Rocklands Day 8, 9, 10

Posted on 04. Aug, 2009 by B3 in Rocklands

I was hoping to do a post about every day we climbed, however the next tree days work better as one post. The 8th day was a much needed rest day. I had climbed 6 of 7 days and I was starting to feel things catching up with me. I laid on my crashpad, read my books and soaked up the sun in the morning. The sun was much less intense in Africa, being at such a low elevation. In the afternoon, I scoped out a new sector while Chuck filmed some nature for an upcoming film, but I didn’t see anything worth going back to.
Grasshopper I saw on my hike.
That evening Finnish climbers Nalle Hukkataival, one of the best boulderers in the world, along with his friend Mikko, joined us at the Eharn house.

View of Pakuis Pass from The Fortress

I was impatient on the 9th day and although I didn’t feel fully recovered we went back to The Fortress and I made no progress on The Vice V13. Chuck put the camera down and crushed a direct finish to The Vice called The Vice President V13 that Fred had added a while back. For myself, I always find it challenging to sync up the natural cycles of my body on a road trip. The older I get, the more prevalent they become. I was so tired that I struggled to do the moves on a V10 called Stretched and Pressed. Kevin made very quick work of this awesome three star roof and it was inspiring watching Nalle flash it.
Stretched and Pressed, V10 flash, Nalle

Nalle tip-toes his way up the dicey finish.

The 10th day should have been a rest day but sometimes it is so hard to say no to such amazing boulders. I was tired and my skin was wrecked. I briefly tried the Leopard Cave V12 but it seemed confusing and motivation was low. The group seemed more psyched on talking than climbing, and that was fine by me. I did manage to fall off the last move of a classic arete at Roadside called Nutsa V12 and it certainly felt like something I could come back to. Less than halfway through the trip, that was a nice feeling.

This cart would take supplies down a two-track road to a small town from Pakhuis Pass.