Trip Report
A little Fingertrip for Patty
Tuesday June 9, 2015 2:55pm
I've found myself procrastinating on producing this TR for the last day or so. Partly this is because I haven't produced a TR yet. But I do want to give back to the group of people who post up on this site and have insired me to get out there and just get on it. So here goes.....First, some background.

I've been hoping to get Patty out to the Idyllwild area since I first started going up there to climb a year ago. See, we haven't been climbing too long, and I've not been leading too long either. So Patty's been a little hesitant to go out with me. But as neither of us died in Vedauwoo last August, nor in New Hampshire in October, I was hopefull for getting her out on a real multipitch. In fact, we ended up our stay in NH hitting Clippity-do-da (5.4) in Rumney and runnng laps on it just to get her comfortable with the mechanics of doing multipitch with me. I felt lucky to have accomplished that much. Boarding the plane she told me emphatically, "no multipitch". That ment NO Whithorse Ledges slab; I was kinda bummed with that and had even purchased pink and black tricams for the place. Anyway, as was noted on the "Will my wife kill me?" thread, climbing with chicks can be fun except when they get mad at you, and that happens a lot. Patty got pissed at me finding Clippity, and got pissed at me finding the way back down. But then!! She actually said thanks for getting her to do it. Made my day and gave me hope. Hopefully not false hope.

Again, in March of this year, I finally got her on 2 J-tree multipitch routes. Patty cruised Walk on the Wild Side and had a blast as we did it in 2 pitches. Next day we got on Dappled Mare with some friends, and viola, she had enjoyed her first gear multipitch. The stage was set to get her out to Tahquitz, if only the family and weather would cooperate.

Now I realize climbing with your woman can be trouble. Warbler said on the "Will my wife kill me?" thread

When are you guys gonna learn?

Climbing's way more fun and you get a lot more done with the boys.

Like with everything, climbing with a woman is more complicated.

I prefer to rise to the challenge the rock presents, rather than the challenges of climbing with a woman.

It takes a "special" guy to deal with feminine traits while climbing, I guess. They're nice to look at from a safe distance whilst climbing, I'll admit, but every time I've roped up with one I've encountered problems I never deal with with a guy.


"Why did you bring me on this route, it's too easy"

"I have to pee"

"Why did you bring me on this route, it's too hard (while crying)"

"I'm freezing"

"I have to pee"

" I can't do this ! (while crying)"

"I wanna go down! (Crying)"

"It's getting dark!"

"This pack is soooo heavy"

"I can't eat that"

"I can't eat that either"

"Ewww! Groooose!"

"We need to go"

"When my friends and I go climbing and it gets cold, we just LEAVE! "


And then there's just inexplicable generic crying.

One reason I did not respond to this post was because portions struck too close to home. And there is the one Warbler forgot; "You are trying to kill me so you can replace me with a younger woman!!" Yikes! And we weren't even climbing yet.

But there are benifits too. With Patty, I am the rope gun (not a very confident one I'll grant you). And one of W.L.'s key points to climbing stronger is to BE the rope gun. But at the same time, nothing really wrong can happen. So I picked Fingertrip. A climb I can do massively hung over.


The Day of Days; June 7, 2015

I made sure we were all packed up the night before. We got on the road at 5:30am, and arrived at 7:30am so's we could beat the crowds to the base of the climb. Now the previous weekend, both of us had already been up there. I had a full weekend planned; Fingertrip with the wife on Saturday, and Whodunit on Sunday with the boys. Didn't work out quite like I planned. I got smart on Saturday and Patty and I just hiked up to the base of a number of the Tahquitz climbs to see how she would do and then got something to eat in town. "Wasn't as bad as I thought", was the verdict. See, we had to leave by 1pm, so.....anyway, everything worked out well. Then Sunday, well it dragged on into Monday and watching the copter flying over us as we hiked out. That's another story though, and I was worried that she would not want to go do Fingertrip. But thankfully I was wrong.

