Memorial Day climbing trip to South Lake Tahoe
Packing List
Shameless self-promotion: I used my awesome Packwhiz service to generate and customize a packing list for my trip and it made packing a breeze!
Lover’s Leap Campground
We arrived at Lover’s Leap Campground at about 11 a.m. on Saturday. There were no spots left, but someone was about to leave, so we really lucked out!
Gear unloaded at our campsite
BBQ Grill and fire ring
Great amenities – toilets, drinking water, a BBQ grill, a large locking storage bin and even a picnic table on every site! Overnight parking is $10, and there’s also free street parking.
We set our camp very quickly, had a snack and headed out for our first day of climbing. The weather was wonderful – about 75°F and not a cloud in the sky.
Approach
You always hear about some people getting lost in their own backyard, but you never think it could happen to you. We spent more than an hour looking for the trail in the wrong place. We were looking for a “clearing” around the Big Meadow trail parking lot while it was half a mile to the north.
Where the $^#@ is this “clearing”?
Finally Igor, a smart guy, figured out that we were in the wrong place, so we hopped in the car and drove to a small parking area about 0.45 mi to the north from the Big Meadow parking. Just in case, if you find yourself in a similar situation, the trail head coordinates are 38.793950º N, 119.996265º W. There we saw that “clearing,” the small trail crossing it, etc. We headed down the trail to the creek crossing and then up to Luther Spires.
Creek crossing
The approach is quite steep and depending on the size of your pack could take 20 to 30 minutes or even more. Total elevation gain is about 600 feet and the distance is about 0.5 mi.
Igor posing. Trademark “ears” on one of the “spires” in the background
Luther Spires
The trail brings you approximately to the middle of the crag.
On day one, we decided to check out the far right side of the crag. First, I set the TR anchor for Leo and Irit so they could climb the Dog and Grigri, Two Bucks (5.9) and the adjacent Hey Y’all, Watch This (5.7).
Leo about to climb Dog and Grigri, Two Bucks (5.9)
Irit ready to belay Leo
Then Igor and I moved to the nearby Beer And A Hotdog, Two Bucks (5.8) which I on-sighted on lead and Igor flashed on top-rope. Then I sent the adjacent Cheap Commercial Steak Sauce, Two Fifty (5.10a) on top-rope and seeing that it was easy, red-pointed it on lead immediately after that. Igor flashed it on top-rope as well. Then I climbed the Dog and Grigri, Two Bucks (5.9) on top-rope, took down the TR anchor and that was the end of our day one.
On day two, we moved to the left side of the crag. First, we decided to set the TR anchor on Slab-B (5.7). The approach to that route scared me more than the route itself. The route was quite easy (later, when I was taking down the TR anchor, I climbed it in my hiking boots to make it a bit more interesting). I placed a red C4 in the crack to the right to protect the first clip.
Leading Slab-B (5.7) You can see my poor cam placement contributing to a slight rope drag.
After I set the TR on Slab-B for Leo and Irit, Igor and I moved to Unnamed Toprope (5.10+). We both gave it a go a couple of times, but unfortunately couldn’t finish it cleanly this time due to a complete lack of any crack climbing skills. There was one obvious finger jam move there which we couldn’t do. Maybe next time.
Unnamed Toprope 5.10+
Then I top-roped Slab-B in my hiking boots, took down the anchor and we all took a coffee break at the base of our next route. There’s nothing like a cup of hot coffee made on a camping stove at the base of a cliff with a breathtaking view!
A breathtaking view of the Big Meadow below
After our short break, I tied into the sharp end and went up Jane Spy (5.7). Due to a lengthy runout between the 2nd and the 3rd bolts (~20ft if memory serves) and the low angle of the rock, not on-sighting the route was not an option. Check out the side view of the route, where you can see the ledge which makes falling a bad idea:
Leo is TR’ing Jane Spy (5.7)
The view at the top was the best reward! (I wish I had had my camera with me!)
After everybody sent the route on top-rope, I climbed it again, took down the anchor and rapped down.
Rapping down from Jane Spy 5.7 (it’s windy!)
Conclusion
The quality of granite at Luther Spires is superb! Lots of very positive in-cut edges, knobs, jugs, large flakes, etc. Even the smallest crimps feel very solid. But although the granite is very featured, I nonetheless felt the lack of crack climbing skills – something I should definitely work on.
The approach to some routes is scarier than the routes themselves. It makes sense to rope up for some of the scarier approaches.
