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The following day we headed for the Lemur Wall which we had seen from Alien two days prior. The route, Pectorine, looked steep and blank from the approach hike. It’s not until you’re standing at the base that you start to see some features in the black granite above. Shirley took the first pitch and we were both reminded of one of the high quality, varnished sandstone faces from Red Rocks (one of the Sour Mashpitches say)…except it was granite. Things were hot, holds were small, rounded and greasy and we were both starting to complain about our finger tips being mangled by the very sharp granite. Pitch two started up the main wall via four A0 moves to bypass a blank lower section. Above, the remaining six pitches were all quite similar: vertical wall with mostly good holds (sharp ones above pitch 1) peppered throughout. The bolting is intelligent (in retrospect) if a bit spicy in places. Possibility of a 30 footer seemed routine. Pitch 5 featured a cool rightward traverse on some very dark granite. We topped out and (unaware of the walk off option) rapped down once again in stressful, high-wind conditions. On the hike down to camp, we almost did not notice a family (gang?) of lemurs sitting quietly in a tree above the trail. It was only when we stopped and took out the camera that the commotion started. Our first sighting and we were both awestruck! I guess it hit us for the first time where we’ve been climbing!
Photos
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