The sun peeked up over the top of the ridge as we walked along the bottom of the big granite wall. The sky was cold and blue, and my breath condensed in soft white clouds. It was still cold, but with the sun up, the day would quickly grow hot. The granite wall was enormous, a gray slab towering straight up. I had to bend backwards to see the top. At the start of the climb, a thin crack in the face slanted up and to the right. White chalk left by old climbers outlined the crack like a scar. I ran my hand across the hard, rough rock. I cinched my harness tight around my waist and checked my protection rack. My collection of wedges, hexes and camlocks jangled on their web loop. The route would be two pitches to the top, with a belay point on a big ledge halfway up. "Ready?" I asked. She began to uncoil the rope. "O.K." she said. * * * The first time I saw her, she was naked. It was in the gray dim light just before dawn and I made a trip down to the river to fill my water bottles. I followed the dusty path down through the rocks and low brush. Birds in the fir trees chirped like maniacs. I came around a bend in the trail and there she was, facing away from me, standing knee deep in the river. She stood out at the edge of the heavy current, and the fast-moving water swirled and sucked around her legs. She stood firmly, looking upstream. Her light blonde hair was cropped evenly at shoulder length. Her bare butt was clenched defiantly. But it was not her nakedness that struck me hardest. It was not unusual to see naked people in the river. A few hundred feet upstream was "The Tub," a deep, still pool where long-term campers often bathed, usually _au naturel_. Instead, what struck me hardest was her bare back. The triangular shape of her upper body. Her muscular shoulders and V- shaped torso. She _looked_ like a climber. I stood and watched for a few moments. I could not figure out what she was doing. Could she be trying to ford the river? But the current was too deep and fast, she would never make it across. Could she be bathing? But The Tub was a much superior place to get cleaned up. She turned her head and I think she saw me. But she did not make another move. She did not even confirm my presence. She simply turned her gaze back upstream. I turned around and went back to my campsite. * * * The "climbing rope" is misnamed. A climber always climbs rock, he never climbs the rope itself. The rope serves as emergency protection, a guard against falling. The only time the rope is used is to stop disaster. It is the lead climber's responsibility to anchor the rope during the climb up. He does this by periodically wedging various pieces of protection into cracks in the rock, and attaching the rope through carabiners and webbing. The lead's partner, the belayer, sits on the ground with the other end of the rope. If the lead climber falls, the belayer must hold the rope fast. A belayer must be vigilant. An unprepared belayer may have the rope yanked suddenly out of her hands. It was my job to lead. It was her responsibility to catch me in case of a fall. Our roles set, we prepared to climb. I tied the rope into my harness while she tied a belay line around the thick stump of an old pine. She worked her knots quickly and easily. She sat down on the ground and wrapped the blue braided climbing rope around her hips. The loose coils of rope lay near her left hand, the brake hand. Her other hand, the feeling hand, held the rope that came to me. She placed her dusty climbing shoes up against two big rocks on the ground, bracing herself. She pulled up the slack in the rope until it tugged at my hips. I coated my hands with chalk from the nylon bag tied to my waist. "On belay?" I said, a mere formality. She was ready. She looked me dead in the eye. "Belay on," she answered. "Climbing," I said, and I put my foot up on the rock. "Climb," she answered. * * * The next time I saw her was at the Safeway in town. I was buying food for the next few days and I saw her from behind, walking down an aisle. She wore cut-off shorts and a white ribbed tank top. I would recognize her shoulders anywhere. After I bought my food, she was standing outside the store with a plastic grocery bag dangling from each hand. "Hello," I said. She looked at me and nodded. Her eyes were steely and her face was deeply tanned. Her lips looked a little chapped. Her white top clung tightly to her tits, and her nipple points were clearly visible. "I think I saw you the other day, down in the stream," I said. "Uh huh." "Are you staying in the campground?" "Yes." "How long are you here for?" She shrugged. "Until we get tired of being here. I guess." I didn't know what else to say, and I was about to turn to leave, when she spoke up. "Do you have a car?" she asked. "Back at the campground." "Not here?" "No. I rode my bicycle." "Too bad," she said. "I could use a ride." I looked her in the eye, and a faint smile touched her lips. "Then how did you get here?" I asked. She stuck up her thumb and waved it. "Hitched." I stuffed my groceries in my bicycle panniers. I rolled my bicycle over and stood at its side. "Do you