Bouldering at Pirate's Cove

This Sunday I climbed at a small little sandstone crag called Pirate's cove in Corona Del Mar. It's a line of about 15 foot tall cliffs along a sandy beach right next to Newport Harbor.

The climbing was less than stellar, as many of the holds are made of sand, and basically you end up rubbing them down with each climbing attempt. Also, with sand on the bottom of your shoes, the holds are dreadfully slippery. This being a bouldering crag (no ropes), you also have to deal with the fact that if your foothold blows then you fall (on sand, (or people)). There was one fun traverse that involved getting one hand on a big sloping hold, and swinging your feet out without footholds, then grabbing the huge handhold with the other hand.

The bizarre part was when this lifeguard came up to us, and went on a rant about how when we climb, little kids there see us and want to emulate us. Then they fall and get hurt. So therefore we shouldn't climb. "Think of the children!" We climbed anyway, but mentioned to any kids that happened to look our way that they shouldn't try this at home.

The beach was pretty disgusting actually. There was a ton of trash, and actually a few used diapers just sitting on the beach! It's a sad state where some people care so little that they would just leave a diaper sitting on a public beach! Before lunch, we washed our hands *very* well, due to the probable high bacterial content of the sand there.

Probably not a crag I'll be going to again.