Our next stop was a short one. I had stopped here during my maiden voyage with the bus, but only stayed for three days. I was glad to be returning, and looked forward to ticking a few of the routes I was unable to do before. We were a bit early arriving, and the gate was still locked from winter. We found a free place to camp and found the gate open in the morning. The City is a strange place, with huge blobs of granite up to 200' high spread all over the arid, rolling hills. The climbing is varied - from holdless slabs to overhanging dinner plates, with a little something for everyone.
Rock was damp and weather threatening as we sampled a few classic slab routes. I found a perfect flake crack on elephant rock and, since the trad gear had been left home, enjoyed the best 5.8 of the trip - solo.
Rain mixed with snow chased us from the rock, and, after a quick lunch of soda crackers, we gave up and fled to our tents. Overnight the bulk of the storm found us, soaked us and ruined our day before it even began. If not for a sweet boulder problem found right in our campsite, the day would have been a total loss. The 'Dead Tree Circut' went at V1 clockwise and nearly V2 counter.
On the way home, we stopped and put in a few days at Smith Rock, where the weather was perfect, as it had been the whole time we were away...