On Command

When I climb at Mortar it means one of two or possibly three things.

1. I'm trying to build my calluses up for an upcoming trip (Hueco most likely)
2. I'm actually kinda of psyched on it for about a month
3. I'm bored out of my mind and don't want to climb in the gym for a while

While the later two reasons are more frequent than trips to Hueco (where you want good skin to go day after day), that is mot the case this time. I'm conditioning my skin so they won't tear or get flappers on my up coming two weeks in Hueco Tanks with Chris Bloch and Jen Atkin (to name a few who are on the trip). it just so happens that I am psyched there right now after tonight. 

I got up early thinking I was gonna do routes in Oakland with Ben Eastman, of whom is like "an elusive chupacabra." as described by Ben "The Flea" Polanco. That didn't happen. And since other friends already were midway to Castle Rock, Mortar Rock/Stoneface was my last viable option for outdoor rock climbing. My last time out there was in June and that's when I found out I needed my two month trip to Colorado. I was over it for awhile. But it's nice to come back with no intentions of doing anything but messing around to get your skin in shape. I walked up to Stoneface today. I planned on spending the rest of the day till it got dark and I would be forced to walk to BART in the dark again. Fortunately, Michele texted me she and said she was on her way. I thought I was 30 minutes away from Mortar at Stoneface but turns out I was just 10 minutes walking. Never really knew nor bothered to care until today. A short jaunt you could call it. 

I arrived at Mortar to pretty good conditions. A bit warmer than ideal, but not bad at all. I didn't think I would end up there today. But if you're trying to climb in the Berkeley Hills, you'll most likely end up at Mortar Rock (aka Morder Rock when you're not psyched on it). As I walked up there, Chris Bloch (aka CAPTAIN as he was promoted to fire captain last Tuesday) texted me and he met Michele and myself up there. Both of us are in the skin conditioning for Hueco mode. And since there nothing else for miles BUT Mortar Rock, it'll have to do till next Wednesday. Evidentially I did ended coming one move away from Jungle Fever. One of many problems there that has gone from never have never will, to almost being done. It's definitely body position dependent as well as condition dependent. After falling off the last move to the triangle hold, I thought about just doing Nat's Traverse for the fun of it. Usually I pump out midway through, but something was way different about tonight. I didn't get pumped, I didn't feel like I had to try incredibly hard like I do every time I try it. I just…did it. I got to the top and looked down and asked, "On command?" because it really was tonight. Hopefully this is a good sign of things to come in the future. 

The perfect ending to a day that started out seeing me almost blow it.

Thanks for reading!