climb?" I asked. She nodded. "Some. But nothing hard." "Maybe we could climb sometime." "Sure." She shifted both grocery bags into one hand. She glanced off towards the road. "Well, I need to find a ride. I got to get going." "O.K. See you." I got up on my bike and peddled back towards camp. * * * The first few moves up the rock were easy, simple finger jams, easy foot placements, and up the crack I went. I paused at a nice finger-wide ledge, placed a hex nut into the crack, and clipped the rope in. A good, bomb-proof placement for protection. This piece would hold a hard fall. I looked down. Her face was pure concentration, the rope securely held around her hips. I looked up. The crack dwindled off to the right. Straight up, it looked like there was a big handhold. I tried to remember what I had read about the route. There should be a permanent bolt somewhere up there where things began to look impossible. I twisted my hand into the crack, felt the security of rough granite against my fingers, brought my feet up, got tension in my legs, and pressed upwards. * * * I looked for her down at the stream every morning. But for a whole week, she was never there. I thought she had gone back to wherever she had come from. My climbing partner then left to go back to work, and I was on my own. My first day alone I walked through the campground and found one other person without a climbing partner, but he was not interested in climbing that day. So I practiced on the boulders around the campground and checked over my ropes and equipment. Mid-afternoon came and it got hot. Black biting flies buzzed all around, a real nuisance. It was uncomfortably hot, and I was bored. I decided to go to the river to cool off. And there she was again, standing in the river, water flowing around her knees. And again, she was stark naked. For a moment, I considered turning to leave. But I didn't want to leave. I wanted to stare for a moment. I wanted to look at her nakedness, her tanned, sinewy body, her pert breasts with big dark nipples, the voluptuous curve of her muscular hip. Her rounded shoulders and shapely thighs. But I also didn't want to spy. If I was intruding on a private moment, she had the right to know. Saying something would be the polite thing to do. I walked up closer to the stream. The water roared. "Hello," I called out. She turned to look at me. She stumbled a little in the swift current but caught herself. Water splashed up to her thighs. Her whole body was deeply tanned; she obviously sunbathed nude. She had thick, blonde pubic hair. She made no effort at all to cover up. "What is it?" she yelled. I could barely hear her over the roar of the river. "Nothing." "What?" She cupped her hand to her ear. "Nothing!" "I can't hear you!" "I said `Nothing!'" She scrambled towards the bank. I was embarrassed. A naked woman was fighting her way through the big rocks in the streambed for the stupidest possible reason, because I didn't want her to think I was spying on her. I wanted to just turn and leave her alone, but now that she was making the effort to get out of the river, I had to stay. I shifted my weight from side to side. She got within a few yards and was close enough to hear. "What did you say?" she said. "Nothing. I'm sorry. I just wanted to say hello." "Oh." She ran her fingers back through her hair. Her pectoral muscle flexed, and my gaze was drawn to her naked breast. I wished she had some clothes on. I was so uncomfortable I wanted to run away. But I had to say something. I couldn't leave it with just a hello. "What were you doing out there?" I asked. She shrugged. "Nothing." "I was just going to cool off in The Tub." "Oh. O.K." She looked back out into the roaring river. I fidgeted. I had to get out of there. "See you," I said. "Bye," she said. And I turned away. Turning away was a relief. I didn't like standing there talking to her while she was naked. It would be easier to get in The Tub, wash off, and soak in the cold water. And maybe think about climbing. * * * The rock was not completely vertical, there were frequent dents and bumps, so the climb upwards went easily. I built up some momentum, and I was soon holding onto the knob I had seen from below. There was a good crack there, I placed a big wedge, another solid piece of protection. I looked ahead. Two parallel cracks ran up towards a permanent bolt that had been drilled into the rock. The bolt marked the start of the most difficult part of the climb. My route book described that section above the bolt as "awkward." Other climbers had called it "a bastard." I pinched my fingers and toes into the two vertical cracks and shimmied upwards. * * * I stripped naked and lowered myself down into the cool river water. The initial contact with the water was shocking, and it tightened my skin. But I slowly grew accustomed. It felt good to be out of the heat. I gave myself a soap-less wash, using my flat hands to rub the grime and dust that had built up on my skin. Afterwards, my skin felt cool, clean and responsive. I soaked shoulder-deep and felt good for a few moments. I tried to peek downstream, but I could