Do Androids Dream of Electric Turkeys?
In my personal climbing, I have always been more fascinated by long routes. The idea that these huge walls of rock can be climbed, that with the right vision one can find the perfect line that winds its way up hundreds of feet of rock, is mind blowing. It shouldn't be possible, yet it is. And I've been wanting to pay homage to those visionaries by illuminating their lines. So, I finally have.
The problem has always been finding a good partner. These routes usually take your average climber all day to climb. They are slow and laborious affairs. I would need to climb it quickly and efficiently. And I would need to do it in the middle of the night, my path lit by a cumbersome jacket of LEDs and a fanny back battery pack getting in my way. So, when I met Miranda, I thought perfect I'll give the lights to her, and so I did. And when the full moon arrived, we made our way into Black Velvet Canyon and eyed up Dream of Wild Turkeys (5.10a). 2 hours and 18 minutes later we were at the top of all 7 pitches and 700' of climbing. Half an hour after that, we were back on the ground and headed to retrieve my camera, fingers crossed that the image turned out well.
And now, you can see it for yourself. How did we do? Do you like it?
I do.