Lost World, Sonora Pass Highway, 8/24/02
with Greg B.

I was prepared for a lonely day at the Second Quarry Crag or some other more modest destination but Greg became available, and, after picking him up at his place in Sonora, we went back to the Lost World. Hiking in, we encountered the now-standard sight of Tom Addison hanging on a rope, scrubbing still another new route possibility. We donned tape gloves in preparation for a day of crack climbing. We warmed up by splitting the first pitch of Timeless (100') into two half pitches and trading leads. The wider sections are easily avoided by liebacking and stemming - mostly 5.7 with perhaps a short section of 5.8 or 5.9 near the ground. The second pitch of Timeless (10d and *** in the guide) is an awesome 6" crack in a vertical corner. We figured 2 x #4.5 and 1 x #5 camalots might be a minimum rack for this pitch. Some other time.

The crack climbing on the "Cold Joint" sector of the Lost World might not please everyone. The rock is steep (overhanging!), forbiddingly dark in color, and a little coarse. But the generally featured nature of the rock makes the routes go at an easier grade than one might think at first glance. I shouldered the "war rack" and headed up 5N06 (10c, 130', *). When it comes to granite crack climbing, there appear to be two kinds of 5.10c - this route is the hard kind, like the Waverly Wafer. Initially, I was not very happy climbing 30' off the deck with no pro on spooky 5.8 - apparently I missed some protection opportunities in a crack off to the left. A few solid pieces placed at a stance under a small roof quelled my fears. The liebacking moves above this feature felt pretty wild. A long and grueling section of hand-sized crack follows. I moved slowly through this section, resting frequently from hand jams. The last 40' is somewhat tamer. Greg followed without incident. A fine and challenging route in my opinion. Greg headed up a route with a long name - Warrior Horseman of the Spirit Thundering over Hills of Doubt to a Place of Hope (11a, 80', **). This one has a bolt to protect a reachy face move that gains a long and overhanging lieback flake with a stance at mid-height. Greg led it in an impressive effort - he said he felt like he might fall off at any time! I managed to follow, but it felt hard. Maybe like a cross between Coarse and Buggy and Black Angel. High quality in any case. Greg declared himself cooked at this point. I was pretty blown as well - my forearms were cramping at random intervals - but I figured that the Peaceful Warrior corner (10d, 80', ***) required mostly pushing at the crux so I headed up anyway. With a recent TR ascent, no mysteries up there. Problem was that I pushed just a little too hard and tweaked my left shoulder on the first stemming crux. I carried on in pain to the belay. First my back and now this - this climb seems just destined to cause me injury. Plenty of light this time on the hike out - I even made it home for dinner.

P.S. After discussions with Dave Altman, I diagnosed my injury as a shoulder subluxation (partial dislocation). It seems to be healing ok.