Frenchman Coulee (Vantage) Sunshine Wall

I hesitate to tell this little secret, but Washington (the state) is more than rain, moss and the Space Needle. 

Saturday and Sunday I took the kids to Vantage to climb The Feathers, a set of weathered basalt pillars near the Columbia river and about 40 minutes from my driveway. 

Above is Frenchman Coulee with some diotomaceous earth in the distance which is sometimes mined and used for things like grit in toothpaste I think.  All of these cliffs were formed, we are told, by the Missoula floods a long time ago.  How long ago is determined by your worldview.

The Feathers, on the Shady side.

Climbing "Shake it, Don't Break it" a 5.5, their first sport route.

Strong enough to push pillars over after sending her first ever sport route.

Me setting the route for the kids.

He wore shoes this time.  I'm attaching webbing for a chest harness to keep him from flipping over on his one meter acent. 

A proud dad belaying his first grader.  After some coaching, encouragement and a bit of light hauling, she got up.

They saw a 5.10A they liked and are already planning their next trip. 

Thanks for reading.

Looks like fun!

Awesome pics. Thanks for posting FStS.

Looks like it might be fun, but I wouldn't put my kids on any rope until they could handle themselves. But that is just me.

Very, very cool. FS2S! I love that you are including and introducing your kids to challenging outdoor activities. I was allowed to climb trees from a very early age, and it was invaluable. The older I got I was permited to climb taller and taller trees, rocks, cliffs, etc. If my dad had been into rock climbing, I am sure I would have been on rock  pretty early. I am sure you take very high precautions with multiple redundancy- there would be more risk walking down a city sidewalk with them.

Thanks Gonz

Paying it forward! The healing power, health benefits and general love/respect for mother nature will be passed down to your next generation. Those kids are gonna remember doing that when they're older..

Last night I talked to my son's Cub Scout den about communications, using Trailspace as the professional example.

Among other things, I showed them this trip report so they could see how communications goes both ways with online publications. And, I figured they'd like to see pictures of other kids climbing and doing fun stuff outside.

humbled, honored.

How cool....those last two pics are precious.

I've been there once and it's a really cool place! I'm not much of a rock climber but it was fun to mess around; had a friend teach me how to lead too. I've forgotten by now though. Glad you had a great time, thanks for the pics! Here's one of my pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bccarlso/3876818540/in/photostream

No Way!

We just Climbed that route (looks like Don Coyote) last Friday!

Well, I didn't lead it.  A 71 yr old guy put up our rope for us and we toproped it. 

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