Alan Watts at Smith Rock, 1985.

Alan Watts hiking into Crooked River Gorge on his way to make the first free ascent of East Face, Monkey Face (5.13d), Smith Rock, Oregon, August 1985. I drove down to Smith Rock to join Alan on a trip down to Donner Summit and Yosemite Valley. He had in mind repeat ascents of Star Walls Crack (5.12d) and The Stigma (5.13d). In the afternoon on the day before we left, Alan wanted to take one last shot at East Face, his longstanding problem on Monkey Face. As we started down the trail from the overlook, I took this picture of Alan seemingly surveying his kingdom. Of course, Alan succeeded in leading the pitch free, rating it 5.13d, the hardest free climb in the U.S. at the time, but not for long, as Heinz Zak’s photo spread in Mountain would come out very soon and lead to the French invasion, 5.14, and the end of rock climbing as we knew it.