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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 4, 2009 - 09:38pm PT
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That exhibit was mentioned upthread but thanks for the update. I hope that I can check it out.
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MisterE
Trad climber
One Step Beyond!
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bump for one of the Great Ones
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 11, 2009 - 01:28pm PT
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I recently came across this loving obituary in the 1973 AAJ. Thomas H. Jukes clearly had a good grasp of Norman's life.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
Monrovia, CA
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Apr 11, 2009 - 01:42pm PT
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Very nice.
As a side note it reminded me of an old cowboy I met up the Icicle Creek above Leavenworth, WA around '70 or '71. He was living in his '60 Bonneville as he could stretch out nicely in the back seat. He hardly had a thing in that huge car, just a few camping essentials. Hard to believe but we were the only 3 people up there camping at the time. He just drove around the west "seein' the sights and drinkin' the water". I don't recall him even taking one of our offered beers. I do remember him telling us that if you took all your clothes off the deer and the bear wouldn't be afraid of you. He told us that like it was fact but didn't demonstrate it. As I look around me at all the crap I've accumulated I think about the ol' mystic cowboy.
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TGT
Social climber
So Cal
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Apr 11, 2009 - 03:02pm PT
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A few years ago I had just left on a second solo attempt at Middle Pal. A short way up the trail where it makes a long south facing traverse to the parking lot I ran into a couple of local hunters glassing the meadows over on the north facing slopes on the opposite side of the Bear Creek drainage. I told them the deer were thick in the flat up the south creek the month before and I was on my way up to Middle. One of them pointed out the prominent peak in the background and I corrected him that that was Norman Clyde peak and Middle wasn’t visible from there. It kind of surprised me that a local wouldn’t know that, but on reflection they were hunters and ranchers not mountaineers.
That got one of them to talking. He’d known Norman as a small child when they’d lived in the canyon. (possibly at the lodge or it may be I’d run into one of the Parker boys) They always knew when he was heading out on an extended trip into the Palisades as a day or two before leaving he’d stop by and complain to his mother that he’d closed up his cabin had all the food packed up and didn’t know what he was going to do for dinner. That was her queue to invite him over. His mom would prepare a huge spread and they’d listen to his stories.
The next morning they’d get up and see Norman off with his huge pack. After a short wait his dad would tell him and his brother that he’d give them a dollar if they could catch up with Norman. They always caught up with him sitting on the same rock about a half mile up the trail making a big deal of how they’d caught him. They always got their dollar.
Didn’t get Middle on that trip either. The weather just wouldn’t cooperate as the previous time. When I did do it the next year we ended up starting on the regular third class route, but by ignorance or providence went too far right and ended up doing Clyde’s route. Cleaner and more aesthetic than the normal route and up there with one of the best “4th class” routes I’ve ever done.
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rmuir
Social climber
the Time Before the Rocks Cooled.
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Apr 11, 2009 - 05:59pm PT
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Bump for such a great thread. Thanks, Doug, for your contributions.
As another aside, I'll add one of my own... I've long admired Clyde's contributions to the history of the Sierras, but I never got a chance to meet the man. However, in the mid-80s we bought a fine cabin (on Forest Service land) at 8,000 ft. inside the Whitney Portal. Now, the family from whom we bought the cabin was fairly well-to-do and they built a rather posh cabin in the mid-40s. The Knoeppel Cabin was one of the few that had a telephone which joined the Lone Pine Hotel to the Portal Store whose wires ran tree-to-tree all the way to town.
According to John Knoeppel, Norman Clyde shared a few meals at the cabin after coming out of the Whitney region. So I'm guessing he wasn't quite the recluse some suggest. I always think about Clyde when I'm sitting down to dinner up there.
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Don Lauria
Trad climber
Bishop, CA
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Apr 13, 2009 - 12:02am PT
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Just an unofficial list of all Norman's first ascents from a book of his letters.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
Monrovia, CA
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Apr 13, 2009 - 01:46am PT
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Yikes! How come it isn't called the Sierra Clyde?
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DrDeeg
Mountain climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
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May 28, 2009 - 11:58am PT
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I was on a hiking trip with my father in the Dusy Basin around 1953. We ran into Norman Clyde and Jules Eichorn, and my father did the regular south-side route on North Palisade with them. Norman would have been 68 then. My father said he moved slowly, but he never stopped and he didn't speak, and that after several hours, the pace seemed much faster!
