real rock in Austin

It must be so sweet to have a nice set of crags in town! Well, decent at least -- single-pitch climbs up to 80' or so, I'd say. Austin has that in a small gorge that cuts through the south side of town, the Barton Springs green belt.

And, I was told that I could just show up, and people would be happy to let me on their ropes. I found this surprising, but it was true. (Somebody else there expressed that they, too, had been quite surprised by this when they arrived.)

I took two failed tries at a 5.9, a failed try at another 5.9, and made it up something else that was rated 5.10c. I dunno about ratings. I will say that the rock there -- limestone; slick, humid, slippery, smooth limestone -- made me really like the granite we have on the Eardley escarpment. (The locals call it "Texas Slimestone".)

Hopefully getting out to another larger/more varied climbing area called Reimers Ranch on Saturday, before heading to Houston.

Then, maybe back to the greenbelt Thursday next week. It seems people are there in largish groups on Tuesdays and Thursdays.