So on this last Friday we decided that this would be our last day at Orpierre, and that we would drive up to Fontainebleau on the Saturday (to avoid arriving there on Sunday when all the shops would be closed), and then climb at Fontainebleau on Sunday and Monday, then then travel back to England on the Tuesday. So, finally, we woke up to a sunny but still-somewhat-chilly morning at Orpierre.
We ate breakfast and then goofed off on the internet that I had become very attached to for a little bit. It was getting progressively warmer and more pleasant, and essentially becoming like what Orpierre-in-September was supposed to be like.
I took some final photos of the most dramatic part of Orpierre from the campsite (although it isn't the section where all the single-pitch stuff was).
Then we ate lunch and headed up towards the crag. Once we were halfway up, I mentioned to Nick "you have the rope, don't you?" No. So he had to run back down to the car (we were <10 minutes from the car, so it wasn't too bad). Poor Nick: he was really good about carrying both the rope and the quickdraws for the whole trip.
Because we had a limited guidebook, we had already climbed out what was listed on the two popular south-facing crags that had a lot of 5.10s. So, today our choice was a north-facing crag that is apparently quite popular mainly because it is north facing and most of the time it's too hot to climb on the sunny ones. So I jealously watched people climbing in the sun while we trudged over to the Secteur Cascade.
The Secteur Cascade was fun, though, and not too freezing cold. We did several climbs in a section that all seemed to be named after the Seven Deadly Sins -- although the French sins seemed to be a bit different from the English ones when I looked up all their tranlations to make sure I had them right. We ended up doing 7 climbs in the afternoon. I could have done a few more, I think, but Nick was tired and I didn't want to end up getting draws stuck somewhere. We both sent a bunch, but there was one .10d that Nick hung the draws on and got beta for while hanging. Then I went up and flashed it with his draws and his beta. He tried twice more but didn't quite make it either time. He had a little meltdown but got over it. I decided that this limestone climbing was very much my style, and that in general I should probably be trying harder stuff on it -- it was slightly overhanging with lots of crimps and pockets. So I'll have to go back someday -- or at least go back to other limestone areas -- since I think that's where I can send the hardest.
So we went back, had dinner, used the palmtop with wireless a bit more, and went to bed, planning to head off towards Fontainebleau the next morning.
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