Arrowhead in the Fall

The Arrowhead pinnacle 5.7 the trick is just getting on this thing.It's a nice warm up for the other routes there too.

Team Smoke Break

Honest ,Mom ,I don't got nuthin!
We went up to Pebble beach for a day full of friends,cool temps and good routes. I took a lead fall on Big Money ,D sent Zambeize Plunge, and we made some new friends. The light coming through the forest of multicolored leaves was the perfect backdrop. I love this time of year.

The "Crew"

Haine the visiting proffesor in the back, David the Master Chief on the left, Mike,the First Mate, front left, Bill Seaman First Class on the right preparing to descend the rappel from hell. Tonya the Chief Navigator at the bottom of the picture. Ginger is suspiciously A.W.O.L.

I'm Not Lost!

We all met up at Red River Outdoors. I wasn't there long enough to drink my cup of coffee when Mike and Ginger walked in. I overslept because I refused to get out of my warm sleeping bag and it was around freezing all night. It was still chilly outside but promised to be perfect for climbing later. Tonya and Ginger brought along a few more friends so there was 7 of us. The plan was to go to Jesse's Kitchen so I could send Grilled Steak and there would be plenty of good routes for everyones skill level. My usual aproach was an hour and a half but Bargo told me about a shortcut. It looked great on the map. Just park on 9a and bushwhack up the hill to the saddle between Jazz Rock and Symphony Wall. None of us had been down 9a and there was 3 parking areas so after consulting Tonyas hiker's map we picked the middle one and 7 climbers hiked up through the forest with heavy packs. We came to the limestone band and negotiated with it and then to the obligatory Rhodo forest in front of the cliff line. No saddle in sight. Is it right or left someone asks? "I'm not lost!" I said. We went right some more. Mike found a short chimney to the top. At this point mob mentality or something like it took over. I had reservations about just getting to this chimney. Tonya and her pack got stuck between a tree and a boulder. I was behind her helping and Mike was already soloing this chimney. It was sort of like the picture of the bottleneck at the Hillary step before the Everest disaster. Bill managed to find a probable route to the right but I deemed it to be rotten in the middle and went back to Mikes line. Before anyone could stop me I started up it in my approach shoes. With a bit of pulling on Mike's rope I joined him. It wasnt the top. Lots more soloing up and down the 2 pitches to the top and hauling 7 packs and belaying seven people on two ropes at a time and we found ourselves gawking at a splendid Autumn view of Minus Tirith and Muscle Beach. I'm not sure why I didn't get a picture. Have you ever tried to keep seven people organised in a forest? Mike and Bill had gone walkabout somewhere. I was sure where I was now and wanting to get to my crag. Amazingly there was a deer trail along the top of the cliff line we were on. It was maybe 100 feet wide with cliff on both sides.The Kitchen must be to the right so I started off to find the saddle with David behind me and the others behind him,or so I thought. Bill was wandering around looking for his pack. He said he left it by a leaning dead tree. There was leaning dead trees in abundance. The 3 girls apparently were behind the guys and Mike was still absent. David and I were yelling comunications from one post to another along the ridgeline trying to get everyone organized and moving. Apparently the girls were having lunch admiring the view when Mike magical reappeared and joined them, I suppose from my intelligence report. I had given up already and sat down on my pack to have a smoke. I later heard that it was sitting on a pile of deer turd. When everyone caught up to my position we headed along the ridge to the right. Bill was already looking for a rappel off the other side. No it's this way! I got them all going again. I'm the captain! I found the end of the ridge and started yelling."Yes!" to soon. It was a small saddle, uncrossable and worse yet it wasn't the Kitchen. But, I was looking at a beautiful splitter crack on the opposite face. Short but sweet and hard looking. After some more disscusion and a few hints of mutiny from the crew I announced again firmly, "I aint lost!". I was lying and they knew it. "Break out a rope!" Bill went down first. I broke out another rope and was next to him on the ledge below in short order. After untangling both ropes from the abundant vegetation he started over the next edge. His rope wasn't centered so he hooked up to a rhodo to center it. Me being in a hurry just leaped off in another spot not far from him hoping my rope would get me to the base. Of course it didn't and I got in a fight with a tree. I think my crew was making bets against me winning, somewhere above me. My rope was woefully short of the base of the cliff so I made friends with my former enemy the tree. We were hugging each other in fact. Bill got down and I unhooked where I was and David started down. He got in a fight with my rope up on the ledge and it dissapeared. David and Mike came down. I think at this point the girls were up there laughing at us and having another Sushi party or something. In fact while they were waiting an odd climber appeared. No not a stowaway. This fellow had climbed up something called People Gully. News reached us at the base of the cliff that we were in fact at Pistol Ridge. My intelligence reports were functional again! By now Bill had found It's A Wonderful Life. We were a mile from the Kitchen but I wasn't lost. Mike had found it on his walkabout but intelligence reports had failed to reach me and he of course had never been there so he didn't even know he found it. I chaulk it up to serendipity and we all had a great day climbing at Pistol ridge.

Del Monte vs Ynot

Climbers are daytrippers and gypsies with a radicle sense of humor.
Yes that's me going 4 rounds with a can of Del monte pineapple. The can won the first 3 rounds but I ate it for lunch in the 4th. I had a good can opener once.Lost it under Sultans of Stem. Ever notice how a piece of junk lasts forever? I still have the one that I'm using here. It still doesn't work.

Wedding Time for Bonzo

Friday I climbed with Not Quite Tackett and a client at Fortress. We met some climbers on a mission to deliver a bottle of wine and some goodies to the top of Bedtime for Bonzo. One of thier friends was coming to climb up to the summit and propose to his intended. Everyone at Fortress that day knew what was up and left the route open. We spotted the pair headed for Bonzo and said hi. Matt
asks "Where you headed?" The groom to be says, "We thought we would do bedtime for Bonzo." Matt tells him with a perfectly strait face, "I just saw a whole group of Boy Scouts headed over there to do it." It was priceless. Climbers have the best sense of humor of any group I have ever met.A few hours later there was a shout out all the way down the crag. SHE SAID YES!!!
The next day, Mike and I topped out Good Tang in perfect weather. The view was outstanding. What a sweet route. I don't think I'll ever tire of it or Cavers. It's always nice to take someone else up them thier first time.