Out of J-Tree, on to Tahquitz

Wow, what's gotten into me? I'm actually keeping this blog fairly current! Crazy, eh?

So, Friday, after my last post, Patsy ended up heading back to the campsite with Brett and I. She was hoping to find a ride to San Francisco or LA, but it didn't work out. So, Saturday, the three of us set out to climb Dappled Mare, a 2 pitch 5.8 on Lost Horse Wall. The goal was to get an early start so it would still be in the shade (it is southwest facing). We didn't do too badly, and were probably climbing by 10 or so, but it was already coming into the sun. I think the the crux of the climb was getting off the ground, but the whole thing was enjoyable and worthwhile.

Brett on the cruxy start of Dappled Mare, with Patsy spotting

Brett nears the end of the first pitch of Dappled Mare

Patsy at the top of the second pitch of Dappled Mare

Brett and Patsy on top of Dappled Mare

After Dappled Mare, we headed over to Rock Garden Valley and got a few more climbs in.

Patsy tops out on Swiss Cheese (5.8), with Brett belaying

Sunday morning, I found Patsy a ride to LA, with Walker, who I climbed with the previous weekend. We went to Hemingway Buttress to meet up with him and his friend Zac, and Brett led Funky Dung (5.8), a fun route, with some funky, committing moves out a roof. I started to get on Overseer (5.9), but had second thoughts about the committing, unprotected moves at the start and backed off. We got Patsy's stuff transferred into Walker's car (he was leaving early to get back to LA), and said goodbye (again) to Patsy, then hooked up with some co-workers of Brett, Marion, Katie, and Jackie, and went out to Atlantis Wall. Brett and I got a couple leads in, then we hooked up with another group that had some top-ropes up, and got on their ropes. The climbs at Atlantis are short, but fun.

Brett TR's Wet Pigeon (5.8), while Katie TR's the unknown 5.7 to the right

Brett and Jackie pose in front of an amazing Joshua Tree sunset

Sunday evening, Brett and I met Katie, Jackie, Chase, and some other Boojum Institute employees at Pappy and Harriet's, a fun little bar/restaurant in Pioneer Town. It was nice to hang out, drink beers at a bar and see a band. I hadn't done that since seeing the Saps with Melissa back in June....

Monday, Brett and I took our time getting up and about, packed up camp, headed into town to take care of some town stuff, then drove down to Idyllwild. Tuesday, we climbed a route called Sahara Terror (5.7) at Tahquitz. The route featured lots of fun, easy, overhung climbing, a cool, but dirty left facing corner, that probably wasn't exactly quite on route, and a great steep corner with a beautiful splitter crack and great edges for feet. The real beauty of this route was that it looked so improbable, yet climbed so easy.

Approaching Tahquitz

Looking down the first pitch of Sahara Terror

Brett a cheval on the start of the second pitch of Sahara Terror

Brett on the dirty, but fun corner to the right of what was probably supposed to be the second pitch of Sahara Terror (note the cool looking roofs through which the third pitch ascends)

On top of Tahquitz Rock

I would like to take this moment to endorse Cerveza Caguama, product of El Salvador and my new favorite cheap beer. I'll have to take plenty of this with me when I leave So Cal. Now back to your regularly scheduled blog.....

<rant>The main problem I have with Tahquitz, so far, is that I have yet to find a place to camp that doesn't want your first born child in payment. Come on, people, $20/night is freaking ridiculous for a CAMPSITE. OK, maybe if we were talking about RV hookups, and free showers, that would be fine. I want a few square feet of ground to park my car on and a place to cook my meals (a picnic table would be great, but I'll take a rock, or a flat-ish bit of ground). A toilet or outhouse is probably good, to reduce impact, but I can live without it. It really aggravates me when those of us who require little and leave little impact are expected to pay the same as those who expect five star accommodations and think someone should clean up after them. </rant>

So, Tuesday night, we drove about 45 minutes to the headquarters of Boojum Institute in Anza, Ca, who Brett works for, and crashed there.

