Take.....

Photo courtesy of Steph Carson
I was maybe 40 feet off the ground on a route called Cheaper than a Movie. There was a sticker bush in front of me. I didn't want to climb through it so I placed a tiny purple cam in the crack and told Mike ,my belayor,"Take". The rope came tight and I went to work on the offending sticker bush with a pocket knife. It was sharp and in a minute or two the bush was gone. the thought struck me just then, you know...if that piece works loose and I fall with this knife in my hand ,it could be bad. I folded the knife and dropped it in my pocket. The very instant the knife hit the bottom of my pocket I heard a scraping pop and I was airborn! Mike nearly fell of the ledge but caught me and himself at the same time. It's unbelievable how fast falls happen. You drop 15 feet in a split second. No time for reaction. When I looked up I noticed I had backed up the piece that caught my fall. I think now that I should have done the same with that tiny purple cam. I wondered why no one else had bothered to clean that bush but the route leans so far right ,there's no way to do it on rappel. The rest of the route went by no problem. It's such great climbing and super long for a Red River route that I have to take some friends along next time and get the send. Mike and I spent the rest of the day working the sport routes there and I bagged a new trad line I dubbed, Rinse and Repeat, that is unremarkable, but thank you to Jared for the FA on it. You are the Drill Master Dude! Vrrrrdp.theres a bolt! If you want to get on the new route just do the sport line next to it instead. It's way better.