Team Tuesday Climbing: Return to Munchkinland

Still haunted by nightmares of flying monkeys and wicked witches, I was a little leery of returning to the crag called Munchkinland. We got off easy last time, with no one carried off by cackling winged primates, so I wasn't wanting to press our luck. But lured by the siren song of sweet granite, I rounded up a good size posse for a return visit. Along with some of the old regulars - Dustin, Tyler and myself - Austin recruited a few friends who were granted an honorary Team Tuesday day pass. Jason, Jennifer and Kaitlin had all climbed a little bit before, and seemed excited to climb. Rain clouds hovered over our heads most of the day, giving us a slight respite from the heat, and occasionally slight sprinklings of rain. Fortunately, the rain never fell too hard or for too long, and never kept us from climbing.

The Towers is the name given to the routes on the far left side of Munchkin Wall, and where lots of good easy to moderate climbing can be found, so we spent most of our day here. We had seven people and three ropes, so we looked a little bit like a Boy Scout troop at the crag - top-ropes, gear and stuff EVERYWHERE. We chased two other parties out pretty quickly, although they may have just been scared off by Austin's screaming.

Here are some photo highlights.

Dustin warming up:

Jason looking fierce following Clip, Clip Here (5.9):

Jennifer and Dustin climbing the "5.6" chimney, Miss Gulch. This climb goes up a four foot wide water groove that divides the two towers, and for a sport climb, is very unique. There are three planes of rock that you can use to climb, and at any given time your body may be facing any direction.