Stony Point ^2x

Not much of hike, this one, but a summit nonetheless. We spent Thanksgiving in the San Fernando Valley at my sister's place, and the next day took all the kids to Stony Point for some bouldering and scrambling. The place was busy as one might expect on a beautiful day that is better known as "Black Friday". We played around on the smaller of two large rocks that make up the bouldering area on the southwest side of Stony Point. There were several other groups at the bigger rock working on some decidedly more athletic problems while the kids took turns at scaling the smaller rock on its various facets. Several tried their hands (and feet) at the easiest route on the larger rock's south side, but none managed it.

We took the easiest route (that I know of) to the summit of Stony Point via the south side that has some easy class 3 grooves near the summit. A few of our party declined this last part, opting to enjoy their lattes at a lower elevation. The summit consists of a large area with two primary summit blocks, one to the east and the highest one to the west. Ryan had scrambled up and down this class 3-4 block before the rest of us had even reached the summit area. Only six of our party managed to climb the west block, while the parents watched, often nervous. I spotted most of the climbers from below and helped with the foot and hand holds. Ryan managed to find a second, more difficult route to the summit to the left of the easiest route - even I was nervous watching that one. He also choose a dynamic descent, involving a leap to a landing on a lower boulder. Just before he leaped, my cousin said to me with some concern, "You're not going to let him do that, are you?" My reply, "Yeah, I think I am." It's possible I'm a bad parent.

It had taken some time to get folks up and down the west block and when I asked if anyone wanted to tackle the slightly easier east block, only Jackie was interested. She watched me go up and down it, then repeated the moves in similar fashion herself. She has the makings of a good climber. The two of us soon caught up to the others on the descent back to the bouldering area and then to the cars. We were there for little over an hour and a half, all having a good time. Except for Bridget - she got stung by a bee on the neck during the descent. She and her parents had showed up for just the last half hour and hadn't even climbed to Stony Point with the rest of us. My guess is she won't be interested in a return visit anytime soon...

Author:

Is this a correction?