Now my mind had had plenty of time to draw a very specific mental picture of what exactly the ‘boulder problem’ looked like. I can assure you that 15 feet of tips liebacking with no feet was not at all what I was anticipating. Suffice to say that on my topo the ‘boulder problem’ of Astroman is now referred to as the ‘aid section’. Rob laughed hard as he casually strolled up this pitch behind me. It must be nice to be strong and have good footwork. Unlike the ‘boulder problem’, I actually had a perfect mental picture of what the ‘enduro corner’ entailed as well. Rated 5.11hard, I can assure you that it feels every bit of 5.11 when it’s nice and wet for the first 100 feet. 

Rob was casually resting at the bomber hand jam 60 feet up when suddenly he fell. No warning, no nothing. Just a quick yelp as he shot out of the slimy crack. To say that I barely hung on for the toprope onsight would be the understatement of the century.  I honestly believe that if a fly had landed on me I probably would have fallen off.  Wow, what a pitch! There is a good reason so many other pitches around the world compare themselves to Astroman’s ‘Enduro Corner’. Unlike most things in life, you can definitely believe the hype! The next two pitches can easily be linked for a monster of a pitch. Olivia Newton-John’s ‘Let’s Get Physical’ comes to mind whenever I think of this marathon. 

It's about here that the combination of too much Wendy’s the night before and the bad eggs for breakfast start to kick in. I begin feeling pretty woozy and Rob got quite a kick out of snapping pictures of me falling asleep at the belays. He takes the S-path through the notorious ‘Harding Slot’ and swears that it’s not bad at all.I was never worried about this pitch but let’s just say that it sure must be nice to be strong and have good footwork AND be really skinny. More perfect rock on slabby terrain take you to the final pitch. The gear on the last pitch is extremely suspect and it has been the sight of several pretty bad accidents over the years. Rob swears that if there was a way to rap the route from here he would (and he hates to rappel). But knowing that the only way off is up, he has gotten through this nightmare section and stood on top. Hike, stumble, crawl, walk, and it’s back to the car.