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the 40 min hike up
the 40 min hike up
Credit: skcreidc
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We get to the base of Fingertrip and I start to get organized while Patty increases her strength to weight ratio. I've been lucky enough to watch a few good climbers go at it in person. But when I watched Donini climb some crack at the Creek, it finally clicked. These people look smooth because they are not rushing it. They are smooth and deliberate in their movements. This, along with keeping the gear to a minimum, not placing gear that is hard to retreive, and protecting the traverse's were all on my mind as I roped in and took off. Really, these thoughts were a landmark moment for me. So I get up about 30 feet where the climb really starts and Patty says, "I have to go to the bathroom again. Can you wait there?"

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You at a good spot?
You at a good spot?
Credit: skcreidc
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Well, I'm good so I hang out for a minute or 2 and take a couple pictures.

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Suicide through the Sugar Pines.
Suicide through the Sugar Pines.
Credit: skcreidc
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Took my time up the first pitch to warm up. Always slow to get moving in the morning and the first pitch is my constutional so to speak. Got up the the handcrack/lieback crack split, put in a couple cams, then slid over to work my way up to the tree belay. Patty did well on the first pitch, with the exception of a stuck cam (my fault) that she had to work on for 5 min. I told her to leave it and one of the following parties recovered it and gave it back to us at the Tree belay.

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Just under the first belay.
Just under the first belay.
Credit: skcreidc
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Second pitch went easier for everyone; No stuck gear.

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Exiting the traverse on the second pitch.
Exiting the traverse on the second pitch.
Credit: skcreidc
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Third pitch; No photos. Ended up doing a short pitch and belaying Patty from the first tree after the crux. From a semi hanging belay, you follow an arch left till it runs out into a weakness, then go straight up and over. There are lots of good feet here, and I actually used them this time putting very little stress on my fingers on the undercling. I also made a point of spreading gear out to protect Patty on her follow. Once I got Patty up to my belay, I 3rd classed it up to Lunch Ledge and belayed Patty up. From here it is one more pitch and we decide to go the friction route up as it has this cool seam you walk up to a stunted tree, hang a right and friction your way to the top.

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Patty coming up the final slab to finish the route.
Patty coming up the final slab to finish the route.
Credit: skcreidc
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I really do love this place, and this day Patty loved it too. Fingertrip, 5.7, Tahquitz

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Credit: skcreidc
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Thinking about am I better off hanging out at ST? Well, Patty and I both are. The people we've met, the help we've gotten, and the friends we've made and reconnected with.... can't thing of a reason why we are not better off. I just hope I can keep this stoke going with her, and get her on the Chauvinist over the next month!!

Sorry about the babbling....I'll get more pics and less babble in next time.



  Trip Report Views: 3,079
skcreidc
About the Author
skcreidc is an antisocial climber from SD, CA.

Comments
donini

Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
  Jun 9, 2015 - 03:30pm PT
Fun tr!
Enjoyed hanging out with you guys in the Creek....let's do it again!
phylp

Trad climber
Upland, CA
  Jun 9, 2015 - 04:17pm PT
Keep on having fun!
Fritz

Social climber
Choss Creek, ID
  Jun 9, 2015 - 04:23pm PT
Fun report! Thanks for sharing it!
BLUEBLOCR

Social climber
joshua tree
  Jun 10, 2015 - 12:28am PT
Nice writing!

i usually treat'm as if i were guiding'em, Girls that is ; ) Unless ofcourse there might be a little chance for some romance at the top. But that's a different forum.lol Fingertip was the first Rte. i did with my daughters mom. i hold a warm spot in my heart for that summit. The climbing, i don't remember so much..

Great job at keeping that lovely lady smiling the whole way. You at least earned your guiding wings :^D
anita514

Gym climber
Great White North
  Jun 9, 2015 - 04:40pm PT
Good jerb, dude!
JEleazarian

Trad climber
Fresno CA
  Jun 9, 2015 - 05:12pm PT
Excellent! I hope you hang out here more.

