The Afterglow....

...of my first lead. Yes, it was dark, and though my partner swears this was because I was slooooowwwww, I am pretty damned sure that it was he who was the slowpoke....Of course, he was packing 60 pounds and didn't have a headlamp on. Silly rabbit. Anyway, he had the foresight to grab my camera and snap my picture as soon as he went off anchor, for posterity. The climb is a 5.5 that has seen only 5 or 6 climbs before this one. I did well, was calm and rational, and made a clean ascent. I feel pretty lucky to have an interesting first lead, and not some popular beginner's lead at the Gunks(not that there's anything wrong with that). Photo by Curt Johnson.