Wednesday, we drove back to Tahquitz, and climbed Coffin Nail (5.8) to Traitor Horn (5.8). Wow. What else can I say, but, "wow". This was two absolutely amazing pitches of climbing. I think the first pitch of Traitor Horn may be the single coolest pitch I have ever led. I was incredibly disappointed that Brett didn't have a camera with him when I reached this perch, but was very grateful for the rest.

Brett on Coffin Nail

Brett pulling the roof at the top of Coffin Nail

After getting down, we still had lots of daylight to burn, so we climbed Left Ski Track, a classic 5.6. This was a great, casual climb. Most of the way, if you didn't have your hand on a great jug and/or your foot on a huge hold, you were doing something wrong...yet, it was steep and exposed, and you were grateful for those beautiful big holds.

Brett climbing jugs on the first pitch of Left Ski Track

Brett at the top of the first pitch of Left Ski Track

Brett leading the second pitch of Left Ski Track, just before the "classic step-around"

Once I get this blog posted, my task for the day is to start making some progress on my resume. Yep, that's right. It's getting close to time for the vagabond climber to settle back down into a real job for a while. Never fear, though, there are plenty of adventures left to be had before that happens. :-)

Brett and I are planning to climb one more day at Tahquitz, tomorrow. Saturday, I will hit the road again...but where to is yet to be determined. I may try to catch up with Alan at Death Valley, or I may head on to Las Vegas, and Red Rock Canyon. Whatever works out, you'll read about it in the next edition.

Route list for 10/17-21:

• Dappled Mare (2 pitches, 5.8 Trad) (Followed pitch 1, onsight pitch 2)
• Swiss Cheese (5.8, Mixed) (TR clean)
• Smithereens (5.8, Trad) (Onsight)
• Lewd and Lascivious Conduct (5.10c) (TR)
• Funky Dung (5.8 Trad) (TR clean)
• Wet Pigeon (5.8 Trad) (Onsight)
• Vorpal Sword (5.8 Trad) (TR clean)
• Unknown 5.7 (Trad) (Onsight)
• Grain Surplus (5.8) (TR clean)
• Galumphing (5.10a/b) (TR clean)
• Sahara Terror (5 pitches, 5.7, Trad) (Onsight 1,3, 5; Followed clean 2,4)
• Coffin Nail (5.8, Trad) (Followed clean) to Traitor Horn (2 pitches, 5.8, trad) (onsight 1, followed clean 2)
• Left Ski Track (3 pitches, 5.6, Trad) (Onsight 1,3; Followed clean 2)
  

Joshua Tree Part 2

Monday morning, I was considering taking a rest day, but Kara, who I'd met on Saturday, came by as I was finishing up breakfast, so I decided to do a few climbs with her. We decided to go to The Real Hidden Valley, warm up on some easy stuff and then, maybe do Sail Away (5.8). So, we got on a 5.6 called Leaping Leaner, thinking it would be casual. I started up a crack that appeared to be the obvious start to the route, got one good piece in and started to move above it. Outside of the finger slot where I placed my gear, the crack was shallow and flaring. With a long reach, I got to a halfway decent handhold, and started working my feet up in the flaring crack. I need to get to a stance with my feet on the afore-mentioned handhold before I would get gear again. With my feet maybe a foot above my gear, my foot slipped and I fell. For a second I was just kind of sliding down the rock, but had no way to stop myself. I wondered if my gear would catch me before I hit the ground. As the ground approached, I felt the rope go tight. My feet hit the ground. I felt a slight twinge in one ankle. I had hit the ground, but only with rope stretch...the rope had taken the brunt of the energy out of the fall. I became aware of Kara and saw that she had been yanked forward and scraped her shin. She almost definitely saved me from a sprained ankle, or worse, though. It was the first time she'd ever caught a lead fall.

