Context: I’ve been giving micro-dosing a whirl over the past month, with the occasional very perceptible doses for the giggles; three days on, two days off, with half of what another vendor (LucySkyDiamonds) reports to be 120µg tabs (took a bit of experimenting to find the sub-perceptable dose for me). The day before this trip report was day one of the three days on, and I had taken that dose as normal as I didn’t expect this order to arrive so soon but was excited to give a whirl soon after arrival. I did my typical order recieving process (start draft an order review /post/ec39bca45552717e9eaf, reagents, etc.) and called up a couple people to go rock climbing in the mountains (elevation at the base of the crag we picked is about 8100ft) the next day.
Climbing basic concepts (skip if you already know what trad is):
CLIMBING IS INHERENTLY DANGEROUS IN SO MANY WAYS, MANY OF THOSE DANGERS BEING POTENTIALLY LETHAL – DO NOT ATTEMPT TRAD CLIMBING WITHOUT APPROPRIATE GUIDANCE AND TRAINING
Trad climbing is rock climbing with the use of rope(s) and pieces of equipment that are not permanently fixed into the rock and do not leave scars when they are removed (no hammers and pitons). Pieces of gear vary in size, shape, and best types of placements. The pieces of gear are placed by the lead climber, as they ascend, and their rope is clipped into each. When a climber falls above their last clipped piece, trying to get further to place another, they will fall at least twice the distance to their last piece plus any slack in the system. Assuming the piece holds that’s the end of the fall, but if not the next piece will hopefully catch and hold. Anchors are comprised of several high quality placements to mitigate chances of failure there, as that’d mean everyone takes a lethal fall. As the lead climber climbs, their partner gives them more rope to climb with or catches their fall and act as a counter weight as needed. Once the lead climber is done climbing, the belayer ascends and removes the pieces of gear placed. Often a pair will alternate who takes lead on a particular pitch. A climbing pitch is the distance climbed between two anchors, and can vary greatly based on route and climbing style. I have been climbing my whole life, and enjoy what trad climbing makes possible to discover without leaving a trace of having been there.
Our method as a group of three: I lead each pitch, with either of them belaying, and fix myself into the anchor. They would then opperate identical to a climber/belayer situation by ascending on a seperate rope using placements I’d made and augmenting with their own placements if needed. Once the third was coming up, they’d remove all placements as they went and hand it back to me for the next pitch. At any point that I felt comprimised judgement for safety, or they percieved this, they would take lead. We agreed to each piece needing a score of 1-5 being called out by me and then verified by them on their ascent as a way to ensure there was no mistakes in judgment taking place; I’m all for the views and good times, but I’d like to see more.
We arrived as close as we could to the crag but the path was pretty wrecked in the last half mile due to snow melt, so we parked and did some quick math on the timing for the dose; I wanted to catch the sunset from the top, about 135m of climbing but only about 114m up above the ground. I decided to take two of Epigrams Love Light blotts (200µg total) where we parked, and began the schlep up the remaining elevation and distance.
Upon reaching the base of the wall, I started to get little stars in my vision and the first hint of visual distortions (very light trails and everything seemed more saturated in color than last time I’d been out there); we arrived at drop-time plus 30 min (DT+:30). I was quite relieved to drop my pack off as I was carrying enough trad gear to run this route twice, one of the ropes, and the hopefully unneccesary rescue kit of gear to get our asses off the cliff (TLDR didn’t need it thankfully). Though we knew it would be a little cumbersome to run a team of three up this particular route, it was worth it for everyone despite that as they’d not done it yet and, for my end, it’s good to have a couple sober people on the cliff with you when you fry.
It took us another 30min to discuss the route and get ready for me to lead the first pitch, which ran into my obligatory DT+1:00 snack time. Kiwis, strawberries, and some oats which tasted amazing. Until I looked up from the small bowl of fruit, I hadn’t noticed the world around me was breathing and the trip had certainly begun. What I found pleasently peculiar was the swiftness of the shift to this state, despite having dosed the day before, and that I might have a more interresting second and third pitch of the climb than initially expected.
