The Upper Crust (16 Feb, 3 Mar 2013)

Spark Notes:
Pinnacles NP, East Side (for your first trip or few read Clint Cummins' excellent overview page with topos, or you can get your brother to buy you A Climber's Guide to Pinnacles National Monument by Young, 2007)

Song(s) of the Trip(s):
Kronkite - Phil The Agony (Spotify)
My Number - Foals (Spotify)

On the surface, there's really nothing special here. Just a couple daytrips to Pinnacles. The first trip was to a new crag, and the second trip was a chance to visit a now-familiar crag and show Kat's roommates a good time top-roping outside for the first time. On both trips I was able to climb progressively harder, and led the whole day. Plus we hiked out in darkness both times, which I think is a sign of a day well spent.

More than that, though, these last couple trips were a great reminder of the many reasons I climb.
Waking up early and getting moving in the morning.
Being apprehensive on the way in, turning up the music to get the psyche going.
Feeling a little fear and anticipation.
Racking up and sacking up and going for it.
Sometimes the whole pitch has me gripped. Sometimes I seem to float up.
It's about being outside, being in a beautiful place, and sharing positive energy all around. (Kat climbed probably the best pitch of her LIFE on Organgrinder, high stepping like a pro, almost peeling twice, but staying on and sending the pitch.)

Anyway, three weeks ago, the day started a bit rough. I was happy to be out, but the climbing didn't feel right. I was making things far harder than necessary. Fast forward to this past weekend and the same climbs that felt tough before now felt fun, really really fun. I had found just a tiny bit of "flow."  Sometimes the biggest obstacle on a climb is doubt. We'll see if I can hold it together again next time.

On a more concrete note, I think the Upper Crust is great. There are climbs from 5.5 to 5.10c, there is shade at the base and sun up top, it's easy to set up top ropes and it's a bit off the beaten track. Definitely worth visiting again. But there are so many more areas at Pinnacles, I think it'll be a while before I get back...and Yosemite season is coming soon...but there's skiing to do first...and long bike rides which I seem to have been enjoying recently...

Some dude leading Organgrinder, and another toproping Me and My Monkey (Credit: Flickr)

Ticklist:
Lost Sister (5.8) - bolts, little gear - lead, R on easy ground
Castles Mad of Sand (5.10b) - bolts - lead 3x
Sound Chaser (5.10a) - bolts - lead 3x
Relayer (5.10c) - bolts - lead
Organgrinder (5.8) - bolts - lead
Me and My Monkey (5.9) - bolts - lead
Japanese Water Torture (5.7) - bolts - lead (R at the top, but can divert to 3rd bolt of Nodal Line)
Nodal Line (5.5) - bolts - lead
I'm looking forward to finishing off the crag...5.6X, 5.10aR, 5.7R

Pinnacles (2-3 Feb 2013)

Sparknotes: hiking Balconies, Bear Gulch, and North Chalone Peak at Pinnacles NP

After another too-long work trip to China, I was ready to get outdoors for a weekend. We packed the car full of climbing gear and cooking gear (namely our recently acquired dutch oven). I was decidedly not excited for climbing; on my last trips to Pinnacles, I climbed okay but felt uneasy the whole time. I had only been to crags near the parking lot, along Bear Gulch Trail or on the Rim Trail. The reputation for loose rock and substandard protection. My jet-lagged (and nervous) self wasn't about to get psyched for climbing on Saturday, so instead we took the guidebook for a walk to the Balconies caves and ogled Machete Ridge, followed by an excellent stew courtesy of Kat.

Sunday, I packed the backpack full of gear and we headed up to the Reservoir to maybe climb or maybe hike. The morning was beautiful and trails empty (thanks to the Superbowl) so we continued hiking to North Chalone Peak, the highest point in the park. The best view on the hike came after a sweeping lefthand turn.  While the summit-view is excellent, if you're feeling tired this intermediate view is almost as good.  Upon descending, I had exhausted Kat's goodwill, and so we didn't get after any climbing (carrying the rope and rack was good training weight, though). We did head up the backside of Tiburcio's X for sunset, though, which I highly recommend.

So many rocks to climb. From the lookout on the way to N Chalone Peak.

Sugarloaf (4 Nov 2012)

Sparknotes:
2 routes at Sugarloaf: Bollee Gold and Scheister. Guidebook: South Lake Tahoe Climbing, Supertopo

The big goal of the trip was Bollee Gold.  Since visiting last winter, both Bennett and I had been thinking about it. Stoke and opportunity aligned, so we packed the vehicle late on Saturday night and headed east.

