Winter is for bouldering. First I get all power-hungry and go for big
ticks. When I finally blow a tendon, it gets taped up, and I try to fit in as many Vo's as I can in a session.
By May, I'm going entirely for endurance, and I'm sick of boulders and college kids. It's Peak season! I've been
climbing for 25+ years, and I find piles of rope and metal to be awkward and boring.
May- It's too hot for bouldering, so I start the season with solos in the Buttermilk front
country, like Buttermilk Dome, S. Ridge, and the Fang, and Sharp's Scenic Stroll.
June-A long ridge in Pine Creek Canyon has been bugging me. I solo about 500 feet,
but it is more than I was ready for. Remember to practice downclimbing in the winter when bouldering!
June 7- Tioga pass opens. I soloed After Six, Royal Arches, and the Grack. I practiced ultimate
glissading on the last pitch of the downclimb on the Grack.
June 14- Last year, Jay Schifferdecker and I did a probable new route on a small peak above
the Pine Creek Pass trailhead. We called it the "Country Glass Arete" after the name of the company I work for, and
for the wyrdness of the rock. On this day, I soloed it, and added a more direct start [II,5.4].
June 15-Back again to the ridge up Pine Creek. I forced the route a little furthur,
solo. It becomes apparent that the furthur I go, the longer is the downclimb. It appears that topping out may
put me miles from anywhere, with a long hike out.
June 21-Soloed Royal Arches, up and back, in sub-3 hours. This is almost as fast as
I was when I was young and foolish!
June 22-Soloed Snake Dike. I've done this before, but this time the crux haired me
out bad. Of course, I did it anyway.
June 27-Wildness with the Tungsten City Band at the Mobile Station in Lee Vinning.
June 29-Milo and I attempt the North Ridge of Lone Pine Peak. It's a bit more than
we expected[we were soloing]. Arguing about bailing, Milo reaches into his pack and produces a 20' dog leash for a rap
line. Then things got scary for a little while.
July 5-Soloed the East Arete of Mount Humpfries with Milo and Rey[an oxymoron]. Eruo's
on route with big packs and gear, franticaly searching for "the 5.2 handcrack". Milo tells 'em "Yer standin' on it!"
We take 7 hours r.t
When we descend, the Euro kids try to follow us down, but we don't set a good example.
July 8-I eat a mushroom and get probed by alien intellegence{oh, well!]
July 12-Soloing with Milo and Rey and Mary the Mountain Dog. We do the South Ridge
on Basin[III,5.0]. The gully really sucked. While downclimbing from the summit, Rey dislodges a microwaveoven
sized rock. It explodes on a boulder in front of me and shrapnel whizzes past both my ears. It didn't hurt a bit.
Again, about 7 hours r.t.
July 13-Solo traverse of Crystal Crag above Mammoth, south to north[II, 5.6]. Again, a bit more than I expected, But a really good traverse.
July 19- Up the ridge in Pine Creek again, this time I bring Milo and a rope.
He gets bored with the route finding, so we try some sport climbing. I got bored with
sport climbing, so we drank some beer.
July 20-I get up early and set up the North Ridge of Mt. Tom. Right away I realize
I ain't gonna, so I take a nap next to Pine Creek instead.
July 26-NE gully of Mt. Laurel, solo. [III, 5.2]. Lots of loose rock and tourists
with big racks [thanx to Peter's new book!]. I catch up to an old fart soloing really fast, and it's my neighbor in
Rovanna, Todd Bibler. Running and scree surfing from the summit, I run right over a big blue rabbit the size of a collie
dog. Gotta good look at it, too bad for me! Todd and I reached Convict Lake less than 4 hours after starting.
Upon reaching the lake, I become unexplicably very ill, and barley made it to my truck.
July 27-Milo, Rey, Mary the Mountain Dog and I recon the backside of Wheeler Ridge.
August 1-Bought this here big hard drive to go with my little belt buckle.
August 3-Soloed the SE buttress of Paiute Crag #11, traversed the crest to the summit of
Paiute #10. Looks like no one ever goes up here! Tons of horrifying loose rock, but the narrow crest was really
solid and steep purple rock. [both peaks, III 5.4]. 5 hours r.t. [note: Secor's guide seems to confuse crags
#9 and #10. Roper's old green book is better here.]
August 9-Milo and I solo the crest of Wheeler Peak[II, 4th class]. We argue constantly
about grades and routefinding, and had a mello good time.
August 25- Soloed the SE face of Mt. Emmerson[III 5.4]. Again, bigger than I expected,
so I hurry, and take less than 5 hrs. r.t. Strangely, while in the middle of the crux pitch, I spat out a big chunk
of my wisdom tooth. Eww!
-the summer is drawing to an end. I hope to get in a couple more peaks before
bouldering season starts!
July 27
It's time. This ol' hillbilly needs to put up or shut up. The universe
has told me that I need to pass on the lessons that I've learned[as well as some I am yet learning]. Unfortunately,
the only thing I am truley expert at is the Art of Being a Dammned Fool.
This summer has been strange and eventful. My midlife crisis unfolds with a need to
find out if I am as Bad-assed as I always thought I am. By proving to myself my strengths, I must confront my frailities
head-on. And whuddya know, now here's some webspace where I may excrete my opinions and misadventures upon an unsuspecting
world.
While the overt subject of this site is Eastside climbing, I can't really give much
flavor of what it's like for me{at least}, unless I'm willing to write about "the
flip side". After a while, the routes are all alike. The things that I remember are the wierdness, and the humility
involved. Hopefully, I will be able to discuss things like the Giant Blue Rabbit I saw on Mt. Laurel, or the time Milo
and I bailed off a big 5th class peak using a dog leash for a rap line. Then there was the three famous guys a few weeks
ago who did a new route on Birch Mountain. Shrouded in secrecy, this incident illustrates that danger may seek out those
who try to avoid it. Perhaps I'll even mention the strange entity
that demanded that I buy a computer and start this site.
Read my disclaimer. I know I'm nuts. But I really do think I know what I'm talking
about.
