My mind has been in the visual space lately, how could it not be, five days spent in breathtaking Yosemite will do that to you.
Suffice it to say that I had a great time at the YosTweetup, Luke and Lizzy were fantastic organizers, even in the face of unusual weather (it rained every day even on the extra days K and I had tacked on to our trip). We still got some climbing in, plus hikes and a lot of fun with friends, old and new from all over the US. Tweetups are wonderful things, friendships can indeed spring from 140 character messages.
I have more words that will follow but for now, here’s what my time spent in my visual brain produced:
Select Slideshow (view it large here, or just watch below)
Mixed Media Video (4 min 30 seconds, available in HD so be sure to choose that option)
For you tweetup goers who are most likely to want to see all of my pics, here ya go (also feel free to right click and download ones of you for personal use on your site).
For anyone, tweetup goer or not, who might want a custom framed print of my photography you can see Yosemite photos here and here and soon you’ll find some pre-framed art here.
“I can do this,” I said out loud. There was no one who could hear me. Perhaps the two flies buzzing around me heard, but if they did, their only reaction was to buzz me again. I idly swatted at them, while simultaneously thinking that I shouldn’t let them bother me, and more importantly that I should ignore them and concentrate on keeping my feet smeared on the rock.
My left foot slipped a little. This was the second time it had done that. I looked down and to my right at the runner I had clipped into the one bolt on the route. It looked far away. It would be an unpleasant fall if I came off. I wanted to go back down to recompose myself, but down climbing might be just as hard if not harder than moving up.
One thing was certain, the longer I stayed where I was, the greater the chance I’d come off.
“I can do this,” I said again, “I can do this.” I looked to my left to make sure I hadn’t gone on another, harder route that had bolts. I saw multiple bolts there which matched up to the harder route description, I was definitely on the right route.
I needed to move. I pressed my chalked right hand on an indention on the rock face and stepped up. My breathing was not even, but I was still breathing. I made another move and then another. Nothing was solid yet. My feet and hands were on holds that had a bit of chalk on them, I wondered if I had succeeded in greasing them with my half-hearted hand hold attempts from earlier. I moved up again, and again. The rock felt more like Yosemite granite than the famed grit of Joshua Tree. Finally I attained my goal for my right hand, a slope with a small seam in it. The seam was not big enough for my fingers, but it was more than a dimple smear at least. I still needed to step up though. I maneuvered so IÂ could leverage my left foot up.
I made the move for my left foot and then performed a balanced standing move to get my right up. I was on the ledge of sorts, there was finally a crack starting up again, about chest high to my 5′ 4″ frame. I got a two finger jam in it. It was the most solid hold I had felt since before the small run out section prior to the bolt. I said to myself, “I’m not done yet.” Then I placed a cam in the crack near my hand hold and clipped it.
A sigh of relief. A shake of the arms and a bit of mental chalk applied. I moved upwards again. The crack was back though, it was my friend. After another move I placed a piece, extended it and clipped in then moved up. I was focused on finding the belay bolts, but there was a slight slope on the top of this crack, and I didn’t see any bolts.
“There better be bolts there,” I said out loud again, the rock seemed unperturbed by my threat. My nerves were pretty tired and I didn’t have much gear left if I had to make my own anchor.
Fortunately the bolts were there. I clipped in and made an anchor with an unnecessary back up.
Thus ended the first pitch of “Right On”, the longest climb in Joshua Tree according to Randy Vogel’s latest Joshua Tree guide. It used to be called a 5.5, the newer book puts it at 5.6. with the 5.6 portion being on the first pitch. Comments on Mountain Project mention 5.7 R for the whole route and I noticed a notable climber posted about slipping before the bolt. I call the pitch, Class 2 fun and definitely not 5.6, at least not that day.
K and I were doing “Right On” on our 4th consecutive day of Joshua Tree climbing. We didn’t know much about it except what it said in the guide book Randy had given me just two days ago at Flander’s Fundraising party. We had picked it partly because it was near Ryan campground and partly because we thought it might be a nice relaxing, easy multipitch and looked like an aesthetic line with a great view.