After camping by the side of a forest service road, and caffeinating appropriately, we packed up and headed up the hill. The start of the climb was relatively easy to find, and clear from the Supertopo description. I figured the best way to deal with the nervousness was to seize the first lead, so that's exactly what I did. Probably one of the finer climbing moments I've had yet. I hung after the first bolt (not an auspcious start) and then once again higher up.  I thought I'd fall once more just before the anchor, even declaring so to Bennett, but somehow danced through.

The route is the ridgeline, I think the climber is at the first belay. Wow, right? (photo credit: Supertopo thread)

Bennett took the second pitch and styled it, falling only once. I followed clean, but that was the easy part. With the hard climbing done, we scampered the rest of the way past some heads-up, but not dangerous runouts. We both agreed the first pitch had been the crux, and were happy to find out that we weren't the only ones to think so.

B^2 at the top.

With the major goal accomplished for the day, we rapped the route and headed right to Scheister. Since I had taken the first lead, Bennett took the chimney to start.  I can't say I was disappointed, and I felt like I got the best pitch of the route (fingers/hands on pitch 2).  We topped out in the dusk and descended in the dark, intermittently losing the trail.

For some reason, Bennett brings out the best in my climbing, helping me be psyched and willing to take risks, and that day was no exception.

Ticklist:
Bollee Gold (5.10c, 4 pitches) - hard stuff is bolted, but bring a couple pieces of gear for the top. More beta on Mountain Project.
Scheister (5.7, 3 pitches) - really great fun, and a good chimney\

Bradley Hut Ski Tour (5-6 Jan 2013)

Sparknotes:
Saturday - ski to Bradley hut, 2 laps on nearby knoll
Sunday - started late (~10:30), ski up Silver Peak and back down to the cars.

I was itching to get back into the mountains after a long winter break.  Of course, spending time with friends and family was great, but with only one day of resort skiing, it was hardly how I usually try to take advantage of time away from work.

Knowing that Rusty's usually good for an adventure, I talked my way onto a large group trip to the Bradley Hut.  The idea was to ski in and do some shorter laps on Saturday, then hit Silver Peak and ski out on Sunday.  I think if we had been a smaller group, we would have suffered less from large-group inertia and gotten in more skiing.  It's tough to complain though...the hut was cozy, I enjoyed hanging out with new and old friends, I got my fix of the mountains (at least until it got me thinking of all the other places I want to ski in Tahoe this season), and I skiied past dark both days, so I think I got the most of it.

ROYGB(I)V in front of the hut. (photo by Rusty)

Silver Peak seems like a great place to head back to next time I'm in the area, and has me thinking of more hut to hut touring. There are plenty of skiiable aspects and varied terrain (bowl, ridge, glades, etc), and very much doable in a day with time for a few laps of the best stuff, not to mention easy access parking.  There are several trip reports showing good tours (here's one and another). I didn't log the track we took, but helpfully Anthony did.

Red on the way in, green laps, and blue on Sunday. (track by Anthony)

Next up...Freel Peak, Tallac, Pyramid Peak, or something else that I haven't even thought of yet...

Open Books (27-28 Oct 2012)

Ticklist:
Munginella (5.6) - crowded, but great fun! 3 pitches, linked to 2
Hanging Teeth (5.8) - Fun lay backing with a sustained and runout 2nd pitch. 3rd pitch wasn't terrible, but the loose, overhanging blocks up top do require some care.
Highway Star (5.10a+) - variations offer several very fun options. great for toprope laps, look forward to going back on lead

Trip Highlight: camping in Tommy Caldwell's site while he slept in his van

Once again upon returning from China, I decided to push my luck against jetlag and head for a Yosemite climbing weekend.  This trip went a bit better than last time around, but still "the mind is primary, and today the mind was weak." But I'm getting ahead of myself, and being negative: there was good climbing this weekend!

Kat, Nina, and I all climbed Munginella (in the Five Open Books area to the west of Yosemite Falls). I led the first pitch, Nina took the second, and Kat floated the whole climb.  We came down and had a leisurely lunch. At 3:30, Nina and I hurried back for a second Book.  We were aiming for the Caverns. After making it up two pitches, and looking at the time, we determined we didn't have enough time to make it to the top of the climb by sunset. Nina had stopped at the first tree (our topo said the pitch ended after two), and there were still two pitches to go.  Too far! But wait...something wasn't sitting right. It should've been easy to make it to the second tree before running out of rope.  Another look at the topo revealed that we were actually two pitches up Hanging Teeth.  On the plus side, only one pitch to go! Unfortunately it was labeled "loose, dirty, overhanging 5.8 blocks" of "rapidly decreasing quality." Tempted as we were to back off, I was happy that I made the decision to take the rack and head up.  Some good steps of liebacking, and a finish of the promised poor quality, and we were at the top and heading down the by now familiar descent in the twilight.

