January - back on call since the 31st. Rain has arrived. My kingdom for a wall.
12/23 momz in town
12-1 and 12-2
Ice: The final frontier
These are the voyages of the Starship, Tacoma
Its lifelong mission
To explore strange new areas
To seek out new climbs and new free ascents
To boldly go where Royal, Tom and gang has not gone before
It was cold and the road was open.
Highlights include onsight solo of Sardine Falls right side (WI2+ running water conditions) and onsight solo left side of the 30' falls next to the actual Pass (WI2) on Saturday. Sunday set up topropes with Freezybarfy and Chriz on the middle falls just 500 yards south of the falls next to the pass. TR using a rope to a tree and several screws. Up to WI4 was tr'd by Freezy and Chriz. I stayed on the (WI3 to 3+) maximizing rests so I was able to TR both left and center routes. the center route was forming up some really gnarly chandeliery stuff. This was a once in a lifetime day of perfect ice when the road is open like that. So fun I caught myself giggling on the way back to the car on Saturday afternoon. wow!
11-22 thru 11-25-07 Alabama Hills - drove over on turkey day and had a wonderful meal The Stove in Mammoth. 20 bucks. good value for the rib eye. crashed out motel style this weekend. very civilized, except team Japan had taken over the breakfast room two out of three mornings. Managed to get one pitch in on the Tall Wall with everyone bitchin about the cold. It was cold though. Went back to town for coffee. Then back out for climbing on the Winter Sun wall in the corridors area. Choss rock, but well protected and in the sun in the afternoon. 5.8, 5.6, 5.6, 5.8, 5.6. basically running guide service for chica this weekend. not as much climbing as I would have wanted. The next day found the boyz still snoozin for their 'alpine start' foray in the Whitney Portal area. They eventually got on Bony Fingers on The Whale. Chica and I climbed a 5.7 arete on Tall Wall before a group with dogs came up. Then we climbed in the shade, believe it or not, at The Hideout. 5.8 and TR 5.9. Lunch time, and drive up to the Portal with a hike to find the guys. Got near Solstice wall, but didn't find them till driving back down. Had a beer and watched em for awhile. have to get back up there. That or hit the new big crag out east. Chica got nasty nose bleeds Sat night/Sunday am, so we left early. Heavy traffic over 152. Otherwise not so bad traffic. Lots of bouldering potential in the Kern River Canyon area. Need to find a Stonemasher guide to that area.
11-17 and 11-18 07 Yosemite National Park - Friday night stayed at bivy site outside park. Went straight for Serenity as an item on Chriz's hitlist. After taking a dump in the Awahnee bathroom, Chriz fired the leads and got the clean follows on all three pitches. Stout line, but ultra classic. The only hiccup was Chriz over camming a jr camalot on a blind placement, which then proceeded to get stuck further. Had to go back to the car for a hammer and then Chriz relead the first pich and followed again cleanly, tho both of us felt more tired the second go. After that, i got Chriz to go for the Lunatic Fringe, which he didn't need much cajoling at all. He fired it in good onsight style like the pitches on Serenity.
Sat night hooked up with Miwok for beers at the bar. Good firepit and some tunes and I sacked out in the back of my truck bed. No shell yet. Desperately need one. ARE or Snugtop? Sunday hiked in to the backcountry and Chriz fired TSMHC, and lead the second pitch. Running out of time, so we opted out of the third pitch. Plenty to come back to.
11-12-07 - east side granite exploration trip. thx to Kurt K!!! some great walls. can't wait to get into it more. stopped by Tahoe DL Bliss to boulder out one good problem. Great little boulder.
11-03-07 - firing range trip - shot a Tommy gun. once in a lifetime experience.
10-26-07 weekend trip to so cal for funeral for friend of family. Kay Mullen will be sorely missed. Life of the party. cheers to you and the Mullen clan!