John
Jaybro

Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
  Jun 9, 2015 - 05:25pm PT
Nice work! Keep the stoke going for Vedauwoo!
MH2

Boulder climber
Andy Cairns
  Jun 9, 2015 - 06:10pm PT
Good babbling.
Gnome Ofthe Diabase

climber
Out Of Bed
  Jun 9, 2015 - 06:30pm PT
shweet
drljefe

climber
El Presidio San Augustin del Tucson
  Jun 9, 2015 - 06:34pm PT
It's a great route.
Thanks for the write up!
Big Mike

Trad climber
BC
  Jun 9, 2015 - 11:27pm PT
Nice work Chris and Patty! Looks fun!
GDavis

Social climber
SOL CAL
  Jun 9, 2015 - 11:29pm PT
great TR!
Ezra Ellis

Trad climber
North wet, and Da souf
  Jun 10, 2015 - 04:04am PT
Way to get after it, brings me back 15 years!
skcreidc

Social climber
SD, CA
Author's Reply  Jun 10, 2015 - 08:34am PT
Dave; Thanks Dave! Hopefully i can talk you into getting out there with me one of these days.

Donini; You bet we are out to IC the next opportunity! October!!

Burch; Thanks Dad;) Woodson Wednesday!

Phylp; Thanks. Still need to get out with you.

Andrzej; Thanks! Patty says Hi back.

Fritz; Glad you enjoyed it. I loved your story about the crystal pocket.

Blueblocr ; Thanks! I actually made a point to think about guiding her lol. No bad days on the rock with Patty.

Anita; Thanks! Stoked to see the "new" leg is working out for you.

Jaybro; You bet. We are heading out Vedauwoo this year too!
skcreidc

Social climber
SD, CA
Author's Reply  Jun 10, 2015 - 08:41am PT
Drljefe. One of these days we got to meet up. By the end of this summer I'm hoping to have some minor climbing skills developed. So maybe fall, winter, or Spring?

Big Mike!!! glad you liked it. Looking to get up to your area one of these days. Maybe I can talk Eeyonkee into getting up there with me after I learn to climb. That might even be a functional plan....
skcreidc

Social climber
SD, CA
Author's Reply  Jun 10, 2015 - 08:52am PT
Thanks to the rest of you too. Stoked you enjoyed the report. Work calls......keeps getting in the way of real life it does.

One thing I will add real quick. I've talked to Patty about this, and my plan is to get her up to Tahquitz at least twice a month and more if possible. Now she has said nothing harder than 5.7 for now, so my multipitch list to work off of is

Fingertip Traverse (I've never done)
White Maiden's Walkaway
Angel's Fright (I've not done)
Jensen's Jaunt
Left Ski Track(I've not done)
Northeast Face West (For some reason I liked this one a lot)
El Whampo

If anyone has any other suggestions in the easy range, please feel free to put them out here.
darkmagus

climber
San Diego, CA
  Jun 10, 2015 - 12:14pm PT
Nice work!! Good to see lots of smiling in the pics!!
Vitaliy M.

Mountain climber
San Francisco
  Jun 10, 2015 - 01:57pm PT
Nice one :)
drljefe

climber
El Presidio San Augustin del Tucson
  Jun 10, 2015 - 02:07pm PT
A little Fingertrip for Patty

Kinda sounds like a soft corn movie. :-)
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
  Jun 10, 2015 - 03:31pm PT
The problem, as I see it, climbing with YOUR woman is just THAT: There is a bond. It needs to be a strong one. Your bond sounds like it's a strong one, mainly because Patty is obviously a good sport, given some of your comments about climbing with women in general.

One thing which I found to benefit the situations that arise on a "mixed climb," specially when there is one of those periodic "mass attacks," involving several women and men, is that the guys can be entertained and share that with one another via eyebrow-raising, silent smirks, and slow head shakes with eyes closed.

Then, too, always choose a climb where there is abundant room on ledges for them to roam around on and pose dramatically with the view in the background. This last always was a big deal with my former in-laws.

I'd just like to toss in that way back when, we did no "multi-pitch climbs." A climb was a climb. This is pretty much a term come about by the proliferation on gym climbers and I'd appreciate everyone's not using it on The Flames, as it's meaningless to me. Thank you.

You both have classic smiles. I blame the classic climb.
Big Mike

Trad climber
BC
  Jun 10, 2015 - 04:04pm PT
Chris: I look forward to that day. Please do bring Grug,you gents would be quite welcome here and maybe we could even put a little happy hour together if you give me a litte notice. ;)

When you guys finish your ticklist, bring her to the valley and do regular route on sunnyside bench.

Stunning views

Fun climbing (this is the 5.7 option. Sandra didn't like the runout dyke move.)