The big runout between the 2nd and the 3rd bolts on Jane Spy 5.7 is quite intimidating (but nothing life-threatening). Leading in general is scarier than at Castle Rock (the only other place I climbed at so far). Grades feel slightly harder as well.
Since I was the only one leading on this trip, it was my job setting and taking down the TR anchors. I ended up climbing four times more routes than anyone else – I didn’t complain, of course! But we should be moving more efficiently next time.
Luther Spires is a great sport climbing destination to which we’ll be coming back for sure!
My fuel efficiency
If consumed 1 gallon of liquid food mixed with water, I could walk 44 miles before I ran out of gas:
Created by The Car Connection
Trackpad as a Graphics Tablet
It would be pretty cool if you could use the trackpad on your laptop as a mini graphics tablet. Perhaps, with a special pen that enables this mode. It probably wouldn’t meet the needs of professional graphics designers, but would be pretty useful for quick sketches, diagrams and whatnot. A pen is still the most natural tool for free-form input, so I am fairly positive that this feature will be appreciated.
SOG SEAL Pup Elite Review
SEAL Pup Elite has a very cool-looking 4.85″-long full tang blade with a spine rasp and an injection-molded glass handle with deep comfortable finger grooves that make the handle sit very comfortably in your hand. This knife is available with both partially serrated and straight blades – I personally prefer the straight edge. Its weight and blade thickness feel just right and overall the knife feels very solid.
Initially I bought the knife with the Kydex sheath because it is quite compact, lightweight and has a neat little feature – a grove that reveals a section of the blade which allows you to cut rope without taking the knife out of its sheath. But after trying different ways to carry the knife (including designing and sewing my own custom thigh attachment system) I realized that the nylon sheath was just better suited for my situation. First of all, it has an additional compartment which I ended up using to store my Leatherman Charge multitool. But more importantly, it has a MOLLE attachment on the back, which opens up carrying possibilities galore. Also, I was able to attach a small loop of webbing to the side of the sheath for the firesteel.
I used the knife quite extensively at a week-long survival camp and I must say I am very happy with its performance. The blade is equally good for chopping down small trees, making a throwing stick, carving a pair of chopsticks or a replica of the knife itself. About the only issue that I had with this knife was the spine rasp – I would prefer if the knife did not have it as it hurts a little when I press against it with my thumbs while carving. But it’s a personal preference and I wouldn’t hold it against this knife.
All in all, I am very happy with my SOG and would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a dependable fixed-blade knife. Would I recommend it as a survival knife? Well, it’s a highly debated question. Some say the blade should be around 4 inches long. Others rightfully note that there’s nothing a small blade can do that a big blade cannot. Yet others seek knives with hollow handles to put a small stash of goodies inside (my opinion of those knives is not very favorable). But in the end, it all comes down to personal preference – choose the blade you’ll be comfortable carrying with you at all times. For me, this is SOG SEAL Pup Elite!
The Everest is taken
That’s the 5.10b I’ve been working on for a few days. What’s next? Well, I’ve been eyeing the adjacent black 5.11c, but it’s clearly out of my league at the moment, so maybe I’ll work on power endurance for a while and climb some longer 5.9’s.
Climbing 5.10c
I went climbing today for the fourth time in my life – good stuff! I was working on my technique, so I was mostly climbing easy 5.7’s. However, when I say “technique”, I mean whatever I think is the right way of doing it. My hands still hurt after each climb and that is a sure sign that my “technique” is nowhere near where it should be.
I also tried climbing a very short 5.10c a couple of times and that is where I got some very interesting results. What’s interesting is that the difficulty of this route meant that I couldn’t just muscle through it. There were no good handholds, and I had to use my legs for climbing. And then the tiny crimps were so far apart that I often had to bend my body in very odd ways and cautiously move from one position to another while keeping balance – thanks to my yoga classes I was able to handle it pretty well. In the end I failed to reach the top, but my hands were actually very well rested after the fifteen minutes of trying painstakingly and failing to attack the crux. I think it was a great technique exercise and I’ll do it again next time.
Indoor rock climbing
Anybody in Bay Area interested to take on an indoor rock climbing with me?
Art of Manliness
Just wanted to share with you a few blogs that I’ve been enjoying very much lately. It’s all about being a better man/father/husband/SO/etc. Enjoy:
Back from Extreme Survival Camp
I just came back from a week-long Extreme Survival camp based on the hit survival series “Man vs. Wild”. A thorough report with pictures will follow later.
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