The clouds have been building over several days. The skies get darker and denser each day. This morning, Mike remarked that it looked like Mordor over the mountain. Now, it is even darker and angrier looking. The forecast calls for thunderstorms and torrential rain on Tuesday. The wadis will probably flood.
Today, we headed to Wadi Hilti (15 min from our house) to go climbing. We parked the Tahoes on high ground in case it started raining. Flash floods here are epic. We might get stranded for a while but at least we wouldn't drown and the Tahoes would survive. It didn't rain, and hopefully won't until Tuesday.
Those of you who know a little about climbing will notice that most of the photos are of us are on top rope. Leading frequently on these couple of routes isn't a great idea. The bolts are really old and weird. Usually one person leads up the really easy side and then sets up the top rope at the anchors at the top and everyone top ropes. This is really necessary on these bolts. We hope that before too long we'll be able to re-bolt it in order for more people to lead. The problem with top roping allows the climber to rely some on the rope, the rope takes a little bit of his or her weight away as the slack is taken in and the rope becomes taught. It also allows the climber to take a full complete rest during the climb with the support of the rope, something you can't do on lead. When you lead climb, there is no aid at all from the rope, it only provides protection to keep you from dying if you fall.
Me sitting on a boulder watching-
Jesi climbing-
me climbing the hard stuff. didn't make it to the top, maybe next time...
