Best rock, best location, best temperature, best wildlife, best sunsets...
BEST TOP OUTS EVER.
In my experience there, the base of each block (in general) plays host to the difficult moves in the problem. In some cases it might be that the hard moves go all the way to the top... But the top out...
Well, on every problem I did - the boulder's top was littered with jugs. Rocklands boulders have knobbly jugs all over their tops!!
For me - that meant I was happy to try anything.
Another lesson I learned is that the rock is sharp - I had tiny nics all over my hands from the start - fingers and palms. I used a lot of tape!!
There was one instance when I joined the guys as they were trying an 8A called Out of Balance. The was a direct 7B variation and I was psyched to try it.
Al made the first move look like nothing - but when I got on it, I missed the move and as I fell, my left hand was left in an awkward position on the hold I'd started with. My left index and middle finger were badly cut at the first joint.
A lot of blood - and a lot of tape for the rest of the trip!!!
That was a really beautiful 7B though. I really wish it hadn't attacked me - I'd have liked to go back to it, but I was too scared of dropping the opening move once again.
In Rocklands - if you go off away from everyone - it's possible to experience silence. No sound.
That means no cars, no birds, no insects, no breeze... Nothing. The quiet is profound.
And you can just sit there and the sound of absolutely nothing at all offers an immense experience - and more than all the noise that is possible there - tells of the vast land that surrounds you.
When I climbed to a high vantage point during lunch, or a break or whatever, I could see nothing but boulders and cliffs off into the furthest distance, until it was no longer possible to see any further at all.
I've never been to a place where I've been so overwhelmed by the sights and sounds... Or lack of sounds.
Incredible.
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