We stopped at Back Bowden Doors and enjoyed a good day climbing in the mostly dry weather. This was my first time climbing on sandstone and it was really good fun, suiting my strength at the moment with all the gritstone climbing. After warming up on Woodcutter's Crack I seconded Greg up The Sorceror which was a fantastic route and well deserving of its three stars with two contrasting sections. I then got on the classic introduction route at the crag; Straight Crack which also proved to be a great climb with good jamming action at the top. After Greg and Mhairi played on some harder routes and I led up a fun little route called Wall and Crack, I finished with some easy soloing on Forester's Corner and Gangway. With fish and chip filled bellies we headed down the motorway towards Goredale camp site. After some profound woofing from Daisy and a lot of bouncing around in the back with Mhairi's failing rear suspension we arrived and quickly pitched the tents for our first night camping of the trip.
On Saturday we awoke relatively early and after a quick visit to the breath-taking and awe inspiring Goredale Scar, headed off towards the similairly impressive Kilnsey. With most of the routes being outside my ability at the moment I found a nice little route called New Mystique to red point and was pleased to tick the route and find out after that it was graded 6b. Greg and Mhairi were crushing routes, Daisy was romping around and the sun was shining so it was another good day.
Sunday started rather more lethargically as we awoke to the rain drumming off the tents. After some coffee and cakes psyche levels were slightly higher and we headed back to the crag and to meet up with Adam. Everyone was again sending routes as the crag was still dry (possibly due to its grossly overhanging nature which causes dry rock but quickly failing arms) and working projects, but by mid-afternoon everyone was feeling it from yesterday's antics and we decided to call it a day and get organised to head down towards Leeds for some gritstone tradding.
After finding the highly recommended Dobrudden Campsite, which thouroughly lived up to its reputation, and getting a good nights sleep we awoke on Monday to glorius sunshine and a cool wind; perfect conditions for standing on slopey gritstone and being optimisticly hopeful about the quality of rubber on your shoes. Rubber quality must have been high as everyone had a great day at Caley on the brilliant boulder problems and selection of short routes. Highlights of my day included; Angel's Wall, Boot Crack, Chicken Head, and Rabbit Paw Wall and with a total of eighteen routes or problems it was another great day.
Tuesday was a scorcher and after the mandatory coffee and cake stop we headed up to Almscliff. I was keen to get on the classic HVS of the crag, and my first proper HVS since last summer, Great Western and as it was shaded in the morning I jumped on this after a quick warm up. The route was brilliant and deserved a full three stars; with big juggy holds, solid gear, good moves and a fantastic position. In fact it was so good that I seconded it and finished up the alternative Five Star Finish shortly after! After a brilliant start to the day I did some bouldering, some spotting and quite a bit of sunbathing. After seeing Adam off homewards we headed back to the campsite via the supermarket to cook up our last night barbeque feast, and what a feast it was!
After packing up on Wednesday we headed to Giggleswick South which was on the way home and had a selection of easier routes suited to tired bodies. The weather held out and we had another good day with flap-jack fueled ascents of some of the better routes at the crag before packing up and heading for home.
Not unexpectedly the rain started as soon as we hit the Borders but spirits could not be dampened as it had been such a fantastic week of great climbing and lots of laughs. With some disheartment I will have to start revising again for my last exam, but I will soon be free to make the most of summer!
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