The extended family had gathered in Santa Clarita at my sister's home for
Christmas as has become custom and I thought it might be fun to see if any of
them would be interested in doing some rappel practice at Vasquez Rocks, the
iconic film location about 30min away. We didn't get a large response, but we
had nephew Jake joining Ryan, Jackie and brother Jim for a few hours' fun. We
parked in the large lot south of the main rock, then climbed the feature from
that side up steep, sloping slabs to the highpoint. There are three bolts
located near the top, but there are no hangers attached, rendering them useless
for our purposes. Instead, we used three cams in a convenient crack at the
highest point to build an anchor to which we attached a 50m rope. The rappel
dropped down in three stages, the last with a 20-foot overhang that provided
a fun bit of free rappeling. We did not get as much rappel work in as I had
expected, mostly because each rappel requires the main rock to be reclimbed,
and though not all that high, the effort to reach it would take it's toll.
Jake in particular was
pretty winded after climbing it a third time. Jackie got the most raps in with
four and seemed to enjoy it the most. The two moms had initially started the
climb up to the top but turned back when as it grew progressively steeper,
eventually choosing to watch from the roadway below. Only later did they remark
that it made them considerably nervous watching their children engage in what
looks like risky behavior. That feeling never seems to fade, even as we watch
them grow into adults...