Later in his life, Norman became a good friend of Steve and Mary Thompson. In the fall of 1972, we visited him at the Big Pine sanitarium 6-8 weeks before he died. We had planned to take him out for a picnic, but he was pretty weak by then and the nurses thought it was a little too cold for him outside.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 4, 2009 - 08:07pm PT
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Bump for old times sake...
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Dudeman
Trad climber
California/Idaho/Beyond
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Norman Clyde was unreal! I visited the Eastern California Museum in Independence recently and was blown away by the exhibit and the Man. Check it out.
Thanks to Andy Selters the exhibit curator
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 9, 2009 - 04:01pm PT
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Norman Clyde fans, CHECK THIS OUT!
Bill Oliver is giving the same lecture on Norman Clyde TWICE!
Here is his description of the events from an email that he recently sent to me.
As noted in the current Sierra Echo, I'll be presenting "Norman Clyde- Climbing & Guiding with the Sierra Club" at the ECM this Sat (7/11) at 7:00 pm - held not in the museum but in the Owens Valley School complex on the east side of town: on Clay at Kearsarge. The Multi-purpose room is in the center bldg of the complex.
TWO major updates:
1. Legendary mountaineer and rock climber Glen Dawson, 97, will participate with me at this presentation! Glen's first climb, at age 15, with Norman was the first ascent of Table Mtn on the Sierra Club's 1927 High Trip.
2. This program will repeat the following Tuesday, 7/14, 7:15 pm at Glen's retirement home in Pasadena - free and everyone welcome.
Villa Gardens: 842 E. Villa St, Pasadena 91101 (basically the Foothill Fwy, 210, at Lake Ave. Free parking in the church lot entrance just west of Villa Gardens; meeting in the Villa Vista Rm on the fifth floor.
Not to be missed, always to be remembered. Thx & NTW, Bill
Friends,
How many times do you drive through Independence enroute to a great weekend
of climbing or skiing? Yeah, well how often do you stop at the Eastern California Museum on the way?
You may recall, in Part VI of my Sierra Echo "Tribute" series about Norman Clyde, Glen Dawson and Jules Eichorn (April-June '08), I cited an upcoming Norman Clyde Exhibit at the ECM. Delayed from last fall to this spring, this very special exhibit is now set for its grand opening on Sat, April 18th. Opening festivities, running from about 2:00 to 6:00, will include food and drink. Around 4:00 Andy Selters will talk about his Clyde research and his co-curating the exhibit. Other special presentations later in the year are still being arranged.
The ECM has long been a repository of Clyde memorabilia. However, special displays have been crafted highlighting Norman's long life in our Sierra Nevada and elsewhere; also material from his pre-Sierra days. Many significant items have recently been donated or loaned to the museum for this exhibit, and very likely more will arrive during its run as collectors learn of it.
The Clyde exhibit should run until late in the year. I was told that visitors will have an opportunity to record their personal stories about Norman! Admission, as always, is free. Open seven days/week; 10:00 - 5:00.
Go for it - and pass the word.
http://www.inyocounty.us/ecmuseum/ecmdexhibits.htm
Hey, maybe someone would like to write a review for the Echo and/or Desert
Sage! I hope to make it out myself around early summer or so.
Be safe, have fun - and see the exhibit.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 11, 2009 - 11:41am PT
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Event bump!
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 27, 2009 - 09:59pm PT
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Some questions have persisted about Norman visiting the Wind River Range in Wyoming. While doing some research I came across two ascents of record. Norman in the company of Edith Holliday, J.Holliday and B.Pitcher did the FA of the Northeast Ridge of Bollinger Peak at class 3 and the southwest slopes of Dogtooth Mountain at class 2 both done in 1941.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 27, 2009 - 11:13pm PT
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I feel really fortunate that he was so very outgoing and wanted to share himself with us. I thought about him when I climbed Mount Mitchell later in the trip and the places that he had seen and things that he had done. What a life!
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MattF
Trad climber
Bend, Or
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Mar 13, 2010 - 02:59pm PT
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First off, a bump for this awesome thread.
