Joy, Joel and I sneaked out of Lafayette in the dead of night. The plan was to get to Stone Mtn at about 9am and start climbing right away. That's what we did, after stopping at the gate of the park to wake two very grumpy individuals by name Andy and Bob. Bob, Andy, Matt (Squarebeard) and Kalin got to the base of the rock while I was racking up for Block Route.



While we were there, we took three different routes to the Tree Ledge (see pic) and Block Route (5.8) was probably the easiest. The crux is a well protected mantle move in a sea of 4th class. The other routes we did to the tree ledge were quite scary (and therefore, felt hard?): U-Slot (5.7) has delicate moves far above gear; and Entrance Crack (5.4) is only protectable with off-width gear.



On the left edge of the tree ledge is Great Arch (5.5) - one of the most aesthetic lines I have seen (see pics). The climbing is easy and well protected (medium to small gear). Joel, Joy and I climbed it while Andy, Bob, Kalin and Matt climbed No Alternative.



No Alternative (5.5) is another classic moderate. It starts from the right edge of the tree ledge. The first pitch is along a fat flake (see pic) and is easily protected. The second and third pitches are easy but very runout.



The cold gusts took the wind out of most of our sails but Joel lead off and did the first pitch of Yardarm (5.8-).



Bob kept a nice warm fire going; and, aided by some cold beverages, we had an interesting and amusing conversation that we didn't remember very well the next morning.



Joel, Joy and I started early and climbed U-Slot, No Alternative and both pitches of Yardarm. Bob, Andy, Matt and Kalin climbed a couple of routes to the tree ledge and did some bouldering before they left on their long drive (about 9hrs :-) back.



Shortly before the sun went down, the light changed to an orange yellow, that gave the rock a different hue altogether (see pic).



The next morning was cold, cloudy and windy. A foray to the tree ledge via the Entrance Crack lead to the recovery of Joy's shoes. Joel then made a very balsy lead of the first pitch of Electric boobs (5.9+) - 3 bolts, 120 ft. For me, this climb redefined the term "viable foothold".



A stop over at Waffle House to satisfy elemental cravings for grease, meat and grits and we made our long drive (12 hrs including two food stops) back.



In summary, the Stone is a great destination with a few easy and fun trad routes, and a bunch of hard sparsely bolted slab face climbs.