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mike a.
Sport climber
ca
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Aug 11, 2016 - 01:39pm PT
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Hi Mr. Morris, great job on the new book, and thanks a ton on all your help you have given to me to make guide books, cheers happy climbing Mike A.
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 12, 2016 - 01:06am PT
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You better come down here and do some route setting. All the pretty girls have quit since you evacuated to Oakhurst!
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 12, 2016 - 01:10am PT
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Count on about a two and a half hour approach for all these... You've got to earn it.
Depends on how much bushwhacking you have to do to get up there. Are there trails or is it a jungle of East Side desert brush?
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ablegabel
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Aug 12, 2016 - 08:29am PT
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Hey Bruce,
No real bush whacking to speak of on the approach. There are some low lying shrubs on the first ten or fifteen minutes leaving the road, but nothing too bad. Just lots of talus blocks to hop over for the most part.
The climbing is good.
There are some nice cracks on it too.
Here's a shot of Ed coming up the first pitch.
The view isn't bad either. You can see the Ellery Ridges, Third Pillar and Mt. Dana.
Looking back up at the Towers. You can see the easy brush at the start, the hike your in for, and the price of admission.
A grand adventure if anybody is looking for a mini mountaineering experience with an excellent summit, or just to get off the beaten path and see some sierra views.
 Eric Gabel
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 12, 2016 - 11:38am PT
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IOWs: After 15-minutes or so of brush, you're hiking up a couple thousand feet of scree. Those cracks on the Warren Tower look inviting. "Commuting" up there to work on new lines looks like a real test of will and determination.
Trolling around the internet I found a real good wide-angle pic of the Ellery Ridges:
Those views from Warren Tower look spectacular. Almost worth the price of admission.
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limpingcrab
Trad climber
the middle of CA
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Aug 12, 2016 - 12:29pm PT
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Thanks for putting in the work and sharing! Another fun place to check out
Bump
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 12, 2016 - 03:15pm PT
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The first Ellery guide was small and manageable, but the longer this string gets the more routes are uncovered in Lee Vining Canyon, some of them with really long approaches.
Well, before it's over, sounds like I'm gonna have to do some more hoofing around up there.
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ablegabel
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Aug 13, 2016 - 11:13am PT
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Hey Bruce,
Just to make your guide book project a little bigger, here is a cliff with a shorter approach and good climbing on it.
The rock is quite good on it too.
Eric Gabel
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 13, 2016 - 12:30pm PT
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Where's that cliff, way up somewhere on the north slope of Lee Vining Canyon I bet? Who, what, when, where and how? That whole north slope of the Canyon is a maze of ridges and aretes. You look up there from Aspen NFS Campground and you can see cliff band after cliff band. In the next edition I know I have to include Golden Rock (Speed of Life etc.), the Sphinx, and those three south flank aretes-ridges. That's not more than 10 added pages. But I've cut costs so much to keep the MSRP under a $20 that almost any expansion beyond 5 pages will mean I'll have to raise the cost-per-volume to cost-justify the printing. Of course, then there's Tioga Cliff, the Inspiron Wall, the Tioga Road Cliff and those new things Charlie Barrett's done down lower like that 5.13c crack. Then, what about the bouldering along Pool Power Plant Road and the ice climbs? If you're talking about a complete guidebook to Lee Vining Canyon, I bet it comes out to a 100+ page book. I think I'll keep adding on a little bit more with each new edition/printing and see how far I get with a minimalist approach. Before it's all over, I bet I'm going to be doing some trudging up long talus gullies to verify obscurities!
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ablegabel
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Aug 13, 2016 - 05:29pm PT
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Bruce,
I think expanding the guide is a natural progression to what you've started, and if the costs go up, so be it. I would include all of the cliffs you've mentioned. Just make sure you do as thorough and accurate of job as possible.
The Pyramid is about a 40 minute approach, and is located right above where they park the big bull dozer/grader on Hwy 120. I think it's the same, or right next to the parking area for Warren Tower.
I'll draw something up and post it when I get a chance.
Eric Gabel
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 13, 2016 - 10:45pm PT
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You mean the Warren Tower is up Warren Canyon from the turnout at the 9000ft level marker where everybody crashes at night? Then it faces east? Bet if I climb Mt Warren next week I'll spot it.
This string is getting to be a regular catalog of East Side obscurities.
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ablegabel
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Aug 14, 2016 - 09:56am PT
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Here is an overview map drawn off of Google Earth to help clarify things.
Eric Gabel
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 14, 2016 - 01:25pm PT
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Many thanks again, Eric. That clears it up quite a bit, especially those lines on the map for the south slope ridge-aretes leading up to the Dana Plateau. The next edition of the guide needs a map overview like that.
Yup, those Warren Towers are the same ones I thought they'd be - way up on the ridge line. But your Pyramid looks quite a bit closer. The first time I noticed how good the rock is on that side of the canyon is when Dave Caunt and I did "Girls On Fire" back in 1990 - another super good easily accessible route that has languished in obscurity for want of documentation. OMG, those horrible climbers clambering all over nature and ruining it. Better if they stayed back home and watched the game on a big screen. Better for the environment.
What I need is a good graphics line drawing program to draw topographics and maps over .jpegs, .tiffs, .gifs and/or whatever. My old WordPerfect graphics program was great for that, but badly outdated now. Something real simple but versatile and flexible. Easy to integrate text on the overlay too. Have been looking around and experimenting of course but so far haven't found something as versatile and flexible as the old WordPerfect graphics for MS Windows. I guess if I really wanted to spend $5 bills for Adobe Illustrator, but there has to be some freeware that does what I want.
