Incredible Hulk: Rained off of Positive Vibrations
September 10-11, 2011
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Having both wanted to do Positive Vibrations for a long time, Karen and I finally set the time aside to do it and hiked into the Hulk on Saturday. There was one problem: there was a 30% chance of thunderstorms for the next 4-5 days, which got upgraded to 60% on Friday night... but we decided there is only one way to find out if it'll rain or not - and that is by trying to go for it. Driving out of the Bay Area, there was crazy lightning and rain - something I've never seen for this time of year, in the 5 years of living here. Definitely a real storm, I guess! The question was, will it hit the Hulk, or would we be able to sneak in a window of opportunity? I mean, this is California, the weather is not supposed to be bad in summer, ever!

Saturday morning was actually mostly sunny in Bridgeport as we picked up our permit - typically, these thunderstorms don't arrive until the afternoon anyway. So we hiked in, as the sky progressively darkened. Sure enough, 15 minutes after setting up camp it started raining fairly hard - and we were tent bound for a couple of hours. Eventually it stopped so we could make dinner, but then it rained some more. Oh well... typical afternoon/evening thundershower, we thought - it'll be better in the morning. It didn't start raining until 4pm anyway - by that time on Sunday we should be well off the face, if the rain timing works out to be the same (big "if").

Sunday morning, however, was not the blue sky we were hoping for - instead, it looked pretty grey. However, it hadn't rained for a few hours at least, and the rock was dry - so let's go climbing already! We made coffee, ate a couple of bagels and hiked up - starting to climb around 7:30am. We were not in a rush - but perhaps we should have been - around 11am we were on top of pitch 5, and that's when the rain arrived, all too suddenly. Strangely, the sky was looking better in that last hour - and I thought we had it in the bag. It was really cold, but at least it wasn't windy. Still hopeful, we spent about 30 minutes huddled at the belay there while rain was pouring... "It'll stop any minute, and then the sun will come out!" - I kept saying. Eventually, sanity prevailed and we bailed - thankfully straightforward due to double ropes. Thanks to nice anchors and clean pulls we were on the ground in 40 minutes, while a waterfall formed left of the first pitch - yikes! It rained hard on the whole hike out, and we were completely drenched by the time we got to the car... at least there was no second guessing our decision to bail!

  Hiking into the Hulk is always beautiful But the skies are gloomy... Spires on the right side of the Hulk  
  Hiking into the Hulk is always beautiful But the skies are gloomy... Spires on the right side of the Hulk

  Camp is setup Chilling for all of 15 minutes before it started raining Sweet boulders  
  Camp is setup Chilling for all of 15 minutes before it started raining Sweet boulders

  Karen on the first pitch of PV, at the 5.10a bulge Second pitch, 5.10c tips and then 5.10b traverse higher up, but not very sustained (good wake up, however) On the third pitch, before the traverse crux  
  Karen on the first pitch of PV, at the 5.10a bulge Second pitch, 5.10c tips and then 5.10b traverse higher up, but not very sustained (good wake up, however) On the third pitch, before the traverse crux

  The traverse is to that flake on the right The third pitch of Positive Vibrations (on the short side) Cleaning a piece before the  
  The traverse is to that flake on the right The third pitch of Positive Vibrations (on the short side) Cleaning a piece before the "5.11a" traverse (more like 5.10a, or 5.9 if you're tall)

  Starting up the next pitch - easy but spectacular stemming and then a 5.10 bulge followed by sweet fingers at the end, very nice So fun... The end of the fourth pitch  
  Starting up the next pitch - easy but spectacular stemming and then a 5.10 bulge followed by sweet fingers at the end, very nice So fun... The end of the fourth pitch

  Move by move beta :) The 5.10b traverse ends quickly with a jug The exposure is sweet  
  Move by move beta :) The 5.10b traverse ends quickly with a jug The exposure is sweet

  Starting the 5th pitch, while the sky is still blue Clouds are building.. In the 5.10a handcrack on pitch 5 (starts wide/awkward but turns awesome)  
  Starting the 5th pitch, while the sky is still blue Clouds are building.. In the 5.10a handcrack on pitch 5 (starts wide/awkward but turns awesome)

  It's raining, and we're having fun. Here I'm hoping it's just a minor few drops and then everything will dry - hence the smile Karen is amused at the attempt at positive thinking... whlie the rain intensifies Ok, it's not looking good.  
  It's raining, and we're having fun. Here I'm hoping it's just a minor few drops and then everything will dry - hence the smile Karen is amused at the attempt at positive thinking... whlie the rain intensifies Ok, it's not looking good.

  The pitch 6 dihedral (in the rain) :( We waited for a while to see if the storm would pass, but it intensified... My smile is slowly disappearing Karen is also skeptical - note the black clouds above :)  
  The pitch 6 dihedral (in the rain) :( We waited for a while to see if the storm would pass, but it intensified... My smile is slowly disappearing Karen is also skeptical - note the black clouds above :)

  Ok, bailing sucks, but time to do it :( Pouring everywhere... A two minute appearance of the sun gave us a rainbow!  
  Ok, bailing sucks, but time to do it :( Pouring everywhere... A two minute appearance of the sun gave us a rainbow!

  We ate lunch under this boulder/overhang before packing up... Hail Back in camp after successfully rappelling and getting soaked to the bone  
  We ate lunch under this boulder/overhang before packing up... Hail Back in camp after successfully rappelling and getting soaked to the bone

  Badass clouds in the mountains (as seen from Bridgeport) Sunset from the Sonora Pass lookout  
  Badass clouds in the mountains (as seen from Bridgeport) Sunset from the Sonora Pass lookout

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