After a day of climbing at Fun Rock with her
sister and friends, Andrea Jones decided to test her climbing
skills on the 5 pitch Inspiration route on Mazama's Goat Wall.
Andrea had already done quite a bit of climbing, and though
quite young, she is a strong and talented climber. We took advantage
of an early start to beat the heat during this spell of hot,
dry weather.
Here Andrea dances her way up the easy
opening moves of the first pitch. With a large and enthusiastic
smile Andrea can be seen thoroughly enjoying herself throughout
the climb..
Andrea is focused now as the last few
moves of pitch one are tricky and require careful footwork.
Here Andrea belays Larry on the second
pitch of the climb. Due to our early start, it was actually
quite cool in the shade with a slight breeze.
Seen here cruising up the easy slab at
the top of the 3rd pitch, Andrea still looks as though
she is having way too much fun.
With renewed concentration, Andrea works
through the first 5.9 section on the steep 4th pitch.
One of the joys of this route in addition
to wonderful moderate climbing are the unique views of
the upper Methow valley and beyond. The peaks in the backgound
are North Gardener Mtn. and Abernathy peak.
Finally into the sun, Andrea finishes
the sustained final pitch (5.9+) sans jacket enjoying
the increasing exposure.
After 4 Long rappells we are back on
the ground and making plans for another climb in the future.
