Two years ago Charlie Barrett came to town. Charlie likes big boulders. He also likes conspiracy theories, childish pranks and Pabst Blue Ribbon. His most impressive addition to Leavenworth bouldering during his relatively short stay is a proud direct finish to an already intimidating line, the Ruminator. This old school toprope's crux is in the first two moves, steep pulls into an easier crack top out that looms over some jumbled blocks. Charlie's line, while having a more uniform landing, tackles the boulders tallest aspect and includes some desperately long moves.
Charlie offered to try and repeat the problem, which he dubbed Cremation of Care, if I was interested in getting some photos. My only problem with the plan was my lack of film. The only roll I found in my fridge's butter drawer was a super low iso slide film, the kind that makes people look like tomatoes. I was a little dissapointed with the results but I think Charlie's effort deserves at the very least a blog post. Black and white seems a little easier on my eyes but I've looked at these so many times now it's hard to tell.
An observant reader who frequents the area might wonder how I got this view. For those who don't know, there is no conveniently adjacent rock that looks down the face. There is, however, a massive dead tree lying across the top of the boulder, you can see it behind Charlie's shoulder in the last photo. I had no plans to use this tree as natural scaffolding but my dad convinced me it was solid. My folks were visiting Leavenworth for the week and got to see Charlie send the gnar.
