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thebravecowboy
climber
The Good Places
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Topic Author's Original Post - Jan 4, 2017 - 12:48pm PT
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...since the Miocene. I suppose it was a fruitcake originally, with thick rhyolitic batter. The sweet spots in the ashflow tuff are the lithic fragments, the breccia fruits, of granite and basalt, andesite and other rocks. Today the cake sits up on the ridge, proud above the bajadas and their jackrabbits and creosote.
The mojave air has dried the cake to a crusty flakey texture, and the wind and water have sculpted it to a peaked ridgeline 70 m off the deck, accessible only by technical munge ascent. blade peak, says the literature. more of a fin if'n yer asking me, but a story with a switchblade is always more entertaining.
It rained solidly, mudding the bumpity-bump squeakity-squeak approach, and the wind blew.
but then the sun peeked through and it was glorious
the next morning's approach gave a hint of the day's mixed media of ascent
and then, ZANG! there it was
the approach was not short so we laid in a survival cache
I circumnavigated the base, scoping for easiest access to the blade's edge above us. the cake's consistency and content varied significantly. the tan stuff was the worst
Sal and the ground team had unfurled the cords at the base of the previously-envisioned line of ascent when I finished scoping around for other options and lines of descent...
and then we were off to the races
Sal charged up the first of his cake-block with some prime inducements to avoid failure, beyond the scarce and crumbly exfoliating bad baked-good gear placements
As the clouds started to envelop the surroundings, I sipped punch and pondered my deft non-mention of the day's forecast chance of precipitation to Sal
Sal cobbled together a "don't wanna look at it" anchor
and brought me up to the ledge below him, whereupon I knocked in a 1/2" hole way too fast.
from here Sal launched anew, weaving up through the bad stuff to "solid 5.7" terrain to link through chimneys to ledges up high on the saddle of the ridge. I only got knicked once by significant free-flying cake crumbles, but I hugged the wall and hid under the bag with a long tether for the dodging as he finished the technical crux of the line. As Sal cleaned the chimneys, the groundmass of my ledge vibrated palpably, tickling the heart and soul in the way that a blade or a point lightly drawn across skin might do.
there was some good pro too. passive stuff seemed easier to place, and for the first time, I heard the Jack-Mormon wishing for some tricams.
I followed this pitch in mountain boots and carrying a big bag. I moaned and whined and whinged looking at the lonely kinked directionals and I quite nearly resorted to grabbing the best piece on the crux stretch, a skeevy-looking #2 with all four lobes contacting different planes of the rock groundmass.
At the second belay, I took one look at the shallow single-crack two-cam anchor and pulled out the drill. I started to pound on the best sounding surface I could find, only to watch the cylindrical bit spall out crud into a crater similar in geometry to the nearby glory hole open-pit mine. I put the drill back in the bag, tucking the bit into my pocket. Sal layered up as the clouds thickened about us.
My recent fixation on the iron ways of yore immediately paid off after a couple moves when I whacked in a decent-sounding medium thick LA beneath a nice rounded breccia block, nevermind the humming reverberation through the cobbles beneath my feet. A couple-three pieces in a disagreeably composed crack and Sal and I had some words as he belayed in the line of fire.
I pulled up onto the first of many Swords of Damocles on the pitch, and in went a long thin LA. Halfway into piss-poor tuff groundmass. hitched it and stood again, to find the last piece of good pro for the coming 40 m of ridge. A short, discontinued petzl universel beneath a sofa-sized block of competent aphanitic extrusive rock.
After this brief 5.5 section the ridge turns to a mostly Cl 4 romp over some seriously disturbing detached ridge-blocks. I figure it was over one hundred pound of rock I tossed off the west side as I straddled, tiptoed, and Type II funned my way across.
the one significant gendarme made for some neat lead-dancing, but at least the cord was on the better side and the best cam - a #3 of course - nearby
I finished the ridge at 4:40, when
a quick little Cl 4 ramp took me the best rock in the last 50 m. An anchor of sorts appeared quickly
Sal followed quickly, but in a most atypically puckered and petulant manner.
I then realized that we had but my one headlamp. There was some uncertainty as to the actual distance of the descent and the unknown yellow rope's length
Descent was ultimately quite smooth (I had the headlamp, ha!).
De-proach was fairly epic, but that just made for a better meal cooked out in the rain. Shitty pasta and grilled cheese never tasted quite so fine.
the route name is
p1 Most People Are Not Ok. 100' 5.3. one bolt at stance, no hanger
P2 You're Out of Your Elephant. 160' "5.7" per Sal. I say 5.8 R
P3 Spooling up the Taint Abrader. 45 m. Cl 4 loooooooooooooose! with a bit of 5.5. two fixed pins off the ledge and no other fixed gear
no sign of prior ascent on the summit, and absolutely not the Taint Abrader unless it was Tinkerbell.
Oh yeah, happy fuking new year Sal, we didn't buy the farm on 12/31!
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
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Dude, I had an instinctive cringe looking at that last pic, as if I was in the position of the photographer and wanted to flee the impact zone.
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Fritz
Social climber
Choss Creek, ID
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MY,MY, MY!
I have vague memories of thinking I enjoyed petrified fruit-cake climbs back in my early 20's.
Mostly, I have suppressed those memories, along with memories of climbing on acid, which nearly, but didn't quite, result in serious injury.
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Batrock
Trad climber
Burbank
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Looks like a great time. Love exploring, nice find.
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Woody the Beaver
Trad climber
Soldier, Idaho
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Wow! That's a noble pile! Thanks for the story.
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Brandon-
climber
The Granite State.
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Is this the 'taint abrader'?
Regardless, that is one big pile!
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Studly
Trad climber
WA
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Hey, that was brave Cowboy.
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Keep on finding that recipe again!
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thebravecowboy
climber
The Good Places
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Topic Author's Reply - Jan 4, 2017 - 03:49pm PT
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not too many folks like crusty cake without icing - glad you folks dig it!
and yes Brandon, we call p3 the Taint Abrader, although Sal actually climbed, rather than wiped his butt with it like I did.
I believe it is a Fish neologism, him being the self-proclaimed "King of Asstral Travel"
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snakefoot
climber
Nor Cal
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Wow, loose rock quality and this could have went into the choss compels thread. great adventure and pics
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phylp
Trad climber
Upland, CA
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That was terrifying to read.
Glad you survived.
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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"STFU, Donnie!"
That's tellin' HIM, by gosh!
Mank you very mush, TBC & Co.
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survival
Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
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Beautiful!
I dig the eerie fog!
Well done!
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drljefe
climber
El Presidio San Augustin del Tucson
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Bump
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
Nothing creative to say
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Mo Jave cake. Delicious
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Gunkie
Trad climber
Valles Marineris
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Nice. I like trip reports with lots of pictures. The one thing that grabs me on climbs like this is the thought of the embarrassment of someone finding my rope and gear bound body at the base of the choss pile. Glad you survived.
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clinker
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, California
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I don't think that I can take it.
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EdwardT
Trad climber
Retired
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It took so long to bake it....
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hooblie
climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
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Spider Savage
Mountain climber
The shaggy fringe of Los Angeles
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East Mojave treasure hunting.
So great a climb when you say, "I'll NEVER do that again!"
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