On Sunday, I went up to do some aid climbing at Crystal Lake Crag and hopefully get some thunderstorm action. Put my heavy pig on my back and hiked up with very light rain and dark clouds overhead. Got my anchor set up with some distant thunder. It got closer and closer, with lightning strikes 5 seconds or so away. No biggie. I was going to climb a line up a kinda loose steep gully where I could nail (hammer pitons in) without damaging good rock elsewhere. It began to rain so I took shelter under a small roof at the base of the route as I organized my rack, built my soloing anchor off a tree, and did all the usual stuff. The rain got heavier, the thunder and lightning much louder and closer, and it began to hail. The hillside you slide down to access the climbs started to slide a tiny bit with the increased waterflow. Things kept getting more and more interesting, and I began to think about bailing. I was originally thinkin' this was gonna last maybe 2 hours like a typical summer thunderstorm in the area, but this was lookin' to be much more. I slung my haulbag over a small rock, clipped my rack and kit to a cam stuck in a crummy crack, and put my phone, wallet, and keys into my usually-waterproof jacket. I waited for the next lightning strike nearby, after which I ran down the slope. Rocks had been falling down my proposed climb at this time, and the hillside was sliding a whole lot.
I booked it down the slope to the lake as fast as I could. Made it to the lake and felt safer and slowed down to catch my breath. I don't run much anymore cause I've been having issues with my heart (I have a rare heart disease which gives me annoying issues), so I took it pretty easy before breaking out into a jog. Got back to Klaus (my 87 BMW E30), chilled out for a bit, and then drove down the one way road to go to Adam's to wait the storm out, or drive down the hill back home to change into clothes that weren't soaked (I was wearing shorts as it was warm).
There's a major drainage below Crystal Lake Wall down the one way loop road which was flowing pretty decent when I reached it. I crossed one small stream carefully, as Klaus has a very low oil pan which has broken twice so far (oil pan breaks = lose all oil = no engine), and about 30ft later there's another stream to cross. This one had more rocks but looked doable. It wasn't. I backed up to the spot in between the two streams, and got out to remove some big rocks in front. It kept getting worse, so I got back in and tried to back up through the previous stream. I had no traction and that stream was getting real deep too, so I stopped. I was trapped, so I got to the driest spot, shut the engine off, and thought for a minute about what to do next. The flow kept increasing, and logs and crap were building up around the car. I couldn't open the driver's side door anymore, so I bailed out via the passenger side. Jumped to shore, went downhill a bit to where both streams met, and found a spot to jump across the now powerful flow. Thankfully it wasn't too wide. Jumped over, got back up to the road, and walked the wrong way down the one way road. Mike the Volunteer saw me and I waved him down to tell him the way was blocked. He gave me a ride back to Adam's, and we talked to some folks Arturo (super sorry if I got your name wrong!
) who works for the Forest Service was super helpful as well, and eventually Mike and I headed down the hill. Mike gave me a ride to my house, as it's on the way. Thanks again Mike!Went up with Eric later that night to look at Klaus, and saw how hopelessly stuck it was. Went up on Monday with Chris, Eric, Brandon, Randy, David, Alden, Jeff, Steve, Mike, man I hope I didn't forget anyone! Big thanks to everyone! Obviously couldn't have done it without you guys! We dug around Klaus and Randy pulled him out backwards while Mike steered and David macked Klaus up with some tow straps so he didn't go into the big ditch off the road.
Went up again yesterday with Chris and got a AAA tow off the mountain. Now Klaus is in my driveway and today I'll be drinking beers and washing him out.
Man, what a lotta work.
Some pics:
12 by TacoDelRio, on Flickr
13 by TacoDelRio, on Flickr
11 by TacoDelRio, on Flickr
7 by TacoDelRio, on Flickr
5 by TacoDelRio, on Flickr
4 by TacoDelRio, on FlickrAlbum:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tacodelri ... 219323301/
What a trip.
