Exit 38 - Far Side - Interstate Park - Eastern Block 6.21.11

The forecast was calling for days of sunshine and warm weather, a peek at summer for the Seattle area. E-mails started flying about heading to Exit 38 for some rock climbing to take advantage of and enjoy the nice weather while it was here. Lindsey was targeting Tuesday and the other group Wednesday – the weather looked slightly better for Tuesday so we picked that day. The plan was to meet at the Eastgate park and ride in Bellevue at 5 and head out from there. That particular Tuesday just happened to coincide with the summer solstice – beautiful weather and the longest day of the year, sounds like a perfect combination for some after work climbing. I had to make a stop back in Wallingford to grab a rope before heading out to the park and ride – it only took me an hour to drive from Wallingford to Bellevue, I hate traffic. I finally arrived about 5:25 and Aaron and Lindsey quickly hopped in my car for the drive out. Lindsey’s friend Diana was also battling traffic so she just planned to meet us there.

En-route we decided to head to Far Side at Exit 38 and hike into Interstate Park. I’ve only been to Exit 38 one time before, last August when we went to We Did Rock in the Deception area. Far Side would be a new area for me with a little longer approach out near the Fire Training Academy. We passed a very full lot near the Deception area and were glad to be heading to Far Side. There were a few cars in the lot there but not as many. We grabbed our gear and headed for the trail. Aaron and Diana had both been there before so they were leading us along the trails. We took a nice scenic detour to the top of our climbing area before finally finding our way to the base of the rock and the start of the routes. At least we got a nice view on the detour – and a little extra work out which I can always use. There luckily weren’t many people at Eastern Block when we arrived. Aaron grabbed my guide book and picked out a 5.7 for me to lead.

I roped up and started climbing. I clipped the first bolt and then had to take a few times as I tried to figure out the series of moves to get me to the next bolt. I ended up doing a lie back on the flake until I could work my feet up high enough and reach the nice juggy holds above me. I clipped the second bolt and again it was a puzzle of how I wanted to get to the next bolt. The route was a little more slabby than I expected without great hand holds. I finally figured it out and made my way to the anchor. I wasn’t particularly happy with how much difficulty I had with that 5.7 – it did not set a good tone for the start of the night. Aaron shared some sour patch watermelons and then roped up to clean the route. He of course had much less difficulty and flew through the tricky move where I had to do the lie back. It also may have helped that he has a few inches and could reach the next good hand holds above. At least he made it look easy. Diana was warming up on a 5.9 around the corner from us and ended up switching over to the 5.10a mid climb – quite the warm-up! Aaron grabbed the guide book again to find another route for me and we discovered that the route I had just done was actually a 5.8, EB-6 (Eastern Block – i.e. EB – has some real original route names). That discovery made me feel a little better about falling up the route – 5.8 is the hardest I’ve led on sport so warming up with that would be challenging.

For my next climb Aaron found a really fun 5.7, Kiss of the Crowbar. It was rated 4 stars and rightfully so. It is a great climb of 7 bolts and several blocky flakes creating a jungle gym of sorts to ascend. After I lowered down , Aaron cleaned it so that Lindsey could lead it. I lead belayed Diana up a near by 5.10b route, Missing the Taco. She did a great job and I followed her to clean the route. There is an early ledge with a hard move to get over and I fell, losing most of the ground I had gained. I missed a nice hand hold so on my second attempt I was able to gain the ledge and continued up. As I cleaned the anchor at the top the local Mosquitoes made a feast of my left ankle. The anchor was just below the lookout that we hiked through so I had a great view from up there. Diana was trying to work out a deal with some guys after she led the 5.10a so that I could top rope it, but we just decided to have them take it down and I continued to try leading some easier climbs.

Next up was the 5.7, EB-4 (or EB-5 depending on what page in the book you look at), the one I was originally suppose to lead. The first bolt was quite high and there was also decent runout between the second and third bolts but I fairly easily made it the anchor. Having some successful 5.7 leads under my belt following that initial 5.8 when I had to take a bunch, I had gained some confidence back. Lindsey had been leading the 5.8, EB-3, while I was on the 5.7 so we pulled the rope and I lead that 5.8. It has an interesting move where you have to do a butt jam. They were telling Lindsey so I knew where the move was, but it took me a little to figure out how I needed to use it. Once I got my hip locked into place though, it was a great move. There was a group of guys climbing and one of them had put up the 5.10a, Ellie’s Sweet Kiss, the route that Diana had warmed up on. The other two guys in his group couldn’t quite finish the climb so they asked if I would want to clean it for them. It was getting late but since I hadn’t done it yet, Aaron encouraged me. I climbed up that quickly and cleaned the route, my fourth cleaning of the night – I got lots of rappels in! By time I got down off that route it was about 9:45PM. Dusk was upon us but we could still see a little. We packed up, grabbed headlamps, and decided to try a new trail back that Aaron had taken in the past. We made our way back to the cars just before 10:30PM. It was a great night of climbing and I got several more sport leads, in addition to my first outdoor 5.10’s. Leave it to me to climb a 5.10b before the 5.10a – I apparently don’t like to do anything in a logical sequence.

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