10-21-07 Hammer Dome F4 and Unc Stink. 5am start, pick up Stink in Lodi. Make it to the crag. Quite the crowded day. 5 cars, 5-6 parties of climbers, but no one really stood in line and no got in each other's way. Stink lead the alt start for Gemini cracks to the oak tree ledge. F4 lead the awk move on the next short pitch. from there it goes 190' to the 2nd set of anchors. bad spot to belay in all honest. better to belay from below that with 200' ropes. two 200' raps makes it to the ground. dogs were barking at me, not sure why. owners should have had the dogs on leash. 4 pitches, prolly 5.9-. after talking to some guys from Colfax, went to Deer Bridge cliff. Stink lead Fickle Finger 5.8. Very nice climb. We TR'd the "10d" Nail Biter, that was more like 10a, maybe b. Then lead in good style Smooth Sailing 10b on Designer Wall. hardest moves are the first and second bolts. 7 pitch day up to 10b.
10-13 and 10-14, 10-13 wasn't because I thought the snows from 10-12 would make everything soaked. So I called Tslater to see if he was still on for the weekend. No reception apparently. Since I mentioned Steins to him, I made it a point to be at Steins on Sunday. Factor4 came with. We started on first pitch of Dinosaurs, and F4 lead it with no issues, even with the bad crux bolt. Solid job. I cleaned (TRNF) and hauled up the tuning forks and drill and popped the old quarter incher (pretty solid btw) and put in a 2.25 x 3/8" rawl in the existing hole. The first pitch is way solid 5.9 face climbing. Pretty well protected actually now. Much safer, the other bolts looked pretty good. We weren't sure about the upper pitch, having forgotten the guidebook, so we TR'd the upper pitch after hiking out via the 4th class gully. Didn't get it clean TR1F, but i think I can lead it now oddly enough. Threw back a SNPA and decided on rest of day plans. Wide. Got on A Loaf of Bread, allegedly 5.7. But believed much harder. Still dirty too. Attempted lead, half way, but backed off because wasn't thinking hand stacks. Factor4 lead thru and I got clean on TR. After a heinous descent. We jammed to the Vista for a few more routes for me. 5.7 flake, 5.7 corner, attempt on 10c, but not feeling it, then 5.4 around corner to right. Dinner at Blue Agave in Oakdale. Definitely climbers in there.
10-6 and 10-7 2007 - Wishon Reservoir- Brutus and Nurse Ratchet - Original plan was for Hoffman. 3-5" of snow kyboshed that. Instead, played in the sun on Wishon. 5.10+ 'cracko' i think is the name. steep 5.7 hands to a roof to 30' of ow. serious oofa. lieback apparently works. I only got up to the first crux on TR. Bruce and Em got it with hangs. Set a TR on 5.9 hand crack and an 11b face. The 9 I got clean on TR. The 11b had to hang a fair bit and yard at the top.
Hand crack 5.4, clean but short. LNF. Then Holey Moley 10a. LNF. Agua Negro 5.10+ TRNF after a couple tries on the crux. Reachy and balancey. Then onto Practice Rock not in order but left to right...solos unless noted otherwise... downclimb chimney, 5.3 ramp (1 bolt anchor with crack), 5.6 (triple bolts anchor), 5.6 (triple bolts anchor). 5.7+ (2 bolts and 2 bolt anchor) LNF. 5.5 TR crack upper part uses start of next climb. 5.5 crack. (crack anchor), 10d, 11a TR roof several hangs, didn't get it clean., 5.7 finger crack thru roof, 5.5 short headwall around right. 13 climbs in one day.
first trip with new rig. need a shell.
casual weekends at home thru first part of Sept. except for work kickin my ass with on call. got my truck. psyched to give it a go. scared to get it scratched tho! hahahaha
8/31-9/3 Courtright reservoir - Chriz, Noots, Uber Originally the plan was to complete a 3 year plan to do Freakshow in Kings Canyon. with temps hitting triple digits in the central valley we opted for something a little cooler.