not see her, an accumulation of stones blocked my line of sight. Which was just as well. I closed my eyes and relaxed and thought about nothing. I concentrated on my heartbeat, the sound of it, the slow thumping. I thought I might even doze off, but I heard the scramble of feet on rocks. I opened my eyes and she was standing there on the rocky bank. My view gave me an angle up between her legs, at the wild tangle of white-blonde pubic hair, and an exciting glimpse of a fold of skin there. "Can I join you?" she asked. I took a nervous breath and sat up straight. "Sure." She stepped down into the water. Like a sex-starved teenager, I peeked at her bare breasts with their stiff nipples. She sank down slowly until her chin touched the water. She blew air out and the surface of the water rippled under her breath. She settled back against the bank and closed her eyes. She let out a long, easy sigh. If the water had not been cold, I'm sure I would have had an erection. When I get nervous, I have a tendency to babble. I could not stop myself from saying something. "Are you here with someone?" I asked. She opened her eyes and looked at me. Her eyes were light gray and her pupils were tiny. "Yes. My boyfriend." "Is he a climber too?" "Yes." "How come you aren't climbing with him?" She shrugged. "He has his buddies. They're stronger climbers than I am." "Then what do you do all day?" She didn't say anything. "How hard of a climb can you do?" She shrugged again. "I'm good with my feet. But the climbs here, they take too much upper body strength." She raised her arm up out of the water, and the muscle of her shoulder tensed. * * * The tips of my fingers found a tiny crack, the rough rock tore at my calluses, my arms throbbed, and I could not find a spot for my foot. Everything I put down on, I slipped off. It was not working, so I stepped around, rearranged myself until I had both feet securely against the rock, but then I was pointed in the wrong direction, and my arms really ached and I my thumb and forefinger were scratched to bleeding. And then there was nowhere obvious to go. I had maneuvered my way into a bind. I could try to drop back and regroup, but I did not know if my arms would hold up. I could see a horizontal crack straight up from me, but I could not judge its size from below. And it was a long lunge. And I had no recent protection placed, and nowhere to put any now. I had clipped into the permanent bolt below, but that was a long way down. If I fell, how far would I go before the bolt caught me? And could she hold a hard fall? I saw nowhere else to go. My leg began to bounce up and down like a sewing machine. I could not hold the position much longer. I made up my mind to go for it. I did not even weigh the risk completely, and before I knew it, I drove myself upwards as hard as I could, a full leap. There was a moment where I felt suspended in air, no pressure on my hands or feet, and I was unsure of whether I was rising or falling. And when my fingertips found the crack, I felt that wonderful surge of excitement in my chest. I grabbed with my fingers and tapped every bit of strength I had and clawed into the rock. I swung side to side for a second, dragging my toes against the rock, until I finally settled motionless, hanging by three fingers on each hand. My forearms felt stiff, but I was out of immediate trouble. The crack was bigger and deeper than it had looked from below, nearly an inch of space to hold. I got a good hold with one hand, rechalked and got a good secure grip. I pulled myself up and got my toes into the crack. My heart pounded in my ears. My whole body trembled. * * * "I think I do O.K. on a lot of climbs. Especially ones that aren't so popular. And I've done a lot of mountaineering and glacier travel. But I haven't done much technical rock climbing. I'm kind of new to this." "I would think you would do well." "I hate this place. All the silly overhangs. It's all a test of upper body strength. You don't need technique. You need raw muscle strength." It was true. Many of the climbs were famous for their overhang moves. She slipped down into the water until her head was completely submerged. And then up she came, and she wiped her hands across her face, flicking the water away and slicking her hair back. I couldn't help but notice the contraction of her biceps and her deltoids. And the flex of her pectorals, and then I caught myself again staring at her breasts through the water. * * * I made it the rest of the way to the big ledge without incident. There were two permanent bolts at the ledge, placed for belayers to clip in. I dropped my protection rack, tied myself through the bolts and sat down. Now it was her turn to climb. From the ledge I could see most of the route below, so I would get to watch her. I pulled up the slack in the rope. Her high voice filtered up. "On belay!" "Belay on!" I yelled back. I set myself to handle the rope. "Climbing!" she yelled. "Climb!" * * * I shook out of my staring stupor. I caught her eye, and she smiled at me. Was she flirting? I am sure I blushed. The urge to say something overtook me. "Why