REI Garage Sale/ Groom Creek

So this previous weekend Jamie, Sarah, and I headed down to the REI garage sale to pick up some cheap gear. We camped out in front of the store the night before. By 8 AM that morning the line had grown to over 150 people. Since we had camped out the previous night we were within the first 20 people. I had never been to an REI garage sale previously, and I must say it is worth it. The garage sale is a mad house and it's really funny to just step back and watch the madness unfold as manners go out the window and people will do whatever it takes to get the gear they want. I did manage to get a North Face Tadpole 23 tent for less than $50, which I was very psyched about. I also got a few cheap shirts. After the garage sale I was happy to get the hell out of the shit hole they call Phoenix. It was over 95 degrees by noon, and that's in October! So we headed back up to higher elevation. We went to a Prescott local spot called Groom Creek which sits around 6,000 feet. It's really good granite although it was still a little warm for good friction. We climbed at the Island first where we warmed up and Jamie and Sarah did a cool climb called Zorro. I did a few warm up climbs and a couple of classics. Face Lift and the Fang were both really good moderate classics for that spot. I scoped out the Crucible and am definitely going to give it a try once it cools off. We also met a Prescott local named Jared while we were at the Island. After climbing there for a bit we headed to the one of the main areas. There I dispatched a climb called Moonstone after a few tries. Moonstone is a classic climb that starts under a low roof and climbs out on slots with poor feet at the end. After doing that one I turned my attention to a climb to the left called New Moon, also known as Eclipse. I was able to figure out all the moves, but by that point I ran out of time and was too tired to link it up. I'll be back for that climb and also the link-up of Eclipse and Moonstone. Currently I'm recovering from an upper respiratory infection, but soon I'll be back to climbing. Hopefully I'll get to climb at the draw on Wednesday and then maybe Joe's Valley this weekend.