And an epic descent which is simply the best scrambling training terrain i've ever come across.


After Sunnyside, every scramble now is casual. Lol! ;)

Pm me for descent beta.
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
  Jun 10, 2015 - 04:19pm PT
C'mon Big Mike, it's easy-peasy and you can't get lost and it's fast.

I'm dead-pan serious. I don't recall ever feeling in the least bit intimidated by that descent, a classic blend of walk in the park and botany path.

It's even better with swarming midges!

And more heat by far than you guys experienced!
skcreidc

Social climber
SD, CA
Author's Reply  Jun 11, 2015 - 07:33am PT
The problem, as I see it, climbing with YOUR woman is just THAT: There is a bond. It needs to be a strong one. Your bond sounds like it's a strong one, mainly because Patty is obviously a good sport, given some of your comments about climbing with women in general.

Mouse. I am kind of exaggerating everything except two things. The going to the bathroom thing, and she will not be happy climbing when it's too cold (or too hot). Even Gurg said she was game at Indian Creek. I really have enjoyed climbing with her and hope to continue for many years. She will not backpack with me, so the approaches need to be reasonable. But she says she really enjoys car camping and climbing. But I do have things I would like to get on that she has no interest in doing.

There are plenty of times where Patty goes for it and I don't. Pretty damn good who was "not athletic" in her youth. I'm still way too paranoid of my shoulders but slowly working on it.



I'd just like to toss in that way back when, we did no "multi-pitch climbs." A climb was a climb. This is pretty much a term come about by the proliferation on gym climbers and I'd appreciate everyone's not using it on The Flames, as it's meaningless to me. Thank you.

Yea. I know what you mean. It was very confusing to me at first. Looks like the lumpers lost and the splitters won. It takes me a pitch to warm up and get into the groove so I prefer longer routes I guess. My mind prefers it at least.


Mike, I am really looking forward to that week plus (not going to Squamish for a couple days only that's for sure!). As far as decents, you haven't been to Tahquitz so you havn't been on the friction descent. I think that was harder on Patty than the climb itself. It's all part of the experience though, I would just hate to do it in the rain lol!
Big Mike

Trad climber
BC
  Jun 11, 2015 - 06:45pm PT
I'm dead-pan serious. I don't recall ever feeling in the least bit intimidated by that descent, a classic blend of walk in the park and botany path.

Mouse- My friend. Did you happen to climb Sunnyside during a record drought? The dirt was finer than sand when we did it. Sloughing away from under our feet, each step sliding at least twelve inches before the powder consolidated enough to hold our weight. All above a 300m+ drop off onto open slabs. All this with spots where a fall would certainly be death.

I would think that if the path were a little moister and more consolidated it could seem a lot more secure.

Chris- i like FRICTION descents, better than sliding ones. Lol
SC seagoat

Trad climber
Santa Cruz, Moab, Bozeman, the ocean, or ?
  Jun 11, 2015 - 12:19pm PT
I LOVE Patty. I love you, too. So much fun to meet you at Indian Creek.
Your adventure was so full of fun! Envious. Hope to cross paths with you guys again soon.

Susan and Michael (Ferretlegger)
L

climber
Just livin' the dream
  Jun 11, 2015 - 06:03pm PT
Awesome! Glad you waited for the good weather! :-)
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
  Jun 1, 2017 - 09:46am PT
T.R. Bump's pick of the week.
Matt Sarad

climber
  Jun 1, 2017 - 09:55am PT
My first day there I climbed Fingertrip and Left Ski Track. Long time ago, but major fun.
eeyonkee

Trad climber
Golden, CO
  Jun 1, 2017 - 12:39pm PT
Good to see your faces on a T.R. Tahquitz is such a great place to climb.
skcreidc

Social climber
SD, CA
Author's Reply  Jun 1, 2017 - 01:13pm PT
Can't wait to get back there Greg. Soon!

And Mouse. I tease about Patty, but climbing with her has been extra special. We are not finished with multipitch yet. Definitely it's strengthened our bond.
Friend

climber
  Jun 1, 2017 - 01:40pm PT
Cool! I missed this the first time. A fun blast to the not-so-distant past. Keep smiling P & C!
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