a headlamp is pretty tedious, that's not at all the scene climbing sans headlamp in the bright light of a full moon under clear skies. The whole Gorge is lit up in a B&W only punctuated with a smattering of color from the red lights on the towers down by the dam and the beams of passing locomotives. It's a wild landscape that looks exactly like the 'night' scenes in the old B&W cowboy movies of my childhood where you can see from the horses shadows that it was really filmed in broad daylight with some sort of dark filter. That and you still get the full affects of exposure while climbing.

 

And even though I'd done seven pitches earlier, getting started roped soloing under those conditions and after coming down the trail under a headlamp set on its dimmest setting, it takes a few minutes to adjust to things and getting to that first pin on YW makes for some nervous climbing. After that though, it all kicks back in over the course of running the first two pitches together on up to the p2 anchor and by the time I'm passing the p1 anchor cleaning the pitches it's all settled down into a surreal casual.

 

The rest of the climb is just fabulous and with no one about I could clean all the irritating rocks that have been accumulating on the third pitch. About the only thing I really had to be careful of was making sure I landed every handhold lightly as the tree frogs are really out of their nooks at night and you have to be careful of the little guys or you'll end up with a real messy and startling grip. On getting to the rest just above the first bolt on p4 I looked back over my right shoulder and was greeted with a stunning view of the 'Lost Variation'. The striking interplay of light and shadow made everything on it stand out in 3D with the richness of a classic Ansel Adams photo. I ended up spending quite a bit of time just standing there taking that in and enjoying the vistas across and down the river as well.

 

I ran p4 out on up the full 60 meters to notch where it meets with the SE Face route at the base of the corner ramp and on arriving back at the notch after cleaning the pitches I began to hear the wierdest train sounds. Sure enough, moments later a train comes into sight from the west, but it's not your average train. This one is a slow conga line of track grinding cars each spraying giant jets of sparks straight out perpindicular from the train. At each end of the train is a locomotive and two water tank cars; each locomotive, front and back, is spraying massive jets of water into the woods alongside the tracks on both sides to keep the sparks from setting fires. From the top of YW this gave the train the appear of a loud, bright, orange fireworks version of hairy catapiller crawling down the tracks. All in all it was a pretty transfixing sight to watch while I cleaned and stowed the rope and gear for the solo up and off the corner ramp. It faded crawling to the east, but as I turned to head up the ramp the sound of it started to grow louder again. Sure enough, it had stopped and was coming back by Beacon for another pass over the tracks which it did two more times filling the air with the smell of the acrid smoke of steel grinding.

 

Another advantage of the late start is that just before midnight the moon had crossed to the west enough to then really light up the tourist trail well enough so that I could do my usual run down, this time completely unimpeded by tourists. When I stowed my gear back up at the Corner ramp notch I had dug out my handlamp and put in my pocket and I now had to use it, again on its dimmest setting, once I cleared the gate and got back down into the woods.

 

Beautiful night, just can't recommend the sans headlamp YW experience enough and overall another amazing day out at Beacon. We're blessed.

[billcoe]

NOW THIS!!!!!!! IS WHAT I CALL A TRIP REPORT !!

 

If we were able to be rating stories, this would be maxed out on top in my view. Great visualizations even though there were no pictures.

 

Thanks for sharing.

[denalidave]

NICE!

[ivan]

was that friday night? did yw w/ kenny and company - we sat at the top for a goodlong while after dark - seemed like the rain was gonna be coming any minute

[JosephH]

It was Thursday night, trying to get in some pitches before the rain. Yesterday was raining on and off here in town, glad you snuck it in before the weather hit.

[ivan]

kenny told me folks have been linking p1&2 and i did that y-day for the first time and boy did i fuck it up - felt like i was pulling a dead elephant up w/ me on the crux moves - whimpered like a stupid puppy! i put a long runner on the anchor at the top of p1 and clipped the second bolt past that - what do you do to keep that from sucking?

[JosephH]

I only link them when I'm rope-soloing because I'm feeding the rope out of my backpack so there is no drag. I don't run them together when I'm with a partner.

[Plaidman]

NOW THIS!!!!!!! IS WHAT I CALL A TRIP REPORT !!

 

If we were able to be rating stories, this would be maxed out on top in my view. Great visualizations even though there were no pictures.

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

I would have to agree. Nice trip report. I could almost see myself there. Damn I missed a good one. Would have loved to have seen the train. Great description and visuals. Several thumbs up. Sorry I only have two. And one of them is a little short.

[Joe_Poulton]

Great writing....er an article with a deserved quality for a magazine...just need to get Ansel Adams to come back and take a photo of the Gorge to augment the writing...though I can already see it.