Notes
First attempt at outdoor rock climbing in Iowa. Chose Pictured Rocks as that is the most revered and it wasn't too far of a drive for Bowser to join me (All sport climbs today).
We started off on Whipper Snapper, a 40ft 5.8. Bowser led and fell many times. He confessed to less than stellar fitness at the moment, but I also fell while cleaning. The rock was simply very smooth and polished. Handholds required a lot of pressing down, and even our feet were prone to slip.
We figured the adjacent 5.8's were similar so we hiked back to find the one of the few 5.7's at a wall (40ft Echoes of Savages) not on many maps yet as it's recently bolted, relatively. I led and enjoyed this one much more. It still felt hard for a 5.7 but it was much more enjoyable.
Now our choices were either going down further to some 5.6's or try some 5.9's as the few other 5.7 or 5.8's all were described as polished. Thankfully some people were at the 5.6 wall so we hiked further out to the 5.9 Angst. Bowser led and said it was great so I led as well. Definitely the best climb so far and started to get optimistic about the crag and confident in our abilities.
We ventured further without a plan but the next wall looked great, it had 2 5.10b's that are about 70ft high. I led Silk Road and got a few bolts before the crux, somehow managed to clip above the crux before taking my first outdoor lead fall. It was from an ideal drop so it felt fine (it would have been rough if I had fallen while trying to clip. It was easier after that but I was barely holding on at times, pretty happy with my effort and a fun route. After Bowser took some time on that one, I got motivated to do the next one as well, Over the Counter. The crux as right after the first bolt so we clipped the 2nd while repelling Silk Road. It was a hard start that took me a try or 2, but after that, it was easier than Silk Road. Pretty sure these were my longest leads as well.
We finished with a 5.9 Schoolio. Bowser led but had troubles finding the sequence. I took over the lead and figured it out. This one was a bit polished as well.
Our conclusion was this is a fine crag. It is limestone, so it seems all the easier climbs have been used a lot and they are wearing down. But the harder climbs seem great. This place has 60+ climbs I believe and probably all but 20 are 5.10 and harder. Looking forward to trying more out and working on projects.