Ring ring|
"Hello, its Dave , I mean Indiana, Shield. I'v got a plan you might be interested in"
"is it illegal, Dave? I mean Indy?"
"No, buts it s a bit…esoteric"
"Ah. immoral, then?"
"No, I think we should go & climb at Eavestone."
"Eavestone, Dave….Indy? But thats just a legend! A drunken story you hear told at nights round the campfires of the High Peak! A wild rumour whispered from climber to climber in the bunkhouses of the Dales. Eavestone is dead, Dave, if it ever existed, drowned under the rains of the last three years and buried beneath the Yorkshire jungle"
"But Peri, I'v been there. With the dog. And its still there. Cut off from the rest of Yorkshire by the encroaching forest for millions of/a few years, there are 18 craglets scattered round two lakes, and some of them have some really good routes, although we might need to excavate them a bit. While fighting off the stegosaurs and pterodactyls which have survived there. Read the new gritstone guide!"
"What, the one with the incredibly fit looking climber on page 505?"
"The very same, although all I can see on that page is a fat bumbly on a Severe. The guide says : ' …In its heyday of active development, diligently cleaned by local activists, Eavestone offered scores of genuinely fine climbs. Since then the crag has fallen into neglect and is now a shadow of its former self . The routes are still there, waiting to reward those climbers with a sense of adventure and the wit to deal with the jungle….' . I'v had a bit of a look, and the routes have become green, lichenous and mossy, and are probably not suitable for beginners or inexperienced leaders, but you'll be really impressed by some of the buttresses, we could take a look …theres a lovely arete I fancy…. "
"Ok Dave, I'm in. Lets go now while the weathers good, before the summer monsoon hits and the hordes of prehistoric midges descend. I'v heard climbers lingering there after 6pm have been carried away screaming by giant insects, and in late summer the crag is haunted by Harvest Mites that bite your sensitive bits and leave you scratching for days. I'll bring a brush and possibly a JCB"
So we went.