Wet Denim Daydream A3 5.6

This was my third wall and second solo, climbed it back in 01 so my info is stale. Noticed only one report on the route so thought Id chime in.

My first wall was the West Face on the leaning tower, I linked up with a guy from the climbing shop and hated the climb, (solo is the only way to go for a stubborn ass like me, I didnt play well with others).

Next I soloed Washingtons column on 9/11, it went beautifully,but I passed some sketchy skyscraper window washers from Chicago who had a cell phone and they were sucking down cigs screaming "its the end of the world bro". When I heard the news, I hesitated to return to civilization!

Then Wet denim, it was a great solo prep for my first El Cap route. No complicated traverses, easy hauling, minimal gear needed, and no portaledge needed. I planned for two days but felt retarded sitting around at the bivy ledge most of the day. This route would be easily soloed in a day, but start early and it would help to French free the bolt ladder and use a tag line for hauling a backpack...

I stacked my haul rope in a rope bag (duct taped stuff sack) neatly and hooked the bag to the belays and hauled while descending/cleaning. This made things go fast. The hook released each time nicely and swung the bag out into the void.

On day 2 I made a rookie mistake, the rope crossed my gri gris locking biner and opened the gate at a belay and it fell all the way to the forest. I remembered reading about Royal Robbins using the clove hitch to self belay and that's how I did the last four pitches.
For me the head pitch off the bivy was solid with good heads in place, but scariest because of the ledge underneath.
I remember the placements on the route being easy and solid(A1-A2), exception would be if the heads were gone. Then intermediate skills would be needed for pasting new heads. For me it all went clean since the heads, beaks, etc. were in place. I believe it was the second to last pitch that had a nasty edge off the belay that would slice a rope. I duct taped the tar out of it and put a bag over it since I had to descend across it.
Since I fixed the next 2 pitches off the bivy ledge on day one, I was able to top out and get to the valley and hitch to camp 4 with much of the afternoon left.
The most dangerous part in my mind was the wet descent on the backside of the tower. Don't let your guard down just because you've topped out.

Im back to edit this because I just learned that the guy i mentioned above from the climbing shop is none other than "the last dirt bag" and Climbing magazine editor: James Lucas! I was mangled in a A4 fall and cant climb, but hes still hard at it. Small world!