E. Power Dome - Nose job 5.9 FNF, Cynthia's Everyday Workout 5.7 , FNF, Tibet Duet L2pitch NF, rapped to ledge from thread above belay ledge for Nose Job. Giving Spencer Tracy 10b/c R, FNF.
W. Power Dome - A little Nukey 5.9 LNF swapping leads. Welcome to Courtright 5.9 LNF swapping leads. 10 pitch day. lowe tri cams essential pink to blue size.
Trapper Dome- Drill Instructor 5.4 OS solo, Tao 5.7 LNF, Phone Sex is Safe Sex, weak attempt, harder than rated. Tiger Cage - Tiger Tiers 5.8 TRNF
Penstemon Dome- Song of the Earth 5.10a, LNF, swapping pitches (5.9).
8/22-8/27 Piute Pass and Pilot Knob trip
A backpack trip? Shit, is that like a slog approach without a summit or a redpoint? Why would I want to do that? Can't bring any beer without carrying it and you better be a good fisherman or you have to carry your own food.
There's a reason I'm going. My pop and uncle are finishing the JMT this year after many week long vacations spread over several years. This is one of those cool things that many talk about doing, but never do, in the backpacking crowd. I get my mind behind the idea for that reason alone. You see the last time I wanted to backpack in this area (Piute Pass) with them I wore La Sportiva Makalus with an insanely heavy pack that wore holes in my hips and my heels. Exquisite pain to have to keep hiking in heavy boots with silver dollar sized puss filled blisters. I've subsequently learned a trick or two with using padded moleskin, and gotten my 4 day pack weight to a slender 25ish lbs.
Tuesday night, I race out of work forgetting to set the out of office message on my phone and email and neatly telling two very important government officials, "nice to meet you guys, but I have to get going." The boss eyeballs me funny, but i still gotta finish the packing. I've got everything in the truck by the time I leave. Sure ya, you believe that don't you?
Traffic sucks. So I put on some tunes from the mp3 player. Ever get that sensation that you know you want to be inspired by some good music; a sense that the proper song will set the tone for the trip?
I flip thru songs like chatty ugly women. I can't keep listening to em if they don't have something to offer. ...[i]Oh don't get all bent on a lame trip report.[/i] I let it ride on 104 The Hawk. A radio station that you can easily know what they play if I yelled to you "FREEBIRD!" Music in the Central Valley is still 20-30 years behind the bay area. It's easy to see why Lucas filmed American Graffiti in Modesto. Needless to say my inspiration lacked on the driving.
I sleep high on the pass (the one in the Nat. Park oddly enough for me) at the bivy site that has recently been blocked off. Camp 5 is it called? It works, but I sleep full of fit. Wake with the dawn (the burning hyrdogen one, not the hot one) and hit the Momart for breakfast. Quite a treat. Sturdy breakfast with yummy garlic tater tits. [i]Oh christ, it's just a trip report, hush about the MissSarginism for a moment. [/i]
Full of morning load, Mammoth flys by. Sherwin grade slips by with cool temps in the early morning, rare in August. A hitchhiker! Huh, haven't done a good deed in awhile, besides if I get killed then I don't have to carry my pack. [i]Can you tell I'm looking forward to carrying a pack up over 11k this day?[/i] He's backpacker too from Truckee area and is heading in over Kearsarge. Pleasant guy and we both need our permits this day from the hotties that work in the Bishop Ranger Station. [i]I'm done with the secondary comments, I swear. [/i]
After reading me the riot act and getting my papers in order for the Reich by disclosing my locations where I can be found if were to start a forest fire, they let me have my large marge permit. I'm good to go; just have to shat in the stream, leave my food out for chipmunk fodder and remember to sleep in the creek. Quick drive up Line Street to North Lake pack the pack, drink a Tecate, and hit the trail. Temps are still pretty cool but it warms and eventually a breeze keeps things pleasant.
