Trip Report

This is the fourth year I have had the pleasure of leading a rock-climbing trip to Smith Rocks State Park. We had a big group of thirteen enthusiastic climbers. We spent day one on Rope-De-Dope Block; a fine place for a group of climbers of various skill levels to test themselves and learn new skills. I think we all got enough climbing in for one day on Saturday.

We camped again at Steelhead Falls, enjoying the scenery and the quiet, and watching the gathering clouds. Lightning was dancing in the sky by the time we retired to tents and the backs of cars. The tents were pretty wet by morning, along with the rest of the landscape. Intermittent showers and drizzle convinced us that breakfast at the local "greasy spoon" was a better choice than rock climbing. After consuming plenty of calories we went our separate ways, most back to Eugene. A couple of hardy hikers joined me for a quick hike up Misery Ridge to enjoy at least looking at the rock!

So the weekend climb was reduced to one day. So far we are at 50% for getting in the second day of climbing. Still, I had a fine time and hope the group enjoyed the climbing and company as much as I did.

Thanks to all, with special thanks to Maryanne Reiter and Wayne Deeter for all the help.

Climbers were: Bob Burnett, Wayne Deeter (asst. leader), Larry Huff, Elizabeth Lamb, Virgil Lamb, Doug McCarty, Juli McGlinsky, Maryanne Reiter, Matt Rodrigues, Steve Stuckmeyer, Stephen Swinehart, Suzi Swinehart, and Doug Nelson (leader).