Tuesday, November 27, 2018

Technical Brush Climbing

Today involved some technical climbing in brush. Our first two attempts to descend a steep bluff were cut off by a vertical drop above the beach. Our third attempt was down through a more recent landslide. The footing was bad due to rooting logs crisscrossed on the ground, the steepness of the slope and slippery soils. The bigger challenge was the thicket of thimble berry with trailing blackberry. 

Geoff working his way back up the slope.
A thick sweat shirt with hood is not a bad gear choice

Geoff making the key crux move

The big plus was the unexpectedly nice weather - sun and 60 degrees in late November was not expected. Much better than the day before with several daily rainfall records broken in the area.

View across Oak Bay to the southern end of Marrowstone Island

Making it to the shore allowed us to assess the lower bluff.

Quimper Sandstone overlain by glacial till
The contact is just above the shovel handle 

Concretions in Quimper Sandstone

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