Bottom line, the canyon is fucking gorgeous with orange iron color from the Piute Crags and green aspens and pines and blue with green lakes filling the scene. White granite and tiny gendarmes sticking out of the ridge that hides Mendel. Oh the memory of me and Jake trying to carry 90lb packs in August to do Mendel Col and getting to the top of Lamarck and being sick tired with altitude. Way too much gear that time.
Top it and drop it to Golden Trout lake, the upper, because apparently the government in it's infinite wisdom thinks the lower is still too camped out 10 years later. Mt. Humphreys sits nearby like that the dirty little choss pile that it is. Why did I want to do that mtn years ago? dunno.
Skip back to present day: rig my Sil Tarp and sleeping bag and light t-rest and start reading my book. I sleep better but the out of office message thing keeps popping up. Oh well, fuck it, not going to change anything now 9 miles in. The plan forms for how I'm going to try my secret objective of the trip tomorrow Thursday: Pilot Knob.
Scoping out a trip report online I figure it can't be that bad, only 12k or so. I'm acclimitized now, or will be by tomorrow. Filter that cool water from the lakes while I watch fish float by. Brookies? who knows. I meander on the approach a bit but know I've got all day, so nothing sets me back. I just keeping day hiking it. Lunch at the saddle like a Sierra Clubber, and summit panoramic photos like a Silicon Valley geek with photochop at home. The ridge is really nice at the top, though it's mostly 2nd class up the shoulder. Stay on the outside of the small gendarmes with exposure running all the way down into French Canyon.
How the hell did Bob Burd do it in 4hrs? El es un machina! Descent takes forever to get to Knob Lake, but it has a superb beach and I take a skinny dip option in the very cold waters. [i]yes, there was shrinkage as George Castanza might say. [/i] Back to camp by a series of narrow benchs and ledges and tree lined slopes.
You still reading? What the fuck for? Christ all that's happened is my bellyaching and a 2nd, maybe 3rd class peak bag. It's all good, don't worry there is no point to this trip report, so keep reading.
Friday starts up with my usual sucking oats from my left handed oatmeal oscillator contraption. You see, I had forgotten something, namely, my spoon. And me without my Lost Arrow piton, oh the whorer!
Down at Hutchison Meadow I find my pop and uncle coming up out of the drainage from the San Jo-ackin river. They put in at South Lake and did the trip from up over Bishop and down Evolution Basin and Valley. It's a slog for them. They still carry massive packs and lots of extras that add up. But it's always been about the kind of experience they wanted to have in the wilderness. Dried seasoned beef, homemade, with couscous or lentils. They deserved that meal with the extra elevation gain from the meadow. It's good to see them and hang out and laugh, and get to borrow a real fork!
The next day is pretty casual back out and over the pass. Pop learns the value of GU packets as it relates to the lead feeling in your legs that you otherwise get. And damn near the trailhead, before seeing the blonde in the yellow bikini top, I avoid stepping in horseshit to roll my ankle all the way over. Bloody frick! Walk it off by getting a beer from the truck at the parking lot is the remedy and soaking in the creek. I limp for two days.
Carls jr strawberry shake and fries never tasted so good. Uncle has to bail back to the South Lake parking, realizing he's left his camera on the truck next to his vehicle. Luckily recovered. Dinner at Whiskey Creek that night after a shower at the Shilo. The Lamb Tenderloin is quite good.
Sunday breakfast at The Stove, waffle action. YUM! Roll out and try to see if I can find anyone in the Tuolumne Meadows after Strom and Mei's wedding ceremony in the Valley. No luck, but the drive isn't the worst drive one could take. Back early in time for dinner at La Milpa and shrimp and crab enchiladas and a bit of Cocido, whatever it is, it melts in yer mouf.
8/4/07 Tenaya Peak via "5.8" at the top of Tenaya Peak's "5th class" route. NW butt.
I'd say most of it is 4th class, with some easy 5th class soloing, except that crack... exposed 5.7ish, maybe. Quite a few peeps on the route but it doesn't feel crowded since you can bypass people just about anywhere on the route.
