|
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Patricia Bowel
The
Amazing Austin Archer provided the Cactus Rancher and I with a tour of the crag at the cirque above Patricia Lake up Rock
Creek. Astro-Dawg is climbing strong and made sure that we left well exercised. It is beginning to be a little
chilly in the shade up in the mountains, so hurry up and finish off this season's list. Here is a pic of our rope gun
on the fun warm up 5.10 "Stoic Tree Arete".
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Big Johnson
The Cactus Rancher and I got out early this morning and somehow managed to stumble to the
summit of Mt. Johnson [12,871'] from the Treasure Lakes col. This peak is more complex than we expected, but will go
at class 3 up the back [western] side, if one is sensible enough to use proper routefinding.
From the summit we looked down into Kings Canyon National Park, which is surprisingly close,
considering how long it takes to drive there. Here is myself on the summit, with the Citadel and the rest of the Kings
Canyon highcountry in the background. Look closely and notice my devilish visage.....
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Lost in the Evolution Range
Today Milo and I had a good time in the cirque above South Lake. The plan was
to sleep in and do a little season opener on one of the lower peaks above Treasure Lakes, but the dominant pryamid of the
NE spur of Mt. Gilbert attracted our attention at once, despite an obvious headwall near the summit.This obstacle
turned out to be a bit more than we planned for, but we still did a whole lot more climbing than we meant to do. Since
we just ran out without much information on where we were going, we just aimed for the coolest looking peak in
the vacinity. I could not believe it when I came home and looked it up, only to discover that the obvious pinnacle is
simply an unnamed subpeak of Gilbert. The route was excellent, with good exposure, and the bothersome headwall is probably
only mid fifth class. I will probably go back a little better prepared, and name the peak after myself...
Friday, May 25, 2007
What a Fox......
This beautiful animal has been coming down every evening and eating mullberries that fall
on the ground outside my little Manzanar barracks. It looks just like a large and healthy Grey Fox.......
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Down Like Buttermilk
The kids came over this weekend and motivated me to run around outside a little while.
A certain sign of impending summertime is the lack of crowds at the Buttermilks. There were only a few cars tucked away
in a couple discrete campsites. My daughter had to delete some rabbit pics so she could take this one of me on top of
some random pinacle. If anyone wants to see rabbits on my front porch, just let me know.....
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Still Alive
It has been brought to my attention that 'Spew is in need of updating. A few broken
links folks have been complaining about have been repaired. Apparently this is the only place to get a topo of Baddaddy
up above Rovanna. It is a good route that needs some traffic, being one of the best cracks around at the grade.
Perhaps someone will remind me to keep this place updated. What does everyone want to
see here? For now, here is a pic of me goofing off on some limestone up in Marble Canyon, across the river:
Sunday, July 16, 2006
A Visit to the Cathouse
The backyard just keeps getting more interesting. Yesterday, I was downclimbing a narrow
slot in the summit formation and had a close encounter with a family of bobcats. The mamma cat stood her ground
and glared at me while the three kittens scrambled away. It is a perfect location for a den, as the only way in is through
a narrow cave opening, unless someone happens to be climbing down the wall from the summit pinnacle. This morning i
decided to grab a camera and see if I could do it again. The kittens were hidden, but I caught the mother
sleeping:
The sound of the camera woke her up, but she stayed put long enough for the kittens to run
away, and for me to get a second pic. The photographic quality could be better, but what the heck. How often does
the opportunity come up to get personal contacts with wildcats?
Tuesday, July 4, 2006
Smokestack Lightnin'
Flux and I spent a few hours up on Smoke Blanchard's old rock course in the Buttermilk
Country this afternoon. Smoke was the Eastside's first documented Bhudist as well as a prolific explorer
of the local terrain. His convoluted route thru the Buttermilk topography is legendary, and no one remembers exactly
just where it went, although sections of it are easy enough to spot. We enjoyed a little thunder and lightning as we
explored some of the terrain.
Check out the deep canyon-like watergroovesbehind the Skindiver formation:
Smoke was an American original. His cryptic route thru the Granite reminds me that there is
a hidden American legacy that is not about war and profit. It is incredible how there is always a way when the path
seems least probable. Flux got tricked into this downclimb as the water groove in the last picture just kept getting
steeper as we descended:
We enjoyed a nice rainstorm as we climbed out of the formations, which felt nice in the heat. Please, remember
to play careful with fire on this holliday.
Sunday, July 2, 2006
Still There....
Milo and I started off our high-country season a little late this year, only to discover that
there is still plenty of snow in the mountains. We had a good time "soloing" the Southeast Face of Mount Emmerson [13,204'],
even though we found some running water at the crux and a big snowpatch about mid-way. This is an excellent route that
I have done three times now, finally someone came with me. It is a long climb with over 3,000' of rockclimbing, with
an approach of only a mile or two. It appears to be gaining in popularity recently.
Here is the snowpatch at the midpoint notch. We were able to climb up the moat between
the rock and the snow, with a few crazy overhanging mixed moves done in approach shoes:
Above 12,000' or so is still frozen. Here is a cool view of some high lakes
around Paiute Pass taken from the summit arete of the climb:
Milo's space suit is prettier than mine. He enjoyed the exellent stone on the upper
pitches. The climbing goes on forever, but we still made it down in time for lunch and this update. Thanx for
visitin' wormspew.....
Saturday, July 1, 2006
Nightflower
Early this morning I received a phonecall from the cactus ranch, informing me that I
had about ten minutes before the morning sun would wither a nocturnally-blooming ephemeral blossom of a rare Trichocerus
hybrid. I got my shoes on and arrived in time to take a few photos. Tommorrow morning we will climb the Southeast
face of Mt. Emmerson. What a sweet omen.....
|
 |
|
2007.09.01 |
2007.07.01 |
2007.06.01 |
2007.05.01 |
2006.07.01 |
2006.06.01 |
2006.05.01 |
2006.04.01 |
2005.08.01 |
2005.06.01 |
2005.03.01 |
2005.02.01 |
2004.12.01 |
2004.11.01 |
2004.10.01 |
2004.09.01 |
2004.08.01 |
2004.07.01 |
2004.06.01 |
2004.05.01 |
2004.04.01 |
2004.03.01 |
2004.02.01 |
2004.01.01 |
2003.12.01 |
2003.11.01 |
2003.10.01 |
2003.09.01 |
2003.08.01
|
Clicking on the links above access older posts from my
archives
Disclaimer The opinions offered here
are mine. I believe that sucsess on the peaks depends on trusting yourself. If you do not have a trusting relationship
with your body and mind, or if you are not sure, or if you are unwilling to provide the commitment, then you should probably
stick with sport climbing and such. To the mountain ecosystem, you are only a rich supply of nutrients, so step carefully!
|
