Mount Frankland Trip Report

Mt Frankland Trip Report

Saturday, 4 March 2017 to Monday, 6 March 2017

Notwithstanding the dire predictions of rain, members who attended the trip were rewarded with three fun days of climbing.

The Monday in particular saw Mt Frankland in prime condition, perhaps a tad on the warm side, but dry as a bone.

Last year saw the trip being cancelled twice due to the poor weather conditions. So this is the first time CAWA had been down to Mt Frankland as a trip since 2015, which was great as I have been hanging out to head to Mt Frankland to have a crack at Hannibal.

Mt Frankland team members included as follows:

Dirk Klicker
Lucy Foote
Linda Antoncich
Neal Antoncich
Pip Ravn
Lilly Wong
Anya Greenfield
Maya Mallett
Bryant Ware
Anna Maddocks

There were a few last-minute cancellations with some questionable excuses. I have made up only one of the excuses listed below:

I’m having problems with my car.
There’s an election on next weekend.
Something came up at work that I have to resolve.
The dog ate my homework.

For the record: There’s usually plenty of people offering a lift on CAWA trips. There’s an election every year. There’s plenty of time to do work and redo your homework driving there and back.

The first day, Saturday, saw us climbing in the clouds. The headwall looked ominous in the mist. But, the main thing was the rock was dry enough and we were all climbing and having fun. Hurray! The rain held out for most of the day before it started to drizzle. Everyone got some classic Mt Frankland slab climbing under their belts. Then headed back to camp for dinner, where I was super jealous of Pip’s $13 steaks, whereas I had the standard-last-minute-pack-can of beans.

It didn’t rain all night and the second day looked to be epic. We got off to a lazy and slow start to give the rock time enough to try from the drizzle the afternoon before. But, when we got there, to our dismay, it was totally wet. Completely unclimbable. Mt Frankland must have been the only place to have been rained on, in the whole of the South West. So it was off to Plan B, Monkey Rock. When we got there, Monkey Rock was absolutely baking in the sun and the march flies were running rampant. The weather contrast between the crags was amazing. The team pretty much climbed all the new sport routes on offer. Monkey Rock really does make a fun second option if Mt Frankland is wet.

The weather improved steadily and for the third day, Monday, the weather was perfect, maybe a tad warm. We got off to an early start and everyone got a bunch of climbing done. The perfect way to end the trip indeed.

Honourable mentions on the trip included:

The wife (Melissa Klicker) for looking after the twins while I was climbing:)
All for braving the poor weather predictions.
All for braving the march flies.
Lucy for helping me read the mini-guides, doing quite a few leads and her first 18.
Lilly, Anya and Maya for coming all the way down to climb on Saturday. My hat goes off to you.
Linda’s effortless second of Hannibal. It’s all in the foot work.
Anna’s huge grin on topping out on Monkey Puzzle, Monkey Rock.
Pip’s euphoric cries on finding a certain undercling hold.
Anna and Bryant for trying to forge a new path to the back of Monkey Rock.
Bryant for preparing for his thesis interview on the drive down and back.