Bail up

I spent my childhood going to the Pinns, (and J-Tree, Yosemite, Death Valley, Red Rocks, etc.) with my father (a herpetologist who taught at USC, UCSF, and other lesser known institutions) and spent all of my time there, hiking, and catch/releasing lizards and snakes. There were a few memories that I have of seeing climbers up in the high peaks and my father scoffing at them and calling them thrill-seeking who destroy the natural resource experience for everyone. It never occurred to me to climb or even see another side to the coin and so my life went on. It wasn't until I became a teacher at the age of 26 that things changed. I had my summers free now and wanted to get back into the summer camp work that was an important part of my upbringing. The camp I chose was Shaffer's High Sierra Camp near Tahoe and when…

Well, post of shame. hiked up to Afroman this weekend intending to fix to 4. Man was that pack heavy on my back - was getting 250' or so on the uphill before I had to stop for a breather, stupid heavy beaks. Got through pitch 1 fine with a bit of groveling through spiny weeds at the midway point of pitch 1 and then a bit of sketchy dirt scrambling to move from the first anchor bolts tot he second anchor bolts at the base of the 2nd pitch. Joyfully, there was a steady seeping drip of water directly onto the start of the second pitch, getting my ropes wet but onwards and upwards until i got halfway through the second A3 heads pitch and got stuck right on a detached block. Couldn't figure out what to do and/or wasn't willing to do some other stuff based upon my…

Trip Report – Los Banditos – Machete Ridge - Pinnacles West Side So with the closures looming and the valley a bit chilly for the tastes of the lovely lady Dixie, we show up at the West Side parking lot with a late 11:00am SF/LA start. Disaster is flirted with when Dixie asks if I brought my headlamp. I remembered it sitting in the tent at the campsite on the East Side and knew that we were destined to epic. "I brought two!" Dixie held them up and smiled. I smiled back. Success was in the air. We were here because of a phrase I'd recently begun to chant while I was solo aiding in Yosemite, Usually nighttime and dry-winter cold blanket the past utterances of such statements, "I do what other can't because I do what other's won't." An attempt to both pump myself up and humble myself. This…