One thing about Jtree, is that scale is sometimes hard to make out from a distance. Sure we have funky flora like Joshua Trees, but they don’t register as things that loom very tall in the way that pines do. When I’d said I’d take the first pitch of the climb I had known that it would probably be a little run out to the one bolt on the climb, but I figured, well it’s “5.6” it’s probably got big holds on the run out, and it doesn’t look that far.
I should’ve closely examined a picture I had taken of Saddle Rock the day before this. There are two climbers at the base of the climb in it; climbers who I’m guessing are taller than me. Maybe then I would’ve guessed that the distance was farther than it looked, maybe I might’ve seen that the rock wasn’t as featured as I had hoped. Maybe, but maybe not.
K and I had already planned that he would combine pitches 2 and 3 (it was suggested in the guide that two of the pitches in the four pitch climb be combined) but after he came up to me on that belay station, he congratulated me on the lead, told me he had been scared for me while doing it, and then that he wasn’t decided yet on if he would combine the next pitches or not.
The belay station was slightly under the route of the 2nd pitch which went up and over a bulge before settling into a crack. I belayed for a bit, hearing breathing sounds and clinking of gear, eventually I heard K call out that he’d string the pitches together but also something about watching him. There was more breathing and less clinking of gear, and very shortly I couldn’t hear him at all anymore. Eventually I heard him call out an “off belay”.
The second and third pitch were very interesting. After getting out from the belay area, the crack slanted up and away in a book like formation which I climbed using part crack climbing technique, part chimney, part layback, and part over hanging technique. I guess a shorter way to say that would be proclaiming it was closer to off width technique than anything else. It took a lot of energy. I got to a certain point where I was secure and K took a picture of me before I had to stem over a chasm to reach the belay station. I was a little nervous because my legs seemed like they might be a tiny bit too short to wedge me securely but I got through it. Apparently K had used some of the face to my left to climb this pitch, which made it a bit run out for him and I’m sure much scarier.
K took the last pitch as well, it looked pretty easy, though he had a small bit of route finding and both of our nerves were a little frazzled due to the surprise difficulties on our pitches. I followed up no problem and then we were treated to a fantastic view of the park. We were already starting to forget the Fun Class 2 portions of the climb, but were not quite ready to proclaim that we’d to it all over again. It was enough to enjoy the view before attempting the down climb to find some rappel anchors that were supposed to be around.
How’s the saying go? At the summit, you’re only half way done? Fortunately the down climb was easier than it looked, and once I was off belay I found the anchor bolts right away. We rappelled one 60m rope length down then had a bit more scrambling to do before getting to the level of where the first pitch started.
By the time we got back to the car, we were already talking about how great the climb was.
Arriving in Joshua Tree – April 1, 2011
K and I arrived on Friday, two of our friends had already gotten a site in Ryan Campground after having had to spend the night in a motel Thursday night, it was a “zoo” they had said, not even Jumbo Rocks campground had had spots. We told them it was Spring Break and that with over 140 people RSVP’d for Flanders (Doug Nidever) Fundraiser party at Todd Gordon’s house, perhaps a lot of folks were out for the weekend for that too.
After K and I unloading some things we all went over towards Headstone rock, where our friend had said he’d seen some interesting cracks on the shady side. Shade was key, it felt pretty warm in the sun, temps were high 70s, low 80s. Sure enough, there were some fun looking cracks. Our friend took one, and I decided I’d like to give another an on sight go. It looked like a fist jam sized crack with a sloping crack a definite ledge to rest on and then a crack finishing off with a gentle slope. As I started up it, I realized it was pretty gritty, probably not one that was climbed a lot. I got to a part that was on the slope which turned out to be slightly harder than I had predicted, mainly because of the body positioning it put me in with my arms forward and my feet a bit back. After that it was back to a crack.
Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my right hand, “Ow!” I said, “Ow, Owww!” I jerked my hand out of the crack, examining it, “Something stung me!” I said, suspecting that perhaps one of the bees that were buzzing around the bushes as the base of the climb had somehow flown up to get me. I stayed on the climb though. The pain faded and I finished.
