We started climbing what he termed a 10b. I guess when you’re a 13 climber, you can’t really tell the difference between the lower grades. Next we decided to give "Johnny Law" a shot. It was an overhanging 11d with a few jugs that made it look feasible. About midway through Tim’s attempt at the climb, Jack walked by and stopped to give him some beta. He was the beta master. He had his own special name for every rock formation. "NO! Put your right toe on the chickenhead two inches up and a foot over there. Now, grab the lip of that ear with your left hand." It was hilarious to watch. Jack’s enthusiasm was contagious.You could tell that he loved climbing with all his heart. Most 12 and up climbers wouldn’t give you the time of day unless you were climbing at least a 12. Jack didn’t care. As long as you shared his love of climbing and kept trying, you had his respect. Jack gave us a crucial piece of beta for that climb. It looks like you should lay back off the flake near the second bolt with your right hand, but you really need to grab it with your left so you can reach the next hold with your right. I don’t know if we would have ever figured it our since it was so unnatural. Tim finally made the move and stayed there locked off while Jack gave him beta on where to put his foot for several minutes. Tim pumped out before he could even try to go for the next move. It was pretty funny since Tim would have had it if he weren’t trying to find that particular spot for his foot. Greg ended up finishing the route. I tried it on top rope and exhausted myself trying to make that move. Jack called out beta to me for about 20 minutes. I finally gave up that time, but on my next trip to Cleburn, I got it. Jack told us about an easy trail that we could follow on the way out. When we were leaving, we found arrows drawn in the dirt to help us find our way. We ran into Jack out there again and he was hanging on rappel on the Mariner wall with a file in his hand. We asked him what he was doing and he said, "Oh, I’m just making this route a little more interesting for a friend of mine who’s coming out later today". Turns out that his friend was Clayton Reagan, this 13 year old punk who had managed to redpoint three or so 5.13’s on that very wall in one day. That was the second climber I had met that I had read about in a climbing mag. Of course, it is hard to be awed by someone you remember trying to bum rides on your top rope at Mineral Wells. ... Mileski cont.
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It was beautiful! Rolling waves of gray, virtually featureless limestone. There wasn’t a guide or anything so we walked down the length of the cliff looking for something that looked possible to climb. We ran into this small, dark headed man who was packing up his gear. Tim asked him if he knew of any 10’s that we could warm up on. He told us about a couple of climbs. Tim thanked him and asked him what his name was. He said, "My name’s Jack." Oh, I would give anything to have a picture of the look on Tim’s face at that moment! Tim says, "What’s your last name? It wouldn’t be Mileski, would it?" Jack looks down to cover the crooked grin on his face and then nods. I was almost impressed at the way Tim could actually quote Jack’s article word for word. After about 15 minutes of Tim’s babbling, we gave Jack a break and went to do some climbing. Jack promised to drop by on his was out and see how were doing. That was the first time I had ever met a climber that I had read about in a climbing mag.