Then, my main point:
Dan Arnold (another Stanford grad and Sierra hardman with more than a little bit of Clyde-ness in him) recently published his first book entitled "Early Days In The Range Of Light: Encounters With Legendary Mountaineers."
Its a fantastic book, and I think anyone who is a fan of Clyde would enjoy it very much. Basically the premise for the book is that Dan chose 15 of the most historic first ascents in the pre-rope days of Sierra Climbing, and went back and repeated those ascents using the same technology that the first ascentionists used.
So, for example, Dan repeated Muir's ascent of Mt. Ritter, where he left from Tuolumne Meadows with a "pocket knife, a book of matches, and three crusts of bread tucked into his belt," and spent three days working his way cross country, up to the summit of Ritter, and back. I believe that Dan had some pretty cold nights cursing Muir for not bringing a blanket on that one...
In the book, he then takes one chapter per mountain, weaving the characters and the story of the FA in with the tale of his own ascent. Its an immensely captivating and inspiring book, full of wonderful history, and I think many of the people with interest in this thread would find it an excellent read, and I highly recommend it!
Here's a link to where you can find it:
http://www.amazon.com/Early-Days-Range-Light-Mountaineers/dp/1582435197/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
*Full disclosure notice: I went with Dan on a couple of his FA-repeating trips, including the last chapter in the book retelling the ascent of Underhill Couloir on Thunderbolt peak, which was probably the peak more than any other where ropes made their introduction to the Sierra. Clyde, of course, was on that climb, along with a full bevy of historic Sierra climbers. Dan had bought this gnarly 100' section of splintery manila rope from a hardware store, and faithful to the FA, Dan gave hip belays up the 4th class sections of the couloir. I can't say that I felt all that confident in the rope, and I certainly made a big effort to not need the belay. Dan also didn't use any synthetic clothing, and looked Clyde-like with his button-down wool shirt and wide-brimmed hat. Definitely a cool experience to be part of.
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TripL7
Trad climber
san diego
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Mar 13, 2010 - 11:03pm PT
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426- "Thought about his boots on Clyde..."
Hey, no kidding...
And how about on the East Face of Whitney? I recall thinking the same thoughts my first time up to the base Aug/72.
The man got around.
This is a great thread...it inspires!
EDIT: Thanks Steve G.
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BooDawg
Social climber
Paradise Island
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Mar 15, 2010 - 05:48am PT
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I first encountered the LEGEND of Norman Clyde around 1960 when my dad bought a copy the “Blue,” 1954 edition of “A Climber’s Guide to the High Sierra.” Perusing its contents, I couldn’t help but notice that Clyde had been all over the Sierra and had done WAY more FAs than anyone else on non-technical but ESPECIALLY on early ascents that REQUIRED ropes and related clatch.
Around 1961, my Dad took my brother and me to Mt. Shasta where there was/is a Sierra Club cabin. The day before we climbed Shasta, we read an old journal that was in the cabin that documented 2 climbs that Clyde made on a July 4th weekend in some year that I can’t remember. On the 3rd of July, he climbed the mountain, a 7,000’ ascent and descent in some phenomenal time which I can’t remember exactly but which was less than 4 hours. After resting a day, on July 4th, he re-climbed Shasta on the 5th, lopping off at least an hour from his ascent 2 days before.
During the late 60’s, he’d show up at, and camp near, Parson’s Lodge, in Tuolumne Meadows where climbers would camp at the nearby Sierra Club campground. I remember especially well spending time there with him and Sheridan Anderson in 1969. Sheridan and Norman were somewhat like lost brothers, born a generation apart. They shared an old-time view of the world, and at the time, they both lived in the Owens Valley. Norman enjoyed Sheridan’s easy laughter and his humorous scenarios. Norman’s smile was not the broad grin that Sheridan’s was, but as I watched carefully and listened to Sheridan’s humorous imagery, I could see Norman’s smile, such as it was, erupt on his face in appreciation of his friend’s sense of humor.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
Monrovia, CA
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Mar 15, 2010 - 11:28am PT
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BooDawg, Very nice addition to this wonderful thread!
BBA, Your addition is also appreciated for its historical
worth. That's why my wife won't let me drive around with
weapons in the car, not that many people ever pass me,
especially on a dirt road!
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