West Face of Upper Mount Scott

Cindy McCloskey, Stephen Tremaine, and myself drove to Upper Mount Scott in search of Dream Boat Annie, a 25 foot wall consisting of 3 crack climbs.  We searched much of the west face of Upper Mount Scott but could never find the wall.  As a consolation prize, we climbed another wall that consisted of 3 cracks ranging from 5.6 to 5.9...I've named the wall So Much For Dream Boat Annie.  These climbs were a lot of fun, especially the last 5.6 route, which involved a mixture of face climbing in addition to crack climbing.  After climbing these routes, we searched the west face a little more, never finding Dream Boat Annie, but eventually locating an overhanging crack that I would rate in the 5.10 to 5.12 range.  This last climb thoroughly exhausted all of us, maximizing hunger, and preparing us all for a feast at Meers.

5.6 crack climb.

5.9'ish crack climb.

Fun 5.6 climb consisting of face and crack climbing.

Overhanging 5.10-5.12 crack climb.

Beautiful sunny, mild, light breeze kind of November day in the Wichita Mountains.

TWISTEX Memorial

The following pictures were taken south of El Reno, OK, a hundred or so yards east of the intersection of Reuters and Radio Road.  The TWISTEX memorial (which gives tribute to Tim Samaras, Carl Young, and Paul Samaras, who were killed on May 31st, 2013 by a large violent tornado) sits quietly on the side of a gravel road surrounded by expansive plains and big sky.

Crank Boulder

Stephen Tremaine, Ethan Hulme, and myself climbed a 40 foot wall called Crank Boulder in Charon's Garden during the first week of November.  Despite cool Fall weather, the west facing wall warmed up quickly once clouds cleared out.  We first climbed a 5.7 crack route called The Water Faucet.  As the name implied, this crack was wet...very wet, and slimey, and the climbing wasn't much fun.  Next, we climbed a crack located to the right called Strappado.  This 5.8+ route was a lot of fun, with the crux located at the top of the crack where the wall bulges outwards a bit.  Once past the crux, the route eases back to class 4 or easy class 5 climbing.  Ethan and Stephen then worked on a 5.9 route called Bodacious, which has a hellacious start (possibly the crux) that quickly eases back to crack climbing.  I skipped this route, and instead did Nowhere (5.10+), which starts out as a 20 foot crack climb that then fades to face climbing during the last 10 feet to the finish.  I was stumped once I reached the face climb section, while Ethan seemingly cruised to the top.

Ethan nearing the top of The Water Faucet (5.7).

Beginning moves on Strappado (5.8+).

Middle section of Bodacious (5.9).

Beginning of Bodacious (5.9).

Nearing the top of Bodacious (5.9).

Face climbing on Nowhere (5.10+)