After hitting the top of Tenaya, we hiked the ridge to climber's left above that prominent cirque, tagged that 'summit' then contoured around to what I believe is Columbia finger, but the route descriptions in Secor don't match the easiest way up that I found. Got really energy draggy there and slogged along the north ridge of that to Tresidder. I traipsed to the Western side of that ridge to the notch, and Chriz did the true SE summit (again Secor's descriptions don't match what Chris described). Countoured back and down into the gully that drops you out at Pywiack. Almost got klobbered by a SUV illegally passing at a high rate of speed by the knobs boulders on the way back to my truck.
All this by way of saying that our original plans for SPH got completely kyboshed when we started talking about lines we wanted to do in Tuolumne.
Dropped down to Momart for dinner and I realized I was pretty knackered and didn't want to hike the next day, but without a rope and only a half rack we didn't have much else to do, other than solos. Headed back Sat night and slept in.
7/17, 7/28
7/8 time frame - Oregon Caves national monument and Crater Lake vacation with chica. lots of fun caves when it was hot outside.
6/11, 6/19, 6/24, 7/2
6/05/07- DC with my guide, Reddirt girl. Super nice, she picked me up from the hotel and we jammed to Great Falls NP. TR'd a 5.7 corner, a 5.9 left of it, a sweet 5.7 finger crack, and a half hearted attempt at a 5.10 thin crack. unbelievable humidty. yuck. remind me not to live in the DC area. saw some great national monuments while there. Chica came out for the weekend, and we traipsed around some.
5/20 weekend - prepped for DC trip. got stuff done around house. missing SPH.
5/12 and 5/13 - SPH - season opener part 2... early departure sat a.m. Arrive just in time to rack gear when Paul floats up. I'm stoked that I may have 2 partners now instead of the potential 0 after getting a vibe that SS won't show and that other former regulars to SPH have abandoned the ship in favor of other longer climbs. My paradigm is such that it does not account for anyone that is not willing to give SPH 100%. It just doesn't occurr to me that there are other areas that draw a person when it is prime SPH season. I exagerate some, but not having been up in so long it's like going back to a really hot girlfriend for one last night.
We make easy party of the warm up (now thot to be 5.9) "Ancient Dwarf" on TR to get warmed up. I rig the project for TR and eventually send it clean one time. It feels 5.11ish at this point, but I have no clue as I have the move pretty wired. I decide that there is no way I could establish the route ground up and not otherwise destroy holds with aid, or botch the bolt placement for optimal protection at the crux. I drop the bolts in from top down with the gracious help of Uncle Stinky and Paul. I attempt to give it a read point go as I have floated the opening moves several times now and the only thing left is the low percentage crux sloper. uncle stink gets on Ancient Dwarf with only one minor hiccup. At this point we're starting to think it is not 5.8.
it doesn't go. I'm bummed, but understanding in that it is hot and haven't drank enough water. We end up bolting a 2 bolt route below the main crag on a lower slab. 5.7ish thing. fun but short. natural gear anchor. I solo the far left side at around 5.5ish. solo the 5.7 just to it's right, one move wonder. and from the gear anchor TR a 5.9 one move wonder that is just left of the 2 bolt route. all fun, but short slabby and a little dirty.
At the end of the day Paul, Lance and I get to C.O.cracks and really bust some moves. It helps with two pads. Lance and Paul both bust the move on a thin crack i've been backing off of this season. No Noots and no SS, and Paul heads home for mother's day, later to have car trouble the next day. I know Miwok and partner are up at Chipmunk, so we head up there to camp and party some. I feel a little guilty, that wears off by Monday since they didn't stop by, because I think Steve and Brad may come up to the area for some climbs. I fall asleep relatively early after Miwok shares his Fjord topos with me. Appreciative is the least I can say. It opens up new Grade Vs for me. Freakshow first though.
Sunday arrives with a slow start. It feels good to be up on the Pass brewing coffee. Forgot my mug though and had to borrow Lance's. drive to the Pass proper for constitutional and check snow conditions. Everything is dry for the most part on So facing stuff.