don't you come climbing with me?" I said. "My climbing partner is gone, I could use another partner." "I've never done a lead. Don't you want to climb with someone who you can split the leads with?" "You don't know how to place protection?" "I've never done it before." "That's O.K. I can do all the leads." "And I can't do hard climbs." "I'm sure you can do _some_ hard climbs." "I don't want to slow you down." "If you don't climb with me, I'll just have to go bouldering around the campsite." "I could go bouldering with you." "Wouldn't you rather do some real climbs?" "I know the boulders around here pretty well." She suddenly stood up and got out of the water. Again, I was aware of her nakedness and I blushed. "Come on," she said, "I'll show you something." I hesitated. She stood at the bank and looked down at me. Her tanned body dripped cold river water. I did not have an erection, but I was afraid I might get one. I took a deep breath and stood up. She grabbed our towels and took off downstream. She hopped from rock to rock, her arms out for balance, a towel in each hand, her bare butt flexing. She was lovely. I took another deep breath. There was no one else around. I left my clothes behind and took off after her. * * * She climbed like a dancer, limberly and with rhythm, using her legs and feet to get out of trouble. She could raise her foot to shoulder height and still get leverage to push up. At the most difficult point, the part where I struggled hardest, she found a foothold I had not seen, and made the finger ledge in two separate moves. She moved evenly upwards, pausing only to remove the protection. When she reached the ledge, she was winded and her shoulders and thighs bulged. "That was great," I said. She sucked in air. "Thanks." "I didn't see that foothold down there." "Uh huh." "Do you want to rest for a minute?" "Yeah." The ledge at the halfway point was big enough for several people to lie down on. We drank water and ate bananas. We rested in direct morning sun, and it was already getting hot. The second pitch was supposed to be easier. There was a spectacular overhang near the top with a shoulder-width crack through it. I scouted the route while she rested. I figured out the approximate path to take, and just as I turned back to face her, she pulled her shirt up over her head. Underneath she was naked. Her whole upper body was wet with sweat. She used her shirt to mop her face and chest. "You're not very shy, are you?" I said. "Hmm," she grinned. "Do you mind?" "Oh, no!" "I didn't think so." She looked down at her own breasts, and wiped her shirt across them. "I'm not uptight about it. I don't have the kind of tits men ogle." * * * We walked downstream until we reached a big boulder. The boulder was about ten feet high with a nice crack running up one face. It was a nice example of a layback move, an elementary technique, but one beginners have a hard time with. I had never seen this boulder before. I never occurred to me to look for bouldering exercises down by the river. The crack was not coated with the usual accumulation of climber chalk, so I was not the only one who did not know of its existence. "Spot me," she said. She hooked her fingers into the crack and stepped her bare feet up on the vertical surface of the rock. In a layback, you use your legs to push your body _away_ from the rock, and you use your arms to counter-balance the outward force. When done right, the inward force from your arms exactly matches the outward force from your legs. I stood under her, looking up at her bare back and bottom, and she quickly scooted right on up the crack to the top. Her technique was flawless. "Throw me the towels." I tossed up the towels and clawed my way into the crack. It was a nice exercise, but I felt funny doing it naked. I had never tried to climb barefoot before, and my penis felt awkward swinging freely between my legs. Still, it took only a few seconds to join her on top. The rock was flat on top, with just enough room for two people to lie down. She had the towels spread out. She sat with her legs curled under her, her hip thrust to the side. Her skin was already dry, and sweat beaded on her forehead and cheeks. She patted the towel. "Lie down with me." We lay down on our bellies, side by side. The hot sun beat down on my back and my thighs and my butt. We turned our heads so we could look at each other. She was very close. She smiled. "You're good," I said. "Go climbing with me tomorrow." "But I'm not very strong." "You're strong enough," I said. "I try. I workout. There's a place down the street from my job that has a climbing wall." "You could do most of the climbs around here." "I do six pull-ups and I'm exhausted. And my neck aches for a week afterwards." "I think you can do it." "Easy for you to say. Look at your lats." She rolled on her side and grabbed the thick muscle at my side with both hands. I nearly jumped out of my skin. "Twice as big as mine." She let go of my side, but my heart raced from her brief touch. It had not been a shy touch. I thought it might mean something, something sexual. I searched her face