Ann and I begin what we imagine will probably be our last day at Vedauwoo for the season in lower Blair, where Ann leads “Awakening to Fat Mosquitoes 5.7”, a short, stout-looking offwidth flake to double-hand crack. Ann plugs in all our biggest gear, belaying me at the top with our lone big bro. This climb is really more face climbing with mostly-optional wide crack moves, but worth doing. Ann’s true objective, though, is to lead the first pitch of Le Petit Arbre 5.6. Though the rating is lower, this is really a harder climb than Fat Mosquitoes because it demands solid hand and foot jams for a good thirty feet. We arrive at the steep little hand crack under darkening skies, with a rope already dangling off of it but no one around. Ann decides to move the rope aside and give it a go. The continuous nature of the lower half has her plugging in gear every few feet, but she sticks with it and pulls through the crux with a couple of pieces left to get her to the anchors. She’s justifiably thrilled with her victory. As I prepare to follow, the dark skies begin to grumble. The intensity increases to loud thundering as I climb. As soon as I reach the anchors a fierce wind howls up from behind me and instantly soaks my backside with cold sleet. This continues until I start down, which seems to appease the anger of the storm cloud. The rain stops completely when I reach the ground, but all of our gear and all the rocks are completely soaked, so we bid the crag farewell with no hard feelings. Vedauwoo is just that way, and we can’t help but love it.