We elect to try out Miwok's "Solar Vixen"... the dirty little morsel that she is. Flake system to some really nice knob climbing. Very well lead, drilled from stance. We eye'd other crags. But dropped down to the new project. It's warm. Miwok and Gary take a lap on Paul's Book after we look at the top of "Pound of Flesh". wicked good. Paul and I go over the far short crack stuff. We run a TR on all possible routes, except a jug to dikes variant on the left facet of the formation over the slabs. One slab looks desperate. So running right to left the lines are 1. hand crack to face/arete to crack 2. squeeze to direct face run thru some knobs 3. delicate face to a seam and join up with the above line 4. a terrific balance problem thru some scoops to take the left hand arete ramp to the top. you can mix and match lower with upper parts of the climbs easily.
After that we get folks on the Ancient Dwarf - Lance tries it in sloppy shoes and doesn't feel it. Maybe a bit more practice on mantles. Gary similarly has trouble. Definitely not 5.8 folks. Scuffy comes along and makes easy party. Everyone seems to enjoy the route for what it presents to them. I know I'm not going to lead the project with it still being warm, but I give it a couple TR tries. nothing feels the same. I feel like I'm starting over at 50% of capacity. no matter. there will be another time. Hope no one ends up climbing it in the meantime, or at least doesn't climb it unless they do it lead no falls onsight. I give Scuff a TR burn on the two offwidths I tried the day before, but he agrees, rounded flaring and dirty.
5/5 and 5/6 - SPH - season opener - 5am start with Factor4. Arrive and blow by the sno park where Gary and Jay and Scuff are having coffee. Turn around and hang for a bit. We chit chat and head on up to check snow fall. 3" in the previous 24hrs. Road to top is blocked so we approach the crag that Paul and I TR'd last season to do it as a lead. We go ground up. I futz around with the first bolt thinking I can power it in, but my balance is off so I have nothing. I back off, but get a #4 stopper behind an expando flake I'm laying back on. Factor goes up and stones up and gets the first bolt in a perfect clipping position. My turn. I get up make the moves, knowing that I did them before makes it go easy. My confidence is up, but the adrenaline is too because at this range the ground is not that far away. I yard up the drill and get in a second bolt. It's good. I've lead from the bottom and know there are holds above so I gun for it going left where Factor went direct and over. much easier my way. I make the moves relatively easy. Last time I thought they were 10ish, but today they feel 5.8. So I neatly step my way above the second bolt with little fan fare, but in asking for Factor to take a pic I have started to get my foot into some uncomfortable space. I tell Factor I'm going for it and need to make one move to get to a jug and then run the easier terrain above to the anchor. It goes well, i get the jug and stand on top and rethink going the rest of the way. I get in a third and finish it off carrying the drill with me. On the way down there is a perfect spot to supplement with an additional bolt to remove the run out. No sense in creating a lame run out route on moderate rock when I've already done it on TR. "Ancient Dwarf" 5.8? ** 4 bolts, optional pro to .5" at the bottom.
We then burn TRs on the two TRs to the left. The closest is a wicked powerful, no feet, boulder problem lay back on good edges. The second one is a layback crack that goes moderate 10ish for the first 15' or so, but there is a desperate bouldering move to nab the jug and then easier terrain above. A nice line if we can get it to go. There is also an arete to the left that looks good that I want to do. I scoped another formation further left that looked like it had been done before by the Dale Keyser era guys.
After that we bouldered at Corridor of Cracks. Scuffy showed up after a wide day for him. We scoped some stuff down below the highway and then checked out some existing bouldering further to the East. Basically worked by the end of the day. Was in bed by 9:30.
