"Jello" and I desperately wanted to sleep in after the day before, but there's always one thing that keeps me from sleeping in while camping: the fucking sunlight! Well, that and the constant howls of coyotes off in the distance (at least I hope they were off in the distance). We were both up at about 7am, and we took our time eating pancakes and doughnuts left over from the day before. We both had a message from "Elegance" that said she was going to meet us in the parking lot at 930am, and that made us breathe a little easier. That gave us time to re-rack our gear, wake up, and convinced ourselves that if we brushed our teeth then we probably wouldn't stink the place up (I think we were wrong about that).
After breakfast, we headed to the Parking Lot Wall and did a 5.8 that I can't remember the name of (it's in the corner to the left of the easy 5.2 near the top of the path). We then met "Elegance" a bit later and three of her friends (two of whom we did not get introduced to and the other's name I forget). She came over to give me a hug but backed off when I told her I hadn't showered in days. She wrinkled her nose and stayed a good four feet away (Oh well. That's what separates the women from the girls. The women don't care. The girls still do - btw, keep reading for my own "men and boys" example below). The four of us headed to New Wave where "Jello" and I did Son of Sammy (5.8) and Couch Potato (5.9). "Elegance" and her friends did Debbie Does CPR (5.11), which has a really cool double-leg jam into a horizontal crack before a stiff mantle to the anchors. I was reminded that I was there a few months before with "Gammy", "Gammy GF" and "Chuck" and had done all the routes then, too. I shrugged. I was bored, and wanted to leave. I wanted to do Hammond Organ (5.10d) at Jimmy Cliff, but on the way down from New Wave I realized that my knee was really hurting me when I stepped downward. We decided that it was best to head to Main instead because the hike down from Main would be far less severe than Jimmy Cliff. "Jello"'s ankle was also bothering him. It's funny how carrying weight on one's back for hours on end will affect one's legs. *shrugs*
Once at Main, we hit Underdog (5.10a). I led it, but hung searching for the blind holds. "Jello" was too tired to lead anything, and so he toproped it. When he came down, I went back up for the redpoint and got it. This is a great climb that weaves and bobs through a couple of V-notches and over a couple of mini-roof sections. I highly recommend it.
After nailing that route, we were done. We headed back down to the Baker River and stripped down to our boxers for a quick swim. The water was damn cold, but I jumped in twice because it felt so nice to be both somewhat clean and cool (it was rather warm on Main Cliff). I then sat out on a rock to dry off while "Jello" took off his boxers to wring them out. That's right. He stood on top of the tallest boulder in the river, buck naked, and wrung his boxers out. It was not a sight to behold, but hey, that's what separates the men from the boys. The men can handle it, and I can't.
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