What you are about to read is not fiction...

It was a beautiful Wednesday! The perfect day for Aaron and Lisa to tackle some of the tamer climbs at Willow (or so we thought). The first bad omen was on approach. As Aaron grabbed a tree branch to hoist himself up onto the ledge a 30foot, highly venomous garter snake leaped into the air and almost swallowed Aaron whole. Fortunately, the beast missed it's mark and the climb continued. Lisa decided that she was going to lead "jar of wasps", errr "jar of flies". Gracefully, she made it about half way up on lead before the swarm attacked; she was forced to retreat and send up the infantry to get the draws down and finish the climb. After taking a 10ft lead fall going over the roof, Aaron was also overwhelmed with the onslaught of Central American Killer Bees, and performed Richards magic retreat leaving no gear behind (like a good boyscout). After pulling the rope, the Third Omen appeared: a 4 ft bull snake wrapped up under Lisa's feet. This is when any reasonable person would pack their bags and grab a cold one in Hudson. We, dear readers, are not reasonable. On to "daily grind" it was, as it appeared to host less bees than the prior routes. Aaron took lead and struggled his way past the overhang. Lisa was up next to top rope this route. About 20 feet up, Lisa's right hand slipped out of the crack she was climbing. I swear, she swung half way across the river, giggling the whole time. On the ride home Lisa and Aaron both agreed: this is why we climb.