Sunday morning we determined we wanted some good crack practice, and so we headed over to Highway Star. On toprope, we each got in several good runs on each of the many variations of 5.9 hands and off-hands, and 10a and 10b fingers.  Really fun climbing and definitely recommended for what it is!

Kat heading up .10a fingers. A tough intro to liebacking!

Alltogether not a bad weekend for climbing (I was able to step up and lead some relatively easy trad pitches), I guess I'm disappointed that I didn't push harder. Why not go for it and get moving from camp earlier in the morning? Try to do 3 Books instead of just two? Couldn't I have tried to lead Highway Star? Or we could've climbed in an area with more options? Like I said, not a bad weekend (really, no weekend in the Valley is bad), but excellence is a habit and serious jetlag or not, I wasn't practicing that this weekend.

Tenaya Peak, Northwest Buttress (15 Sept 2012)

Spark Notes: Northwest Buttress, Tenaya Peak (Guide: Tuolumne Free Climbs by SuperTopo)

Song of the Weekend:  Tribute - Tenacious D (Spotify)

I don't often make daytrips to Tuolumne, but Bennet was looking to extend a daytrip of his, and so I was lured up for a trip up Tenaya Peak. Both of us were afraid the day would be long and that we might take too long on the route. Turns out the pitches go fast when you simul-climb.

The day went something like this:
21:04 - burrito, 1st half
12:03 - arrive porcupine flat
12:15 - fall asleep
6:45 - open eyes
7:15 - get out of the sleeping bag
8:45 - begin hiking
10:00 - begin climbing
14:00 - top out
14:05 - burrito, 2nd half
14:50 - leave summit
16:30 - back at the lake
17:00 - swimming in the lake
18:00 - on the road
22:30 - back in the city
02:00 - burrito in the Mission

(check it out fullscreen)

Overall, I thought the route was a ton of fun.  Bennet led the whole day, while I practiced simul-climbing as a follower.  We started a bit higher than the SuperTopo-described start, and finished on something that felt like a 5.8 variation that finished about 150 feet left of the summit.  Except for the very finish, and a short slab section with thin cracks, the climbing was all easier than 5.4, and I found myself managing large loops of slack. The approach and descent weren't that bad at all (somehow we got lucky), with the notable exception that I had to hike in Wallabees, which proved to be better than the alternative: flip flops).  The other highlight of the day: an ice cold swim and relaxing by the beach of Tenaya Lake.  It seemed every other party on the peak had the same idea, too.

Ticklist:
Northwest Buttress (5.5) - long, easy grade, spectacular position, great intro to trad leading - 14 guidebook pitches, climbed in 3 simul-pitches (highly recommended) + 2 ropelengths (would've simuled if we didn't climb into a bottleneck)

Mt St. Helena, The Far Side (9 Sept 2012)

Spark Notes:
Sunday: cragging at the Bubble and the Far Side, Mt St Helena (Robert Louis Stevenson State Park, Calistoga CA

Song of the Weekend: Beautiful Day - U2 (Spotify)

Not much to write here...just a day out cragging with friends.  Campo just got to town, and Eddie was in town for work.  Galina also came out, as did Bennett, Maia, Dan and a few others that I was meeting for the first time.  I think Mt. St Helena's a great place to climb, but the funky pockets, occasionally sharp rock, and sometimes difficult to solve sequences make the place a little harder on beginners.  This is offset by the fact that it's a beautiful setting in the hills above wine country.

So, make your own choice, definitely better to climb than just sit around for a day right? The lower toproping area also might be more friendly.

The only actually useful beta from the day:
- if you're a hang glider, this is apparently a popular launch spot (driving up the fire road)
- watch out for poison oak on the trail from the Bubble to the Far Side
- there are several routes not mentioned in the SuperTopo at the Far Side, they were somewhere between 5.9 and 5.10b and were fun.

We'll see if I can stay current on my posts, and maybe even work back to posting a bit about the (surprisingly active) summer trips.

Ticklist:

Guidebook: Bay Area Topropes (Supertopo)
Shute-Mills (5.9) - very fun
New Tradition (5.7) - okay, little cruxy at the 2nd or 3rd move
Mystery Hole (5.9R) - manageable runout, on easy ground
Feelin' Your Oats (5.10aR) - manageable runout, not too bad
...and 2 5.9-10b routes not identified in my guidebook