You know how these things get started?

A glimmer of a thought, that doesn't go away, becoming a nagging elephant which lumbers around, until finally you won't get much else done until you take that sucker out climbing.

Well, it was something like that that brought us to the lodge parking lot to rack up.

Getting 70 lb. packs up Sunnyside regular route was not super fun, but we got warmed up, & made it to sunnyside bench.

The efforts continued up slabs and sandy slopes, with some leap-frogging of loads.

By the time we got to the base and collected water it wasn't worth fixing the starting pitches, so we put in our earplugs and settled for the night.

Sunday morning, now, the first two pitches linked nicely, and we were off.

The elephant trumpeted in delight, as the scenery was as great as expected.

There's some physical offwidth, and I was fortunate to miss out leading the worst section. I heard that there were some puckering moments.

But no pants were soiled, and we moved up in good spirits.

While the days are long, our modest skills found us pushing on into the night.

Sometimes, one good bolt and some junk will do OK

The night-time scene:

The spacious ledge at pitch 8 was guarded by more of that foul off-width, so we bivyed at the top of pitch 7 in a slot with a tree. While protected from the wind, this was NOT comfortable.

But there wasn't that much night left, and we got back to it..

The second error.

The falls is a big part of the experience.
This is where a video is supposed to go showing the falls with the thundering sound, but I think it's too big to upload. Imagine standing in a subway tunnel for a long time, listening to an endless train.

As far as the actual climbing goes, there's some bat-hooking, a few thin spots (flexing fixed rurps!), some rivets, and the afore-mentioned curse-inducing offwidths. The #6. #5, and 2 #4s were thankfully employed. Offset aliens were likewise appreciated.

By not too long after dark, we got to the top of pitch 12, just below the notch. this pitch was tamed by some little fixed heads, and ends at a sweet sandy bivy ledge.

Since the days agenda was basically just climbing the spire, we had a leisurely breakfast., and enjoyed the view.

Me and Clarence- the happy campers.

Alright, you're probably getting bored, so I'll pick it up... but hang in there, there's a cool part at the end.

Shots from the tip:

If you're really lucky, you have a friend like this, who brings ropes up for you, doesn't even climb the tip because it's crowded, but hangs out and helps carry stuff down. What a great guy!

OK, now the bonus cool part- slack-liners!
Well, I got some great video footage, but it also seems to be too big. Maybe I can get it up on u-tube. In the mean-time use your imagination... quiet, except for a little wind, concentration, the line slapping, perfect afternoon light, and every movement cast in shadow on the far wall. Wow.

Looking down to the notch from the middle of the line.

So we got that elephant settled down, I guess we'll see what comes up down the road....