Leavenworth and Index

I like to think of myself as a morning person. Pete on the other hand is not a morning person. He will press the snooze button over and over and over again. Or truth be told he will simply sleep through it until it drives me absolutely crazy and I turn it off. The only time Pete can seem to get up early is if he is going climbing or skiing. And if he doing that then he wants to get up and go at an unreasonably early hour. It is ridiculous really or at least I thought so until this last weekend. This last weekend Pete and I went to Leavenworth Washington to climb Outer Space, a 6 pitch multi-pitch climb. We decided we didn't need to get up early because we would be climbing on a Friday so there probably wouldn't be anyone on the climb. We were wrong. When we got to the base of the climb there was a party of 4 who had just started up it. Needless to say what should have been a 4 hour day turned into a 9 hour day. To make matters worse the climb was east facing so by the time we started climbing it was in the shade. To make matters even worse it was windy. So I was cold and I hate being cold. Regardless of that we had a pretty good time and when all was said and done it turned into a good little memory. I now recognize the merit of waking up early to be the first group on the route. At the base and at the top of the climb there were a bunch of mountain goats. They were fun to watch. I am still amazed at how well they climb. (probably better then most Americans) Pete climbed a couple classic climbs (angel crack and damnation crack) while we were in Leavenworth and then we swung by Index so that he could climb a couple other classics (godzilla and thin fingers).Index was so pretty and Pete had a blast climbing there. I think we will have to take a trip back there soon. Pete is climbing thin fingers in this photo.After our escapades in Washington we headed home to Portland and then I had to move back to Bend for my last 5 week rotation. Pete came with me for the day and I belayed him on Chain Reaction at Smith Rock. He had been projecting this climb for a little over a month and had been falling at the same spot for weeks. But now he will project it no more because he finally SENT IT without falling. WAY TO GO PETE! You rock! I am one proud wife :)