for a meaning. Her eyes darted. I almost forgot I was trying to convince her to go climbing with me. I needed to continue the argument. She had said something about the merits of muscle size. "But you weigh less," I said, "you don't need to be as strong." She harumphed. "So how many pull-ups can you do? Twenty? Thirty?" "There is a lot more to climbing than pull-ups." "Tell me about it. That's why I don't like this area. It's like a giant chin-up bar." "Why on Earth would you practice and workout and then not go climbing?" She sat silently, her forehead furrowed. "If you get in trouble, you could just rappel down." She did not say anything. "Come on. I need a partner." She did not say anything. "You can belay, can't you?" "O.K.," she said, slowly. "I'll climb with you." * * * I got ready to lead the second pitch. She put her shirt back on and got herself into a good belay position. My hands were dry, my arms and legs felt strong. She checked over the rope one last time. * * * "You never told me what you do all day." "Mostly I go bouldering and I hike all the trails. And I like to lie in the sun." "By yourself?" "I don't mind being by myself." "Why don't you go with your boyfriend? You should be out climbing." "He gets mad at me if I can't do something. It's just a lot easier if he goes with people who are as good as he is." "Is that why you came here? To wander around the campground by yourself?" "Oh," she groaned, "I don't know why I came here. Look," she said forcefully, "let's not talk about my boyfriend." * * * The second pitch was easy. The rock was near vertical, but there were big horizontal cracks and shelves at convenient intervals. It was a simple series of reaches and pull-ups and mantel moves. I got a good pump going in my arms and shoulders and back. * * * She curled up into a sitting position at my side. "Give me your hand." I felt nervous. I rolled up to face her, my penis, now exposed, hung down across the top of my thigh, and I gave her my right hand. She held it in both hands, close to her face. She studied my hand closely, flipping it over once, then back. She ran her fingers along my thick calluses. Her fingernails were trimmed neat and short. "You climb a lot," she said. "During the winter," I said. "I work all summer." She rubbed the heel of my hand with her thumbs, and then she kissed my palm. My cock began to stiffen, and I shifted uneasily. She noticed. "Don't be ashamed," she said. "It's a natural body function." I breathed deeply and she traced the outlines of my fingers. My cock hardened. She looked me in the eye and drew my hand to her sternum. "Touch me," she whispered. * * * When I got to the overhang, I felt good and strong, so I decided to try something showy. The wide chimney up through the overhang was the obvious path. But this spot on this route was famous for an easy, but spectacular move. There was a big hand- sized hole on the top side of the overhang, one you could grab and hold forever if you wanted to. The trick was to reach around the lip of the overhang, grab hold, and swing out into open space until your feet dangled freely. While you hang from one hand, the spectators ooh and ahh. A simple pull-up and you are past the overhang. A crack on the underside was a place to hold onto while I leaned away from rock. I reached around the lip of the overhang and fished blindly for the hole. I found it right away, got four fingers into it. It was as secure a hold as you ever find. I carefully let loose of the crack with my left hand and swung out until I hung in mid air. I chalked my free hand, moving slowly to avoid swinging, and reached up and stuffed both hands into the hole. It was a simple matter to pull myself over the edge and back to solid rock. * * * She lay back and closed her eyes. My hand trembled as I placed it over her face. I was afraid my calluses would be rough, or that I had lost sensation in my fingertips. So I touched her as light as I could, the softest possible touches skimming her forehead, and down, over her closed, twitching eyelids, down her nose, and across her lips. She swallowed. I feathered across her lips and they parted, and I felt her breath on my fingers. My hand traveled down her neck and the muscle in her neck jerked and tensed, then slowly relaxed. I felt clumsy. My thick fingers were more attuned to granite walls than to a woman's body. And so I imagined her body was a rock, and I slid lightly across her skin, searching out hollows and bumps and creases. I found comfort in her collarbones, behind her knees, the upper slope of her breast, the cleft of her butt. I hooked a finger in her navel and she laughed. I touched her and I explored her. Sparse wispy white hairs grew all over her legs. And a small blonde tuft under each arm. A round mole on a forearm. Firm muscles in her calves and thighs. She stank of her briny sweat. Her thick, crinkled nipples perked up in the branch of my thumb and forefinger. She groaned and stretched out and my cock jerked up straight. * * * The top of the overhang was like a platform to stand on. The climb was practically over. I placed one last piece of