Mindbender March 2004 Part Two

Okay Dokey. Show Time. The famous Mind Bending final drop, where our friend Steve M. had trouble not too long ago, a famous epic location.

There IS an anchor in place. Hmmm, if you want to call it that. A small cairn quite a way back from the drop, tied off with that jingus 9/16" aid tape, backed up to a rock keyed-in to a hueco. While I am perhaps known for rapping off some suspect anchors, this was a little too suspect for me.

Pretty good rock-in-a-hueco, as rocks-in-huecos go.

But first, gotta get the team together. We sequenced down that last rap, with Alicia last. Then she gets the aggressive team spot for the downclimb.

Time to build an anchor. First, we find a stout rock, and toss a clove hitch around it. It is, of course, very important to get the sling to be very secure around the rock, sometimes difficult given that most rocks are rather roundish. The geometry of that last pothole is almost perfect for this kind of anchor.

Stack another big rock on top of that.

Put a couple more on top of it. Looks good to me (though others had their doubts).

Kind of a big one, down to the edge of the trees. Pool was low so no problem there.

Then a bit of a hike out, but the North Fork is so fabulous, and the day had not been long.

The big domes down near the intersection with Middle Fork.

Climbing out the hueco wall.

The traverse of the clods, across the top of a big alcove.

Wonderful view down the Middle Fork.

And riding back to the car - Jeff in the back of the pickup, of some people who just wandered by... Who would know you could hitchhike out in the middle of nowhere?