After further consideration, I cleaned my gear, and down-climbed. I started further left, kind of chimneying up behind a boulder, then traversed back right into the climb. Even without the sketchy start, the climb felt awfully hard for 5.6. Later, I looked it up on Mountain Project, and the consensus grade is 5.7+, with a note that, if you start on the right (as I did initially), it has “ankle busting potential at 5.8+”. It was not quite the mellow warm-up I was looking for.

After that, we, somewhat apprehensively, got on a 5.7 called Jumping Jehosephat. It was distinctly easier than Leaping Leaner. At that point, we decided it was cold and a cup of hot chocolate (perhaps with a shot of peppermint schnapps) sounded nice.

Leaping Leaner (The 5.6 that isn't) on the right, Jumping Jehosephat on the left

Tuesday, Brett, who I had also met on Saturday, and another girl, Patsy, joined Kara and I in our campsite. Brett and Kara went into town to do some shopping and such, and Patsy I went to Hemingway Buttress to do some climbing.

White Lightning (5.7)

Dung Fu (5.7)

We had awesome chicken fajitas for dinner. Unfortunately, I woke up in the night to a severely deflated air mattress. I aired it back up, but it quickly deflated again, and I ended up sleeping (poorly) on the hard, lumpy floor of my car. Perhaps the added weight from all the fajitas I ate was too much for it. I don't know. I got up early, since I was uncomfortable, and couldn't really sleep anyway. I eventually found the hole, and made an attempt at patching it, then decided to take a rest day, get a shower, and generally relax. Brett, Kara, and Patsy went to climb Hands Off, a climb you can see from our campsite which seems to always have people on it.

Brett on Hands Off (5.8), as viewed from our campsite

That night, the mattress leaked more slowly...with one re-inflation, I was able to keep it reasonably comfortable. In the morning, I made one more attempt at patching it.

Thursday, we decided to go to Lost Horse Wall and do some multi-pitch climbs. We started out on The Swift, a pleasant 5.7. The book has it as three pitches, but we climbed it easily in two.

Kara following the first pitch of The Swift

Kara at the first pitch belay on The Swift

Brett leading the second pitch of The Swift, while Patsy belays

After we all got down from the walk-off, it was blazing hot in the sun, and we decided to seek some shade. We headed for Dairy Queen Wall, got two more climbs in, hiked out in the dark, and headed back to camp.

This morning, Kara and Patsy headed out. Brett is going to hang out and climb with me through the weekend, then we are going to head down to Tahquitz and do some climbing down there.

I gave up on my air mattress today and bought a new one. I'm not sure if my patch is still failing, or if there is another hole. Either way, I didn't want to screw with it any more, when I could just spend $20 and get a new mattress.

Route List for 10/12-16:

• Leaping Leaner (“5.6” Trad) (Fell on one start, onsight with alternate start)
• Jumping Jehosephat (5.7 Trad) (Onsight)
• White Lightning (5.7 Trad) (Onsight)
• Dung Fu (5.7 Trad) (TR clean)
• Feltonian Physics (5.8 Trad) (Onsight)
• The Swift (2 pitches, 5.7 Trad) (Onsight)
• Frosty Cone (5.7 Trad) (Onsight)
• Mr. Misty Kiss (5.7 Trad) (TR Clean)

Moving On: From Yosemite to J-Tree

After Shaun and Ben headed out last Sunday, I took Monday off, and did a lot of laying around in the sun and reading. Tuesday, I hooked up with Hannah, who I had climbed with once before and we climbed the regular route up Higher Cathedral Spire. The route is 5 pitches long, with three 5.9 pitches (all pretty short cruxes), is a lot of fun, and reaches a really fantastic summit, with amazing views. My camp-mates, Dominic and Evelyn were just ahead of us on the climb.

Dominic on the third pitch of Higher Cathedral Spire

Hannah on 4^th pitch of Higher Cathedral Spire

Looking down on Hannah at the 4^th pitch belay of Higher Cathedral Spire

Hannah and Me on top of Higher Cathedral Spire, El Cap in the background

El Cap from the top of Higher Cathedral Spire

After the climb, Hannah and I cashed in the free dinner I won in the Yosemite Facelift raffle. The steaks were amazingly delicious...perfectly cooked and deliciously tender. Maybe I should have taken pictures of my dinner. :-) All in all, it was a great finish to a fabulous day.