protection and scooted up over the final edge. I was on top! * * * She lay back and spread her legs and her crotch was all plastered with wet and hair. She ran her hand up and down the inside of her thigh and her pussy opened up, showing off the crimson inside. I crawled up between her thighs. I ran my hands over the inside of her legs and she sighed. Her hands landed on my hips, and she pulled around and grabbed my ass, curling her fingers into my butt crack. I came up closer and we kissed. I swiped my hand across her pussy, felt the steamy heat, and rubbed her until she groaned deep in her throat. I dragged my hands up over her ribs, she let out a gasp and her breath quickened. I could feel the deep beat of her heart. Her eyes glazed over and her tongue slipped out over her lips, leaving them wet. I kissed her, her mouth opened and our tongues slithered together. My stiff cock poked her belly. She kneaded my butt with both hands. I took hold of my erection and guided it downward. She reached between her legs and held herself open like a split-open fruit. I penetrated slowly and she groaned and moved her legs up and her heels rested on my lower back. Her pussy felt warm and thick. * * * I could not see her climb the second pitch. The overhang blocked the view down, and my belay anchor was away from the edge. I had to handle the rope by feel. And this time she climbed very slowly. She was shorter than I was, and she had an obsessive concern about her arm strength. So the second pitch, while not technically difficult, would likely be a lot of work for her. I did not think it would be too hard, though. But it went slower than I thought. She did not move fluidly, she stopped frequently, she never got a rhythm going. It was like she would get to each horizontal crack and stop. And then there was a long pause. The rope vibrated taut between my hand and the edge, but there was no motion. I held for a long time. I listened for any sound but could not hear a thing. "Are you O.K.?" I yelled down. "Yeah," she yelled back. "Do you need help?" "No. I just need to rest a little. I'm real tired." "Do you want to rappel down?" "I'm fine. Just give me a minute." After a few more minutes, the rope slackened. She was moving again. * * * She clutched my shoulders and pulled herself up until her nose nearly touched mine. She was so close I could barely focus on her face. Her eyes shone blue with pinpoint pupils. Her moist breath tickled my lips. I thrust faster and deeper. Our bodies slapped together. She rocked her hips strongly, long upward swings with every downward thrust of my cock. Her breathing turned shallower and our noses bumped. She let go of my arms, got her shoulders set on the ground, and humped back hard. She used her fingers, loosely separated, and brushed them back and forth over her clitoris. She whimpered and her jaw dropped open, her eyes fluttered closed, and a tremble overtook her. All of a sudden I felt my own pressure rise. "I think I'm coming," I grimaced. I pulled out and placed my shiny trembling cock on her belly. My cock slid across her stomach, she reached out and fingered the head, and her touch set me off, my cock expanded out and spat its thick semen, depositing it more or less into the cup of her navel. * * * I felt her struggle in the tension and slack of the rope. It is an odd way to feel somebody, through a rope. You can not see a thing, and you make up images based on the subtle pulls and slackenings. If the rope moves easily you imagine a smile. If the rope vibrates with tension, you imagine a grimace and a wrinkled brow. Her rope moved by inches. At times I wondered if it moved at all. I would pull another inch up, and I would wonder if I had simply pulled out an inch of slack between us. But slowly, ever so slowly, I added loop after loop to the coil at my left. As she got closer to the top, I heard her. She did not say words. She made low animal noises. A growl and a curse and I pulled another six inches of rope up through my hands. The scrape of feet on rock. A whimper. And then a long extended groan, and an exhilarating two feet of rope. A pause and another inch. "Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck." And another three inches. "Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck." And another two inches. And then, out of nowhere, a whole foot. And then the long pause. I could hear her breathing. I looked at the coil of rope that had already pulled through my hands. She should be near the top. Perhaps stopped in the shade beneath the big overhang. "I can't do this," she said. "Sure you can." "My arms aren't long enough. I can't do the reach around this overhang." And all of a sudden, I knew I had made a mistake. I should not have made the fancy overhang move. I should have taken the easier route through the chimney. If she could not follow my route, she would need to traverse to the big crack, work her way up, then traverse back to pick up the protection. Traverses can be dangerous business. When protection is not straight above you, if you fall, you pendulum across. And it is not easy to hold a swinging body. If