Not long into the climb, I had the thought that climbing is like a dance with the rock which was amusing and stuck with me for the remainder of the day likely impacting the route I took*. While I ascended, I began to notice colors shifting in the rock subtly. This was accompanied by a shift in the contrasts on shadows, which allowed things to have a sort of raised appearance. Feeling into cracks and pockets to size for placements was notably different than normal; I cannot visualize things, but I can form a tactile ‘inprint’ of sorts despite it not being visualized. This ‘imprint’ was what was peculiar, as it shifted much as visual perception of the rock was doing. Despite this, I was finding it easier to more accurately select and place a piece in a space. I didn’t have this realization until DT+1:45 after I finshed the climb, set an anchor up, and began pulling rope. This was my first opportunity to look out over the forest below, as I lapped the rope, and was taken aback by the beauty of it despite its scars. There were shifts in the lighting around, which didn’t coincide with the cloud movement, as I looked out and noticed how easy it was to get lost in the ambience of the area. There was such a vibrancy of color, which was shifting around as it was on the rock but much more noticably.
By DT+2:45 they were both up there next to me, and had me back on belay ready to go for the next pitch. They jokingly gave me a little shit for stitching it up (placing more than is probably needed) but in the same breathes thanked me for the caution none-the-less and affirmed the placements were all of sound judgement. With a bit of reminding on their part about my planned timing, we determined to blend the second and third pitches together making this next pitch just shy of 80m (length of my rope); looking up at what could be seen of the climb to come, I was excited. Looking forward, it was as though the rock texture were that of a slow creek with how it flowed. I smiled, and set to the climb ahead. Roughly halfway through, I hear them asking me (over radio as we were out of sight) when my last placement was, which was when I realized I had just gotten into the mountain dance rythym and not been calling the placement grades out. I caught them up on my status, checked my watch (DT+3:15), and set back to the climb. “3…” “3…” “2…” I stopped being able to fully trust my tactile ‘imprint’ about two thirds up as I making a placement and slipped. FALLING The feeling was simultaneously terrifying and exhilarating. I prefer to fall facing the ground and see what’s coming, others prefer to look at the sky to relax and wait for the rope to catch. I felt my last piece catch, and was enjoying the rushing bright colors as they hurtled towards me. Grinding – POP! – the piece exploded out My fall was only slowed by the first piece and I noticed a marked shift in what colors were shifting through the landscape to more reds with much less saturation of other colors. Moments later a gong was set off in my vision, shaking away the desaturated colors with ripples. The rope catch had to have been soft, as it was about 25ft I fell (there’s a bit of math behind the physics of why that makes for a softer catch on dynamic ropes), but I noticed everything was still again without ripples. I beeped the radio to let them know I was ready to continue on. I regretted not wearing a thicker jacket at this point, as there was a breeze coming in which seemed to add a sharpness to everything even visually. Despite not being able to fully trust everything I was seeing and feeling, I still felt connected to the rock and as though it were beckoning me to solve its puzzle. I could see the path to take as it remained in more defined clarity seemingly glowing, and hoped that I wasn’t misplacing my trust in the placements. I got to the top and set up an anchor (DT+4:10). Looking out at the skyline I could see the sun getting ready to set, and hustled the rest of my rope up (let them know I was set first of course). I was starting to really feel the cold, and not in a happy way. Thankfully this was a fleeting feeling washed away once I looked back out at the sunset. I felt the warmth of sunbathing as I watched it, even though I know full well there was no added warmth in that time. I wish there was a way to photograph what is seen in someone elses mind, as the view was nothing short of awe inspiring. The best I can do for anyone that read this far is offer a photograph of that sunset, and my regret that I am not able to convey my view of it any better than I have: https://anonfiles.com/P244Z3l4z4/sunset_jpg
They joined me, remarked we were about 50ft left and 50ft up from where the route is supposed to go*, and we all set to rappel down. With the clouds and sun set it was dark by the time we all were on the ground and DARK by the time we started back to where we parked (DT+7:00) and nothing more to note for this report. I was quite thankful for the experience and appreciated the company I had along the way. They both reported back having had a great time with the couple tabs I’d gifted each of them after getting back home, but I don’t believe either to be on the darknet to write their reports nor am I particuarly inclined to show them the way.
Stay safe but live a little,
Slippy
Side note: Went to post this a couple days ago and realized these “I’m human” verifications are a bear to manage tripping. Sorry for the delay =P