K laughed, “Eileen is the only one I know who says, ‘Ow!’ when she gets stung, anyone else,” he said, “would be cursing.” I smiled, I suppose it might be true, and it wasn’t that I didn’t curse, but well, sudden pain I guess just makes me say what I mean… “Ow!”
Down on the ground after a short down climb, I took an allergy pill, I always carry at least one with me because I am hyper sensitive to all insect bites (and stings). I was already suspecting that I wasn’t really stung though because I didn’t see a tell tale bump or stinger. I thought maybe it was a spider bite or maybe even a stinging nettle type plant that had fallen in the crack. At any rate, I was happy my hand wasn’t turning baseball mitt sized (which is what happened the first time I was stung by a bee).
I ended up trying two other routes on the formation, both fun and worth doing. We didn’t know the names of the climbs, but there was supposedly some 5.8s, 5.9s and one 5.10 on this side of the formation. It was fun to just do them and climb in the shade. We tried to find a site in Hidden Valley, but weren’t successful.
Todd Gordon’s Party / Flanders Fundraiser – April 2, 2011
One of the reasons I’d been excited to go to Joshua Tree during this time period was because Todd was having one of his famous parties. Mutual friends of ours had attended these in the past (and we’d been invited) but timing had never quite meshed. Now ironically two of our mutual friends were both out of town so we’d be going on our own. A bonus though was that Randy Vogel would be there and he had a book for me since I’d just interviewed him. I recognized a few other names of folks on the RSVP list but one had called asking us for a ride which we unfortunately couldn’t provide so I wasn’t sure if he was going to make it either. Anyway, we were all still game to go, and I even had a shirt to donate to the cause, so we made it part of our Saturday plan.
First we wanted to get some climbing in. We went out to Hall of Horrors and all four of us did “Nurn’s Romp” and then when 3 of us rappelled down to “Exorcist”, I stayed up with the rap rope and rigged it so I could take photos of leaders on the route. “Exorcist” is a great line, a 5.10 crack that ends with a small blank area (it has one bolt here) and then a jug before finally finishing with another, bigger crack to the top. Even though I’ve climbed this cleanly, I have not led it yet, as I still need to figure out the bolt area to my satisfaction (only other climbers I’ve seen lead it can all reach the jug before I can). Today was picture day though so I literally hung out and jugged up and down my rope using a Gri Gri and a Tibloc. I did get one top rope run on “Exorcist” at the end.
After climbing and a short scouting hike to see if we could squeeze one more climb in, we parted ways so my friends could resupply before the party and K and I could see if we could get a better campsite. By the time we made it to the party it was 7pm. We parked a bit away from the house after a line of cars but could still hear the band playing. Fortunately I was still able to include my shirt donation for the table and we found Randy right away. The party was a lot of fun, we saw two live bands and a slideshow and bumped into more folks we knew than we thought would be there. We also made new friends and chatted with some true old school climbers. We wished we had arrived earlier so we would have had more time to chat, it was pretty inspiring to hear the BITD (Back in the Day) stories and to see these guys still partying. It was comforting because I’ve recently come to realize that IÂ might actually need “real rest” days on multi-day trips which made me feel “old” – but here were folks older than me and still going!
April 3, 2011
Our friends had to leave earlier than they expected. K and I packed some of our stuff up, thinking we might relocate to Hidden Valley campground. As we did we saw some of our friends who had been at the party drive by, one rolled down his window and invited us to join them on the back side of Snickers. We said we would after we cruised over to Hidden Valley to check for sites (and to see if Diane and Charlie Winger – climbers and authors of The Trad Guide to Joshua Tree -Â had arrived). K and I went to HV and left a note for the Wingers then we headed to Snickers. Unfortunately we overshot the parking lot and ended up parking at Barker Dam. However this turned out to be a kind of happy accident as we ended up talking to a guy who had just pulled into the space next to us and was looking for rock climbers to photograph just for the day. Now, since I’m usually the one with the camera, I thought it’d be fun to actually be in some pictures this time so we said he could come along with us as we were looking to join more climbers.