What you have labeled "Warren Pond" actually seems to be "Lake Gardinsky" (unless 'Warren Pond' is a locals-only name). Those Warren Towers appear to be on the south slope of Lee Vining Peak.
Again, thanks a lot for your help. That map really puts things into perspective. Ought to be a two-page map like that at the start of the guide with a lot of explanatory text naming formations, showing approach and descent paths, plus naming the NFS campgrounds. But there I'm thinking aloud again . . .
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ablegabel
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Aug 14, 2016 - 02:12pm PT
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So the Warren Pond name is what appears on the graphics for Google Maps. As far as Warren Towers and The Pyramid go, those are just the names I used or gave them. They may not be correct or appropriate? That's just what I've called them.
Yes, The Pyramid is pretty close to the road, and the rock is of good quality. There is the occasional loose block, but usually obviously so.
I'll be needing a new graphics program too, in the near future. Let me know if you find anything good.
Eric Gabel
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Bruce Morris
Trad climber
Belmont, California
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 14, 2016 - 02:39pm PT
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Yeah, all names/signs are arbitrary and based on usage; in this case, the names the FA party assigned the towers. Wonder if the Warren Pond vs. Gardinsky Lake has a political background? Think Gardinsky was the original founder of Tioga Pass Resort back in 1914. Who was old man Warren? Local political name conflict.
Do you have the ST links to the original strings on the 5.6/5.6/5.7/5.6 arete-ridges up the south flank of Lee Vining Canyon? Are there some pictures?
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ablegabel
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Aug 14, 2016 - 07:32pm PT
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Bruce,
I don't think there were any trip reports on the Ellery Ridges, unless Ed wrote up one on the ridge he and I did? I've done hundreds of new routes in Yosemite, but unfortunately never got around to doing any trip reports. Ed has always been the one who has taken the time, which I thank him for. He's a wonderful writer and always seems to be able to capture the moment. My adventures with him have always been great. The partner you chose makes a lot of difference in how fun the climbing day is...
Here is a better overlay of the Ellery Ridges
Eric Gabel
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Aug 15, 2016 - 06:43pm PT
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"What I need is a good graphics line drawing program to draw topographics and maps over .jpegs, .tiffs, .gifs and/or whatever. My old WordPerfect graphics program was great for that, but badly outdated now. Something real simple but versatile and flexible. Easy to integrate text on the overlay too."
I think I've got ablegabel covered... we just have to sit down together soon...
look here for various applications:
http://freegeographytools.com
and get yourself an account here:
http://www.geocomm.com
(it's free) to download the various STDS files for the quads you're looking at... in your case the Mount Dana quad (for Lee Vining Canyon).
I use an old version of SimpleDEMViewer on my Mac OS X 10.9.5 from which you can play around and save stuff to .jpg, etc...
here's The Sphinx viewed from across the canyon the Sun is in the SW at 20º
from the USGS data downloaded from the geocomm site linked above.
Here's a contour plot with 20m elevation and an index every 100m
and a screen shot with the working page, and the lake defined (in blue)
and with the slopes shaded, 0º slope is white, above 45º is nearly black, with the Sun as above for shading.
You can add "user data" to the images, combine quads at boundaries, use more imaginative colors, etc...
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ablegabel
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Aug 17, 2016 - 03:09pm PT
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Bruce,
Here is an overlay of the routes on The Pyramid.
The routes from left to right are:
-Federal Holiday 5.8+, FA Eric Gabel & Brent Botta
-Trad Dad's 5.9R, FA Walter Hawkins & Eric Gabel
-Water Boy 5.7, FA Eric Gabel & Ian Fergenson
-Tahoe Connection 5.9, FA Eric Gabel & Annie Ballard
All routes were put up in the early 2000's. We had a no bolts or pins ethnic that I've incorporated on all First Accents in the Tuolumne area. This cliff in particular has abundant natural pro and it would be nice for it to remain bolt free, (but I know that is not likely).
The approach is about 40 minutes to the base. Park at the pullout on Hwy 120, where they usually park the bulldozer. Hike up the hill a few minutes and then start cutting over left, with some bushwhacking, and gain a talus field that heads up to the base.
Federal Holiday is a good, fun, four pitch route that follows the arête on the left of the formation.
Trad Dad is a great route, but run out on the first pitch right before the crux. A lowball or some RP's and maybe the smallest Aliens (black or blue) might make this safer. It goes through some cool head walls, a roof, and some corners up higher. This is my favorite route on the formation. We did this in five pitches.
Water Boy is a fun route that goes up a chimney for the first part. It has some loose blocks that should be passed carefully or trundled off. Four pitches.
Tahoe Connection goes up a nice crack through a roof and a nice face for a long first pitch. Some more nice climbing leads up to some lesser angle wandering with some bushwhacking on the next pitch. Then wanders up to the summit. We did it in four pitches.
The last pitch for all these routes is not visible in the photograph. We've done three different finishes, left, right and center. The center is the easiest at 5.7.
There is the occasional loose block on this cliff, but usually it looks loose. For the most part the rock is excellent and highly featured.
To get off the formation, simply walk back toward the right, and follow the talus back down to your pack. Be careful on the talus field as there is the occasional loose block that can role out on you.
Eric Gabel
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Bruce Morris
Trad climber
Belmont, California
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 18, 2016 - 09:50pm PT
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Just got back from Tuolumne tonight and it was so hot and smokey I didn't even think about doing the approach to The Pyramid. Is this what global warming is all about? There was so much smoke in my tent at Ellery Lake CG that it made me sneeze just getting into it at night! But I did get some good pics of the Ellery Aretes-Ridges toward sunset one relatively clear afternoon.
If the temp ever goes back down again, that Pyramid looks like a neat destination.
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