Sunday casual start. Morning rituals, coffee, oatmeal, constitutional... hiked to Egg. TR'd clean the Flake, then had a ton of hangs TR'ing the "11b" to the left. The bolts look like they are in a funky position. Big air time if you blow it. Got the top with only two dabs onto the Flake, one at the start, and another at the very end. Seemed harder, but I'm withholding judgement til I get on it again. Hard to onsight I think because the holds are hard to see til you are on them. Factor's chalk helped me a lot. Then we TR'd the "Yerian.Bone" route. The right start is shitty, do the left start. The route felt more like 10b or c. Scope some other stuff. I solo'd a ramp to chimney deal at about 5.3 on the small crag to the West/ So W. facing. Going back there soon. Fun stuff.
Scuff showed us a big boulder near Short Cracks that looked good. We cleaned a small culvert out to try and prevent road damage from run off. meh. sorta worked. Just glad I didn't get the truck stuck for a dead end road. This would be a great place to have a climber's clean up.
4/28 and 4/29 - Mt Woodshun Shindig and Rubidoux - phenomenal trip. weekend drive from SJ to Esco. Great stories. Great climbs. Worthy trip. Highlights of climbs...
Woodson
Rubidoux
very hot out there, amazing considering a storm would hit Cali the next week.
4/21/07 - Pinns W. side. to avoid the tourists watching condor releases on E. side. Uber, Factor4, Jacob and Audrey. Still Cabrillo had a hiking group on the W. side anyways. Started out on Flumes Wall. It had sun on it, which was nice.
hard to say on difficulty for the routes. seemed off. plenty of lines for the day. stop at Super Taqueria in Morgan Hill.
4/14 n 4/15 - Gym and Pinns - SPH foiled again due to heavy rains and snows on Sat. Factor4boy let me use a pass and I got to climb in the plastic hell we call the gym. It's not so bad, right? Rain is the soda that makes the medicine go down easier. 4-5 '10s' and about the same 5.7-8ish climbs.
Sunday after a weather check Sat night the call was for Pinns. Unfortunately, I got little sleep from 2:30 am to 7am (a late start for us usually). Factor4boy started us on Ordeal to the rim, then Wet Kiss, with a bit of thrutch from both of us to get over the mantle, then onto Mono to do Cantaloupe Death linked to NE Corner route with the still intact drilled piton hanger. Finished the day by going to Mr. Hugh G. Rection, Limp at Last, 5.6 TR to left of Limp at Last, and Behr-ens of Sanity. For me all routes TRNF, though on some like Cantaloupe I was barely hanging in. Basically once I again lack of sleep creates horrible climbing ability for the day.
4/7 and 4/8 - SLO areas. Last minute booked the Travelodge in Santa Maria as I didn't fully know the camping situation. [btw, it's ok if you need a place to flop, but don't expect too much. hard mattress and a floor that squeaked incessantly.] Stopped by Tmoses shop in Paso Robles to pick up a disc and say hi. While there he showed us the latest and coolest little toys he'd been making. He tuned up the tuning forks he made for me so that it's easier to get under a hanger. Swaged some cables and viola, we're in bidness. Said our goodbyes and heading to Santa Maria with time to spare in my estimation for having stopped and chatted and ate some food.
Got up a little late and not having heard from Tom [already heard that Joe-D couldn't make it working the holiday weekend] decided not to call thinking he'd gone to the Valley for granite. Turns out he was around and I missed his email and phone call. Next time for sure. We actually didn't stay too long since it was warm, but I enjoyed the climbing. The Big Cheesey and a TR on The Call of the Wild. High adventure quotient. Ticks were out. Got 7-8 of em walking just a few hundred yards. We sprayed ourselves down with bug stuff and wore light colored clothing, so it wasn't horrid, but we're paranoid anyways. Crazy blind curves on the way in and out.
Wrapped up early and got some grub at Islitas for some great Camarones. Solamente gringos around. Sacked out kind of early and got up next day and headed north to hit Wagon Caves. Great sandstone huecoes. TR onlys for the most part. Two beehives, a solo and some easy TRs later, we packed it up and headed home. Urchin, Ancient Sea, Grant's Solo, Babewatch, and Tiny Bubbles all got a spin. Chica wasn't used to the steepness. I expect we'll go back to both areas. The Big Rocks area in particular looks way fun to develop. Seems like the classics have been done, but lesser starred routes are possible.
