With its wildflowers, abundant wildlife, and sparkling, emerald panoramas, Mt. Diablo State Park is an East Bay must-see for any visitor, but it's also a popular destination for climbers. Jonathan and I have climbed there multiple times over the years. The photo at left shows me atop the Lower Tier at Boy Scout Rocks, preparing to rappel down Amazing Face (5.10a). Over my right shoulder you can see a formation aptly named Butt Rock. 

This seems like a good time to mention that, if you're going to be a climber, you'll need to develop both tough fingers and thick skin. Butt Rock, Butt Crack, and Butt Hole are fairly innocuous as route names go. There are many far more potentially "offensive" names out there. In 2010, the Swedish Climbing Federation chairman moved to ban all offensive route names in Sweden "after sport climber and historian Cordelia Hess found certain route names offensive at a crag in Gaseborg, Sweden. She told a Swedish newspaper, Dagens Nyheter, that the Nazi-themed names, such as Swastika, Himmler, Hitler and Third Reich, 'trivialize the suffering of Jews during the Holocaust.'" As Meghan Ward notes in response to this story on the Alpinist blog, "By tradition, deciding route names is an honor given to those who first ascend a route. Often these names are inside jokes between climbers. For many, to legislate the naming process would take away the fun and spontaneity that leads to these names in the first place." Fair warning: If you're easily offended, climbing outdoors may be fraught with more anxiety than necessary for you.

Today I'll focus on a single Butt Rock climb we completed with some friends in April 2009.

Objective: Butt Rock, Boy Scout Rocks

Route(s): Butt Crack (5.4), Butt Face Direct (5.7), Butt Face (5.8)

Style: Top Rope

Level: Easy/Beginner

Approach: Drive up and park. Short walk.

After a year's sabbatical, Jonathan and I are back on the wall. It feels good and, to keep our spirits high, I thought I'd do some retrospective chronicling of our past climbs together. LEFT: Me, topped out on Deep Dish on The Leaning Tower of Pizza.

Climbing. It's a sport we picked up together shortly after we'd begun dating in 2003. (As an aside of sorts, I highly recommend that couples just starting out take a stab at indoor climbing. Climbing requires trust, respect, sensitivity, and constant verbal communication. There is no better way to bond with one another.) For the first few years, we stuck to the plastic. Our membership at Diablo Rock Gym in Concord, California was a necessary expenditure every month. Eventually, following the organic progression of climbing, we moved outdoors. In California, that meant easy access to all types of rock almost year-round.

In May of 2009, we took a road trip down the Eastern Sierra, from the east entrance of Yosemite National Park to Joshua Tree National Park, with a pit stop of a few days in and around Bishop.

From our campsite near Big Pine, we drove an hour south to visit the famous Alabama Hills Recreation Area, backdrop for classic TV westerns (The Gene Autry Show and The Lone ranger) and blockbuster films (Iron Man and Transformers). Our car kicked up a dramatic cloud of dust as we rolled along Movie Flat Road; we clenched our jaws tight as we rattled over the washboard.

Objective: Leaning Tower of Pizza

Style: Sport Climbing

Level: Easy/Beginner

Approach: Drive up and park.