I remembered right, this particular traverse could be tricky. Not an easy section for a tired climber. I set myself hard, braced my feet, and tried to remember if I had set a solid belay line. Fortunately, I am usually very careful about that. "Traverse to the chimney," I said. I heard her mutter. "Fucking son-of-a-bitch I'm going to fucking kill myself." * * * We froze for a moment, staring into each other's eyes. Her face glistened with sweat. Her lower lip trembled, curling under, and for moment I thought she would cry. But she let out a long ragged breath, kissed me, and sat up. She dropped down off the rock and quickly washed off in the cold river water. She scrambled back up and we settled down next to each other, on our sides, face to face. I felt like I should say something, but I couldn't think of anything to say. "Lie down," I said, finally, patting the towel. She grinned and rolled onto her belly. * * * I had to let out rope while she traversed towards the chimney, giving up all those precious inches that had been so hard to come by. My muscles tensed up. I felt the rope for the slightest change. There was a loud scrape of feet against the rock. "Falling!" she screamed. I felt a rush of panic. I grabbed the rope tight, whipped my brake hand across my body and tensed my legs for holding a fall. The rope slowly tightened. She was not free falling. She was slipping slowly downwards. I held on, but there was no sudden jerk, just an increasing tension on the rope. And then just the light, constant tension. I held for what seemed like a full minute. Was I holding her weight? I did not think so, she had caught herself. I imagined her toes pressed against a small bump in the rock, her fingers clutching hairline cracks, her chest and cheek pressed against the rock face. "Slack!" came a muffled yell. Gingerly, I let some rope out, and it went slack. I exhaled. She had found a secure spot. * * * I moved her hair away from her neck. The entirety of her naked back was there for me. I reached out and placed my hands on her. I massaged her back muscles, searching each one out individually. The firm deltoids around her shoulders, the big fan-shaped trapezius below her neck, the ripple of teres major and infraspinatus, the latissimus dorsi covering her ribs, the erector spinae along her backbone. And her round and firm gluteus maximus. She moaned as I drew my hands down her back to her waist. My hands could span the entire width of her lower back, my thumbs over her spine, the fingers flaring out to press into the lower back muscle. And back up, over her shoulders, around to her arms, then drawing back down her lats. "Look at these lats," I teased, and I grabbed her. She jerked and giggled. "That tickles." * * * She came up over the edge dripping sweat. The veins in her biceps bulged against her skin. For a moment she remained poised there, on her hands and on the balls of her feet, panting heavily, tensed like a bobcat. Her blue-gray eyes shimmered like the heat rising off hot pave ment. Her pupils were dark and dilated. And then she vaulted forward on top of me. Her shoulder hit my chest with a thud, and the force of her threw me back on the ground. "Off belay," she whispered, and then her wet tongue filled my ear. Her body trembled all over. * * * I rubbed her back and ass and legs. "We don't really have that much in common," she said. "Who?" "My boyfriend and me." It looked like we were going to talk after all. "You must have something in common. Why did you get together?" "I guess because he excited me. He was an adventurer, and he had lots of good stories. He could be fun to be around." "But not any more?" "I guess the stories get old after a while. And I think he's bored of me." "Really?" "We never have spent much time together. We don't live together, so we sometimes don't even see each other for a week or so. Before this trip, I couldn't tell you the last time we spent the night. And even here, we sleep in the same tent, but he doesn't usually come to bed until after I'm asleep." "It doesn't sound like much of a relationship. If you don't mind my saying it." "No," she sighed, "it doesn't seem like much of a relationship." I was tempted to ask her what about me, but she sighed heavily. I could feel her muscles relax. * * * We struggled with the knots and buckles of climbing paraphernalia. I got my harness off, pulled off my shirt as she wiggled around on top of me. Her fingers were still uncoordinated from the exertion of the climb, and she had a hard time loosening her end of the rope. She stepped off me to get her harness off. I threw off my shorts, not even bothering to take off my climbing shoes. My cock jutted freely, and she gave up struggling with her clothes, dropped down and grabbed my cock with both hands. I grabbed her breasts through her shirt and squeezed up the swollen nipples. She kissed me and she stroked my thick erection. She sank down onto my lap, trapping my cock between her thighs, and I rolled upwards and we hugged each other close. We kissed hungrily, wet, full-mouthed kisses, our arms crushing us together. I wanted to squeeze