SPH may open soon, better finish taxes and so I can take the weekend off.
3/24 and 3/25 - humped way in there again. Miwok crashed his mtn bike so was out at the last minute and Strider almost picked up extra hours. It worked out tho. With Strider we had 4 people for Sundays Valley fun. Manpants responded to a vague post about exploration and has done a solid bit of exploring herself, bringing Carl along on his birthday no less... we did not disappoint with the views on the hike in. We TR'd Todd Skinner Memorial Hand Crack "TSMHC" a couple times. Very nice half a rope climb. Good exploration around the corner from there too.
The Next day was perfect. No bugs, some leads, some TRs, and great views, good partners, all in all a solid day.
Royal Perogative 5.9 LNF - slight hesitation with going up and left too far to step to the crack. the crack itself is easy, but you don't get much gear up high, until it meets up with Arete Butler. I brought Strider up.
Arete Butler 5.10a TRNF - Carl lead with one hiccup and brought up Manpants. We only had 2 ropes between our 4 people, but with lowering the followers, we were down in minutes.
Peruvian Flake 5.10a TRNF - I went up to the Devil's Bathtubs to have a quik dip in the cold run off, while Carl lead it up. Strider and Manpants floated it, and cleaned up shop and we chilled on top for a bit while there was good sun. Some cloudy overcast all day, but it never really threatened rain.
Maxine's Wall 10a OSNF - First time on this, got it clean. Slab and well protected for a Valley climb. Everyone got a burn cleanly. Then we shifted the line over right side and burned on that TR.
First pitch of Firefingers 10c TRNF - a Charle's Cole black water streak that had 3 old bolts. Runout lead, above last bolt not too bad 5.9ish maybe. between second and third is where you separate the men from the boyz. This weekend, I was a boy.
3/17 and 3/18 Fjord - humped way the F' in there. getting warm, but a breeze kept things pleasant. Helped Miwok finish his project by hanging in jumars all day. Overnight trip was cut short by getting down early and having the jones to try and make it back to the car before 7pm. Very logistical place. Next day hit IP Buttress, near/at Joel's Birthday Cracks area. TR'd 5.8 Trundle Bunnys, and TR'd most of the face climb to the right of it. Drank fresh brews at the lodge. Camped out, no hassles. Very cool ranger that took our info down.
2/3 and 2/4 2007 - Yosemite Valley
last minute plans came together. Chriz agreed to a Valley trip and Spyork sent an email. We met up in the morning at Pat and Jack's. Chriz lead up Nurdle 5.8 to the first anchor and we followed up. A couple named Jon and Sue from the bay area came along and fired up Sherrie's Crack. Once they both lead the climb we dropped a TR on it and each gave a lap or two. After that we headed to try Moby Dick Center, but it had a group of 4 on it already, so we hiked a little further for Spyork to run up La Cosita Right Side. He made easy work of it. Chriz and I burned on it and then we TR'd the chimney side of La Cosita Left side. With the light diminishing we opted for drinks at the Mtn Room Bar after grub with Werner and Scott. Deciding what to do the next day was the problem. We chose Reed's Regular Route eventually after cooking up snausages and eggs for breakfast on Sunday. It was the perfect lead for me as i hadn't been on rock in a month. It was steep but positive. 5.5 maybe 5.6 to the first ledge. Then some unprotected face moves to a 5.8 section and ramp to the big ledge. Spyork had the fortitude to continue up Bong's Away Left. After that we dropped to New Deviations. Chriz lead in great style with me spewing the wrong beta at him. heh. Oddly it's Feb and there are mosquitos. Spyork wanted a go on Generator crack and we obliged since he kept the motivation going all weekend. He thrutched with some hangs about 2/3rds of the way up. All great pitches for both days.