Saturday was fairly cloudy, very hazy, and very very windy. It was great Brandaris climbing weather, but we couldn't see much from the top once we got there. It was fun anyway. The scenery on Brandaris itself is varied and unusual.

Here is a shot of the transition from the lower part of the climb, which is a user friendly path, to the rock scramble up the edge of a ridge.

Based on my windsurfing experiences, I'd say the wind was 35 mph. at the top and maybe more. Jon Savage created a home made anemometer out of a 5 foot piece of three eighths inch rope with a rock tied on the end. The wind pretty much stretched this rope/rock combo straight out parallel to the ground. We were going to calibrate this precision instrument later by driving on a windless road and seeing how fast we had to go do make the rock stand out straight like it was doing up on Brandaris. But the rock got lost somewhere on the descent, so now we'll never know.

We took about a hour on the ascent and about 45 minutes to come back down. Ben and Cort Tangeman could have probable done the ascent in about half that time. Here they are enjoying the view while everyone catches up. The descent is easier on the heart and lungs than climbing, but the footing is quite loose in many places to one has to be really careful not to fall or twist an ankle.

I've posted a number of photos on our club photo site. Scroll down to the bottom of the page of thumbnails to see the pictures from this particular Brandaris climb.