the air out of her. She grunted and squeezed me back, and our mouths sucked. I needed oxygen, I let go, broke the kiss, and I lay back on the ground. She looked down at me from above, smiling, her lungs heaving. She yanked her shirt up over her head, showing me her pretty little tits. I arched back up and buried my face in the shallow valley between her breasts, and I licked the salty skin there, then up and across to suck up the nipple. She groaned and held my head to her peaked nipple and I grabbed her other breast with my callused hand. She groped me, pinching my nipples, stroking over abdominals and pectorals. I untied the drawstring on her climbing pants and she was naked underneath. My hand searched its way between her legs. Her pussy was hot and humid. * * * "Sometimes I get so frustrated. I asked him once, `When are we going to fuck?'" She sighed and shook her head. "And he yelled at me. `I don't want to hear you use that kind of language ever again!' He was so mad, I was afraid he was going to hit me." * * * She pressed me down onto my back and straddled my thighs. She grabbed my cock and held it straight up, pointing it at the sweaty tangle of blonde hair between her legs. She lowered herself down with a sigh. Her hot pussy enveloped me. Her hips revolved slowly, holding my huge erection deep inside her, and she threw her head back and laughed. The corded muscles in her thighs jerked and twitched. I ran my hands up and down her legs and up over her pelvis to her ribs and up on her breasts. Her legs tensed and strained. She humped up and down and I squeezed one of her little tits and used my other hand on her pussy, pressing my thumb against her clit. Faster, she bucked up and down, quick jerky thrusts. Her upper chest flushed pink, sweat trickled down her tanned belly. I reached up and put my hands over her face and she groaned, and she sucked my thumb in her mouth and I fingered her sensitive lips. Her hips bucked, my cock swelled, and I drew my hands down her neck across the hot skin of her chest, pinching up her nipples. * * * "I think he might be cheating on me." "Why do you think that?" "I don't know. I just think so sometimes. But it isn't the cheating part that bothers me. The thing I hate most is that he takes me for granted." * * * She threw her head back and let out an enormous whoop. Her voice echoed against the granite cliffs. My cock twitched and gushed and filled her pussy with seed. She tossed her head back and forth, her golden hair, damp with perspiration, swirled about her face. And we were motionless. My cock shrank within the confines of her sloppy pussy, her hands pressed down against my shoulders. She looked down at me from above, and a drop of sweat fell off her chin and splashed against my cheek. We breathed hard and stared at each other. A smile came to her lips. She threw her head back and laughed. She pulled forward, my cock drooped out, and she laughed again. She leaned down and kissed me. She tasted of salt. I put my arms around her, squeezed her close, felt her cool slick body against me. I could hold her forever. But she would have none of that. She stood up and my arms slipped away. She stood and looked down at me, her lips set in a huge smile. She turned and bounced a few steps away and she laughed, her sweaty body shining in the late-morning sun. I sat up and watched as she strode naked and confident to the edge of the cliff and looked out over the valley below. And she threw her head back and yelled out at the top of her lungs: "I _did_ it!" Her voice echoed in the valley. "I got _fucked!_" She whooped loud and threw her fists in the air. Her back muscles pumped up. "_I did it!_" * * * She and her boyfriend left two days later. I only saw her one other time, more than a year later, at Yosemite. It was early morning, and I was exploring the area around the campsites. I followed a path down towards the river, came around a big boulder, and there she was. She stood hip-deep in the river, naked, surrounded by swirling water. Her hair was longer, down to mid-back, but I recognized the triangular shape of her back. The river flowed so strong she had to lean forward against the current to keep from being swept downstream. "Hey!" I yelled. She looked at me and her face lit up with recognition. A smile bloomed and she yelled. "Hey!" And she dunked her head completely under the water, her entire self submerged in the roaring cauldron of foam and for a moment I panicked, I thought the river had taken her. But then she burst back up and she lunged towards the bank. She bounded out of the water and let out a whoop. Her whole naked body was covered with goose bumps. "I can't believe it's you!" she said. She ran towards me and jumped against me and hugged me. Her cold, wet body was a shock. And she laughed and stepped away. "I am here on my honeymoon," she said. "I can't wait to introduce you to my husband. I think you'll like him." She dried off while I watched awkwardly, and she put on a long shirt. She held my hand and led me back to her campsite. And she introduced me to her husband. And he was a very nice guy indeed.