Wednesday, I packed up my stuff and, by about 1:00, was on the road again. I drove to Bakersfield, CA, where I stopped to do laundry, stock up on supplies and "camp" in the Wal-Mart parking lot. Thursday, I drove the rest of the way into Joshua Tree National Park, and got a campsite at the Hidden Valley campground. I met a guy named Kevin who had a site a few down from mine, who I ended up climbing with the next day.

Welcome to Joshua Tree National Park - View from my campsite

Kevin, his friend Jose, and I went out to Echo Rock (a short distance from Hidden Valley), and I led Stichter Quits a.k.a. Black Tide (5.7), a nice, somewhat run-out (4 bolts in about 100') slab climb. It was fun...slightly heady, but fun. About the time we got down, Kevin's friend, Dave, showed up. Dave led several harder climbs, and I top-roped a couple of them. The highlight was Heart and Sole (5.10b). This was a super fun climb.

Heart and Sole goes up the slab under the roof, around the roof on the right, then back left above the roof and up the flake. Super cool route!

We headed back to the campground for a bit, then Kevin, Dave and I did a couple more routes, Papa Woolsey (5.10b) and Double Cross ("5.7+"). Papa Woolsey is a tricky face climb...slick rock and small edges. Double Cross is a beautiful hand crack with a tricky start that feels more like a solid 5.8.

Me on Double Cross (“5.7+”)

Friday night, Kevin headed home and Dave's family and some other friends of his and their families came in. I hung out with them some in the evening. They were cool folks. I ended up sharing my campsite with a guy named Isak who is in the area doing outdoor education work. Another guy, Walker, came by, and I made plans to climb with him on Saturday.

Saturday morning, I was late showing up to climb with Walker, so he ended up heading out with another friend of his who he had run into to climb. Meanwhile, Isak's friend who he was supposed to climb with didn't show up, so I ended up climbing with him. Funny how things work out. :-) We did a few routes in the campground area, waiting to see if his friend would show up. Eventually, she did, along with four other outdoor ed people. The lot of us went out to Rock Garden Valley, got a few climbs in, and saw a lovely sunset.

On top of Intersection Rock

Sunset from the top of Young Lust (5.8+) in Rock Garden Valley

Today, I climbed with Walker and we got four excellent routes in before he headed back to LA.

Route List for 10/6-11:

• Higher Cathedral Spire Regular Route (5 pitches, 5.9, Trad) (Led pitches 1 and 5, hung on pitch 2)
• Stichter Quits (a.k.a. Black Tide) (5.7) (onsight)
• Heart and Sole (5.10b) (TR)
• Falcon and The Snowman (5.10d) (TR)
• Papa Woolsie (5.10b) (TR)
• Double Cross ("5.7+", Trad) (TR clean)
• Toe Jam (5.7, Trad) (Onsight)
• Overhang Bypass (5.7, Trad) (TR clean)
• Upper Right Ski Track (5.3, Trad) (Onsight)
• Double Dog Leg (5.7, Trad) (TR clean)
• Young Lust (5.8+, Trad) (Onsight)
• Pope's Crack (5.9, Trad) (TR clean)
• Bambi Meets Godzilla (5.8+, Trad) (Onsight)
• Effigy Too (5.10 a/b, Trad) (TR clean)
• The Flue (5.8, Trad) (Onsight)
  

Yosemite Week Two Plus

After bailing on the East Buttress of Middle Cathedral, I took a day off. I blogged, read, and generally relaxed. The following day, I got together with Paul again and we tried to climb Nutcracker, a classic 5 pitch 5.8. When Paul reached the top of the first pitch, he suggested I trail the second rope so we could bail from the top of the second pitch, because it was so freaking hot. I brought the rope up, and, despite getting a cooling breeze at the top of the second pitch, we decided our hearts weren't in it right that moment, and bailed. I spent the rest of the day relaxing.

