Potrero John- December 2009

Carlo, Max and I had back to back adventures on the upper Sespe early this month where we explored Potrero John creek and climbed at the PJ Slab.

None of us had ever been up PJ creek before but I could reckon from my map that the trail was easy and that we could push up the canyon in speedy alpine fashion. Carlo and I organized our gear for the day, packed some lunch, stuffed the rucks, then drove up to Oak View and scooped up Max.
Even though it was overcast and pissy down in Ventura, as we drove up the 33 the sky cleared up and I could tell we would have some great hiking weather. We launched from the PJ trailhead and moved quickly through the narrows at the mouth of the canyon and were soon climbing up through the sunny stretches of the lower canyon. The trail was in great shape and the hiking was easy and the views of Pine Mountain and Reyes Peak to the north of us were spectacular.
After 40 minutes of hiking we arrived at the PJ trail camp where we saw a group of backpackers intent on braving the cold December night. It was pretty cool already at 3 pm, so the temperature must have dropped considerably that night. In fact, the boys and I saw patches of frost in parts of the canyon that don’t see the sun this time of year. Burrrr.
Any ways, we continued on another 5 minutes and found ourselves a nice little picnic spot on the creek near a small waterfall.

This put us just over 2 miles up the canyon.
After a quick snack, the boys started exploring the area while ran up the trail another quarter mile. Somewhere, way back in the canyon I am told, is a large waterfall. I followed the trail until it ran out and I didn’t see anything. The falls must be further back so we’ll have to come back another time to investigate.

When I got back to our picnic spot, Carlo and Max were still doing their thing so I let play continue and just enjoyed the scene. After an hour or so we decided we’d had enough and rolled up the gear, picked up our trash and let out down the trail. We walked past the backpackers on the way down the canyon as they were heading up. They were some older folks, two men and a woman and we exchanged greetings as we passed each other on the trail. The view on the rest of the walk down was stunning but before we knew it, we were back at the trailhead. We shot a couple more pics, jumped in the truck and drove down the road a ways to the PJ slab.
There is a route there I’ve wanted to show the boys, so we parked, crossed the Sespe and checked out the crag. I first showed them the sport routes on the main wall and then took around the corner to the newbie slab. The boys were into it idea of coming back another time to get busy on top rope. We spent about 20 minutes at the PJ slab and then got back into the truck and drove on down the road.

After checking out the PJ Slab, we made a stop at a place called Middle Sespe (formerly known as Beaver Camp), to check out some boulders that we saw from the road. Before we even got out of the truck, we were overwhelmed by what was essentially a trash heap for gun toting rednecks. From the parking area, all the way down to the Sespe we encountered a ton of trash, TVs and old computers and other household appliances all shot to hell, and littered everywhere we looked the ground was littered with various shotgun and bullet casings. There were so many shells on the ground I mistook them for leaves at first. Fucking gross and very sad.
The temperature seemed to be dropping fast so we cut the exploration of Middle Sespe short and headed for home. As we started to pull away, we noticed that the clouds over Ventura and Ojai had crept further inland and were now wafting over Dry Lakes Ridge and pouring into Rose Valley and Lion Canyon. Kind of creepy and cool driving through the clouds. Anyways, we managed to get home safe and sound to adventure another day.


That day came one week later when the boys and I went back to the PJ Slab to have a go at the newbie wall.
We planned for a Sunday, but I would have to be home by noon so I could be to work by 1430. Carlo and I left Ventura at 0800, picked up Max and were at the crag by 0845. Once again, we were gifted with perfect climbing weather; cool and sunny.
My plan was to build a top rope anchor over the main section of the wall, which was heavily featured with many positive holds, splitting cracks and seams. The main crack system up the face is a route called Beginnings and goes on trad lead or toprope at 5.5, easy stuff. The approach to the top of the wall is pretty easy and straight forward and I gave it a once over before I hauled my gear up there to set up the anchor. I tied off a big rock at the top with an old climbing rope, extending it over the edge with a sling and tied off another large rock with my cordelette to back it up. After having the boys bounce test the anchor and rapping off it myself for good measure, I was satisfied with its security.

Today would be Max’s first day on a rope, so I explained to him what climbing on toprope is all about, how the anchor works, how the belay device works and so on. After putting their shoes on Carlo showed Max how to put on his harness and buckle it properly (watch one, do one, teach one), then explained to him how he’s gonna tie in to the climbing rope. After looking things over and satisfied with the anchor security, it was time to climb.
Carlo went up first, taking his time through the first crux, and then charged his way through the second to the top, good beginner on-sight. He went up a second time, attempting a more “bouldery” start just to the right of the main crack, avoiding the reachy moves used to get over the first crux. It took him a couple tries but he eventually worked it out and cruised the rest of the route.
I tied Max in next, checked his harness and coached him on the first few moves. He told me that he was really nervous so I assured him that he was safe and I told him he could back off the route any time.

So he pulled himself together and up he went. Max struggled with the route at first, falling from the first crux a couple times. I think that falling on the rope gave him some confidence because he started to make bolder and bolder moves to the point where I could tell he was trusting the holds he was hanging on and moving his feet pushing himself higher and higher.

After about a half a dozen falls, Max topped out and not to be out-done by Carlo, asked to have a second go at it. He cruised it the second time without any falls and even finished the route with a variation of the final moves at the top. Well done.
The boy took turns at third and fourth goes and then started working out the beginning moves of some route variations the rocks face, just to the right of the rocks main crack system. There are some other boulder type problems close by and the slab and I let the boys explore for a while on their own while I broke down the anchor and rolled up the gear.
At around 11:30 we had to get things packed up and head on down the road. Another good day of climbing.