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Grampians next week?

f_abe

10-Dec-2015
2:40:33 PM

Just wondering if anyone would be keen to climb in the gramps next Tuesday and Wednesday? Would prefer to take the road less traveled so to speak, but if it has to be a route up at the Gallery just because its the next incremental grade, well, I'm as guilty as anyone chasing false glory in numbers!
cheers - Alex

IdratherbeclimbingM9

10-Dec-2015
2:54:24 PM

On 10/12/2015 f_abe wrote:
>(snip) Would prefer to take the road less traveled so to speak,
>but if it has to be a route up at the Gallery just because its the next
>incremental grade, well, I'm as guilty as anyone chasing false glory in numbers!
>cheers - Alex

So, your excellent trip reports of climbing in the Blueys were also part of the false glory number chasing?
;-)

I look forward to reading of your Grampians exploits!
☺

f_abe

11-Dec-2015
11:51:45 AM

>So, your excellent trip reports of climbing in the Blueys were also part
>of the false glory number chasing?
>;-)
To the best of my knowledge I've never actually written a Blueys trip report...? Maybe confused with someone else? But regardless, I decided to quickly write one anyway...

We’d planned a week in the Gramps, but arriving at Tailem Bend with the sun going down and still 40 degrees we swung the old Val left, drove all night, and arrived in the Blueys late the next morning. The only downside to our change in plans was my haircut – expecting a week in the wilderness with my only human contact being in a Horsham supermarket I’d given myself a pretty nasty Mohawk – but we had enough recreationals on board to help me cope if need be.
Remarkably, given the distractions on hand, we managed to climb quite few chunks of awesome rock throughout the mountains, but it was the drive home that proved most memorable.
It was somewhere on the edge of the hay plains when the drugs started to take hold.
Actually, it happened well before then. But it was on the outskirts of Hay itself where things started to turn potentially pear shaped. After endless hours driving through the Neverland where sky and earth were one and the same, an abundance of bright flashing lights in the distance soon materialized into a rather large police road block, with seemingly every cop in the state in attendance. A few issues immediately warranted immediate attention.
First was the seat belt, but try as I might, the buckle remained elusive, hidden under a weeks’ worth of crap and beer bottles, so I simply shoved the end between the seats and hoped for the best, thankful for the small mercy of non-retractable belts.
Second was the volume of the stereo – I figured officer plod wouldn’t appreciate the subtleties of Slayer at max volume. I reached out to turn it down, but in a strange twist of fate, the stereo knob chose that exact moment to part company from the stereo itself.
Third, and unexpected, was the swerving resulting from my knee holding the wheel whilst I tried to deal with the stereo. Giving up on the knob, I soon had the old girl back under control, and looked to Guy for help. But he was dealing with his own set of circumstances, trying to shove as many beer bottles under the seat and simultaneously rifle through the glove box in order to eat the remains of our stash.
I pulled to a halt by the glowing baton waving cop, turned the engine off to quieten the situation, and tried to smile my best smile.
“Where you boys heading?”
“Adelaide.”
“What’s happening in Adelaide?”
“Starting Uni tomorrow.”
“What are you studying?”
“Teaching…”
Barefoot, shirtless, unshowered and mohawked, I’m sure he saw the future generation in good hands. But after nothing more than a brief rego check, we were waved off with a curt “get those two bald tyres fixed”.
But in a turn of good fate, Guy found our undiscovered, but more importantly uneaten, stash, and we decided the best course of action was to remove all evidence as soon as possible…

ajfclark

11-Dec-2015
12:43:59 PM

I read that whole thing in Fear and Loathing/Hunter S Thompson monologue voice... "Can't stop here... This is bat country..."

Ball_Bagg

12-Dec-2015
8:50:07 AM

Geez f_abe,
I thought you was a clean cut family man. Now the truth is out there.
You do however have a good turn of phrase. The picture of chaos you painted approaching the road block was a cut above the usual chocky effort. I reckon you should give up your day job, write more TR's, dabble in a bit of crag development and reintroduce the Mohawk.

IdratherbeclimbingM9

12-Dec-2015
4:29:43 PM

On 11/12/2015 f_abe wrote:
>To the best of my knowledge I've never actually written a Blueys trip report...? Maybe confused with someone else?
>
Sorry for the confusion. It was my fault entirely as my (obviously jaded) memory was of f_ladou and his TR's, of which there are many!

>But regardless, I decided to quickly write one anyway...

I'm glad you did and I thank you for that as it was good reading.
Please do so again whenever relevant!!
☺

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