On Saturday, I thought that Shaun, Katie, and Shaun's friend Ben were going to be arriving, so I made no plans. As it turned out, they got delayed in Reno because Shaun's bag didn't come in on his flight. All week, an event called Yosemite Facelift had been going on. I had been taking advantage of it in the form of free slideshows, films, and beer in the evenings, but hadn't participated, yet. I decided to help out since I had no other plans, and spent the day picking up trash around the Yosemite Creek trailhead and campground. Every day, everyone who helped pick up trash was entered in a raffle. I won dinner for two at the Mountain Room, a nice restaurant here in the valley. I can't wait to take advantage of that. I could use a great meal!

Sunday, I still didn't know what was up with Shaun and company, so I hooked up with Hannah and her friend Chris and met up with a bunch more friends of Chris at the North Face Apron of Middle Cathedral. It turns out that most of the climbs at this crag are hard and run-out, mostly with high first bolts (like 25 feet high). Hannah and I ended up climbing one pitch, the first pitch of a climb called Fall Guy, recently put up by Chris's friend, Bob. We were going to do the whole 3 pitch climb, but the party ahead of us took a long time on the third pitch and we decided to bail. I had to aid the low crux of this "10a" slab. I pulled through a higher crux, but it wasn't pretty.

Monday morning, Shaun and company found me and got registered at Camp Four. After they had setup camp, we went to Glacier Point Apron to do "the best 5.6 in the Valley", The Grack, Center. I led all three pitches, with Katie seconding (her first multi-pitch climb!), and Shaun and Ben swung leads. The clean, aesthetic, low-angle splitter crack of pitch 2 was quite enjoyable, and everyone enjoyed the climb.

Katie, Ben, and Shaun at the base of the first pitch of The Grack, Center

Looking up the second pitch of The Grack, Center

View from the top of the Grack

Katie following third pitch of The Grack, Center

Shaun leading third pitch of The Grack, Center with Ben belaying

Katie and Me at the top of The Grack

Tuesday, Katie had to head back to Winnemucca, and Shaun opted to hang out with her until she left. Ben and I decided to climb a 3 pitch 5.8 called The Caverns. From the base of the route, I got a hold of my friend, Matt, who had driven out from San Francisco the day before, but had, so far, eluded contact. Fortunately, it was a short approach, so I hiked back down and got him and we did the route as a party of three. I didn't realize it at the time, but it was Matt's first multi-pitch! We ended up doing the route in 4 pitches, as Ben stopped a little short on the second pitch, and we were a little rushed on the final pitch, as it had sprinkled a little, and was threatening more serious rain. The rain never materialized, though, and we made it up without difficulties. We made it back to Camp Four in the nick of time for me to renew my campsite, and Matt headed back to SF, after sharing some tasty chips and homemade salsa.

Matt following second pitch of Caverns

Blood for the Blood God!

Ben following the 2 1/2^th pitch of Caverns

Wednesday, Shaun, Ben, and I went back to Glacier Point Apron, and climbed a 2 pitch 5.8 called Harry Daley. The first pitch started with challenging friction climbing right off the deck with no protection. After down-climbing several times, I pulled the moves, and got up to a good stance where I could get gear in. The rest of the first pitch was pretty mellow. The second pitch started with a slightly wide hand crack through a roof which turned out to be quite easy and a lot of fun. The crux came higher up on a section of finger crack. Ben did an excellent job leading the second pitch.

Ben below the roof at the start of the second pitch of Harry Daley

Shaun jamming deep at the top of the second pitch of Harry Daley

When we got down, the apron had gone into the shade, and, in a major change from the previous couple weeks, this left us a bit chilly, and seeking sun, so we headed to the Church Bowl area, and I led Church Bowl Lieback (5.8). Wow, that was a fun, burly climb. It was pretty much sustained, nearly vertical laybacking all the way. There were some good stemming rests, but you definitely had to look for them. I psyched myself out a bit when I ran it out a ways above my last piece, thinking I was going to a good hold, only to find that it wasn't so good after all. I down-climbed, got another piece in, then pulled the move. I got a good scare for a second, though.

