Wendy welcomed us on our first day of arrival in Magic Woods. We pulled
in to find her sitting on her crash pad in all the glory of the sun. Her
long hair was tied back in a bun with a pencil keeping it together. She
was hard at work in the middle of a dirt parking lot surrounded by
tents, live-in vans and gigantic evergreens towering on every side.
My psych was surrounded by new rocks, good friends and blue sky. The
surrounding mountains were big, steep and had an unwelcoming feel to
them. They said to keep to the grounds, stay low where the boulders are.
So of course, we did.
We ate a quick lunch and packed up our gear. Wendy gave us a tour of
what she knew and we climbed on what we could. Being somewhat limited
with two pads anyone whose been to magic woods knows this is less than
ideal. The talus boulders are fallen between jagged rocks on the side of
a somewhat steep mountainside. The large boulders are found by
following well worn trails on the moss covered ground. Rocks, fallen
trees and large holes were obstacles to either avoid or use as way to
move further. It reminded me of the north walls in Squamish in many ways
except the holes to fall in were bigger, the rocks more featured and
there were a lot more premade landings out of fallen logs to keep one
from falling into one of the crevasses of death.
The Canadians remnants from the Munich comp were also in magic woods and
it turned out everyone in camp that I knew were resting the next day.
With some matter of dislike and at the same, acceptance, I took an
undeserved rest day so to keep on schedule with everyone, aka the
partnering psych and much needed spotters and pads.
There was basically one week left with the Canadians and Wendy so days
were maximized climbing two days on and one off. My legs ached with
fatigue more than my fingers because of the uphill hiking which i was
more then unaccustomed to. Getting used to the sketchy landings took me a
few days as did my lungs for the hiking. The many moderates in the area
proved a very nice warm up to the area. At that point everything was
tried from v0 to v-impossible and all of it was good.
The week passed quickly. Too quickly. It seemed as soon as we got there
we were waving good bye to everyone who greeted us: the Brits, the
Canucks and unfortunately the sun. I wasn't sure when it would return
but the forecast seemed positive and so we stayed positive and hoped for
the best. After everyones departure Magic woods became a different
place... And a different story. Until next time...
