Yesterday for Father's Day, Team G met up with Jack and his wife to check out a few bouldering areas. The weather was OK, but it is the rainy season so all of the boulders under trees or overhanging were wet. We were not able to climb anything but it was sure nice to see these boulders for the first time.

The first area is home to the Cabin boulder. A tall, steep block that sits very secluded next to a beautiful river making this boulder a great alternative to the Mitake Gorge. There are about seven problems here ranging from v1 to v-hard. The boulders here are the same as Mitake, chert, but much less frequently visited. I will be making my way back when the weather changes for the better.

The next area was near the Black Tea Cafe. On the water, below the cafe sit about six or seven boulders in a variety of sizes and difficulties. The nicest of these boulders is the Black Tea boulder. There are seven problems on this boulder from what I could see. A nice clean corner and a blocky overhang make this boulder a gem in my eyes. I had seen this boulder in the past and wanted to climb it but, it was August and too humid. I will visit this one again in September.

The name sake to this area, Black Tea Cafe, is amazing. The cafe is a traditional Japanese restaurant offering a large variety of foods. Luckily for us we had Jack and his wife with us to order for us. We started with a small sampler of tofu, pickled veggies, apricot, and river shrimp. Next was the main course of table grilled chicken, veggies, and river trout. All of the food is cooked on the table on fresh coals. The fish is served whole. We were told that it was OK to eat the guts due to the fishes diet of algae. We tried everything. Then there was the tempura, sea weed rice, and dessert. Dessert was a sweet tomato in a "soda" water. This was surprisingly good. All I can say is thanks to Jack for spending the day with us and ordering great food. You rock!!!

This past weekend was spent at the climbing gym. The weather here is very hit or miss and the best way to get a nice workout in is to go to a gym and really push it. It will rain for days then be sunny for an afternoon, then start raining again at 5pm. Not enough time for the rock here to dry. But it is OK, Caramba and Base Camp are very close. I spent most of my weekend on routes at Base Camp. And it looks like I will be headed to BC tomorrow too.

Enjoy the photos from my first Father's Day. I thought black and white was appropriate since were went to the Black Tea Cafe.


Go Climb Something!!!!!