Black Canyon

After the Creek I headed to Gunnison to meet up with John and do some Black Canyon climbing. John settled on us trying to do two shorter routes. The first up with Trilogy (5.12- R, 6 pitches) and the second was Midsummer Night's Dream (5.11-, 5 pitches). While we did not get climbing until 9:30 in the morning, we were off Midsummer by 6:30. A good pace I thought. Trilogy was an awesome route, definitely the better of the two. The first pitch was a 5.11+ R pitch that John led. In 120 feet there were three bolts and little other good gear. John led it smoothly, protecting the crux off of a fixed bashie head. I led the next pitch. The guide called it 11- but it was more like 11+ and after 80 feet of steep flared fingers I was pumped and fell just a move or two before the end of the business. Another 10+ pitch followed before the crux pitch. I led up the crux, firing it onsite, which I was very psyched about. 30 feet or so of hard climbing up a finger crack to delicate face moves, all of which was through a classic Black Canyon pegmatite band (read: scary choss). The route eased up a bit after that with another 5.10 pitch and then an easy exit pitch. We then banged out Midsummer in about two and a half hours and headed back to Gunnison for some pizza.