Thursday, Shaun and I climbed After Six, a popular 6 pitch, 5.7 (or 5.6 in the older books...) while Ben took the day to do some hiking. Shaun took the lead on the first (and crux) pitch, but backed off after getting intimidated by a tricky, awkward move. I pulled the rope, re-led the bottom on his gear, and finished the pitch. It was definitely tricky and intimidating in places.

Shaun near the top of the third pitch of After Six

Friday, Ben, Shaun, and I went to climb Royal Arches (14 pitches, 5.7 A0). We left camp at 6AM to drive to the trailhead, and were at the base of the route around 6:30. There was a party ahead of us, but they moved quickly. I made it up the first pitch chimney fairly quickly and efficiently, despite some intimidating moves pulling around chockstones. Pretty quickly, Ben and Shaun had to put up with me being bitchy about moving quickly. I tried not to be too sour, but, with a party of 3 on such a long route, we really needed to be efficient. We actually made reasonably good time on the route. Climbing on 70 meter ropes, we cut out a couple of pitches by belaying part way through 4th class pitches rather than climbing them as separate pitches, and made it to the top in 12 pitches by about 4:00PM.

Shaun leads the second technical pitch of Royal Arches, while a party passes on the left

Me and Ben: 2/3 of the Bearded Guys Climbing Team

Ben follows the 4^th class traverse on pitch 8 of Royal Arches while Shaun Belays

Ben at the 10^th pitch belay on Royal Arches, waiting to climb

Ben leading the 12^th and final pitch on Royal Arches

View of the Valley from the top of Royal Arches

That's where things got sticky. We intended to walk off via the North Dome Gully descent. Unfortunately, I had the descent directions mixed up and we went in the wrong direction. After failing to find the descent trail, a little strife amongst the party, and a lot of frustration on my part (not with the people, but with the situation), we decided to go back and descend via the rappel route. This required leading back across a slightly heady 5.4 slab. Ben led it the first time. I led back across. It was probably 6:00 by the time we started the rappels. On the first rap, I missed the bolts for the second station, and ended up stopping at a cluster of trees which our 70 meter roped just reached to, and managed to knock my headlamp off and drop it down the cliff in the process. I had failed to get it clipped properly onto my helmet. Oops. With Shaun's headlamp running low on batteries, this left us with one fully functional headlamp. Great! Shaun took over leading us down the rappels, since he was doing better than I was at seeing the stations, got us back on track, and did an excellent job of getting us down quickly and safely. It was a little stressful, but, in hindsight, a good climb. It was definitely fantastic to get down. :-)

Today, we are resting. I took a shower, then made myself a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich for brunch. It's great to relax after a long, hard day. Tomorrow, Shaun and Ben head out. I will probably hang around until Wednesday or so, then consider heading to SoCal.

Route List for 9/24 - 10/2:

• Nutcracker Pitch 1 (5.8 Trad, followed clean) and 2 (5.4 Trad, onsight)
• Fall Guy Pitch 1 (5.10a, followed with aid)
• The Grack, Center (3 pitches, 5.6, Trad, onsight)
• The Caverns (4 pitches, 5.8, Trad; Onsight pitch 1,3, 4; followed pitch 2 clean)
• Harry Daley (2 pitches, 5.8, Trad; Onsight pitch 1; followed pitch 2 clean)
• Church Bowl Lieback (5.8 Trad, onsight)
• After 6 (6 pitches, 5.7 Trad; dark pink-point pitch 1, followed pitch 2-3 clean, onsight pitch 4-6...or something like that)
• Royal Arches (12 pitches, 5.7 A0, led some, followed some, all clean)