By the time we got to Snickers we didn’t see our friends, however we did see a climb I thought I recognized called “Funny Bone”, which also had another climb right next to it that I hadn’t done before. As we eyed it some guys came up with the Trad guide book and we were able to verify that it was indeed “Funny Bone”. We offered the climb to the guys who had shown up since we weren’t on it yet, but they said they were a party of three and didn’t mind waiting. So K and I went up, no problem. I didn’t lead it after K had done as I was conscious of the guys waiting for it and thought I’d just lead it after they had finished. However we did set up a top rope for the 5.10 something climb near it so we could do that.
Well it turns out the guys had also gone to the party but had left early so we hadn’t met them. K did recognize one of them from SuperTopo though, and oddly enough, one of them recognized that I was on Twitter because “Steph Davis retweets you”. I found it funny that we were connected to these old school climbers due to internet message boards and Twitter. Who says technology divides the old and young or even outdoor and indoor people?
Back at Ryan Campground, K and I decided to do a quick run up Headstone to watch the sun set. Headstone, famous for its exposure, can still get the blood pumping even if you’ve done it before. The top of it is not a bad place for sunset watching, not at all.
April 4, 2011
This is the day K and I did “Right On” which is the story with which I started this article.
Prior to leaving for the climb, K and I had found a site in Hidden Valley campground, went back to Ryan to pack up and then headed to the climb. After getting back to the new campsite at HV, we started unpacking. Two figures came out of the darkness. It was Charlie and Diane. It was fun to meet them. I’d interacted with Diane on the Rockgrrl forums (as far back as the first incarnation of the forums even) and also on Twitter. This was further proof that technology doesn’t have to be something that outdoor enthusiasts curse but something that can bring us together instead.
April 5, 2011
K and I were thinking around this time that we hadn’t really had a rest day as we had planned. We had prepared for staying in Jtree for about 9 days like our previous trip but wanted to have a real rest day because we both felt we paid for it when we didn’t have one on that trip. However, we wanted to climb with Charlie and Diane so were game to go where they wanted. Some in their group wanted to go to Hemingway but Charlie and Diane wanted to head to Rock Garden Valley, which is where the four of us ended up heading. As we climbed and scrambled higher towards the walls, I couldn’t help but note that Charlie was like a mountain goat, he had no problem with the boulders and quickly did the route finding up the approach. K told me later than he figured out Charlie is 75 years old. He is one spry old goat if so! And talk about multi-day trips, he had come to Jtree from Death Valley and was going off again from Jtree to go to Red Rocks!
I really had a great time at Rock Garden Valley, the climbs were really nice. I led “Double Dog Leg” (not technically an on sight because I took a few pics while Charlie led it) and at one point on it, I had to adjust my thinking because it wasn’t a climb where you had to use the crack the whole time. We also climbed “Young Lust” though there was some debate as to which climb that was as Randy’s book looked like it conflicted with the Wingers’ book and memory. K and I ended up doing 4 routes each, with an added pitch for K on top rope. I want to go back and lead more in this area. While we were up there, we met two climbers from San Diego, one did his very first trad lead, which was “Double Dog Leg”, and his 2nd trad lead on a crack we were guessing was a 5.8. Here we were again at the intersection of new and old. From Charlie’s umpteenth trad lead to another’s very first. All while the rocks look on, for the most part, frozen in time.
April 6, 2011
It started to rain early in the morning. It was a light rain, but the dark clouds above us did not seem to be in any hurry to leave. We had heard rumors around the campground that the weather for Saturday was going to be a high of 50. We didn’t know if that meant this rain was going to stick around till then or if strong winds were on the way to accompany such a drop in temperature. K and I at first tried waiting it out, finally taking that rest day we had talked about. The Wingers, we figured were also figuring things out. Finally we saw them drive by, they told us they were headed into town for food, showers, the internet to check the weather and maybe a movie. K and I stuck around a bit longer. The rain started to come down in heavier squalls. Our immediate neighbor had left for town and had come back, his news wasn’t that cheerful, he confirmed the 50 degree high and added that wind was coming, he and his dog were leaving. K and I decided to pack up and then decide in town, we needed to buy groceries anyway. After we packed up though we decided to hike around to try to find some Joshua Tree climbers’ points of interest.
On our last extended trip we had finally been successful in finding the Chasm of Doom, something I had done once years ago but that K had started to think was a myth. This time around I was able to lead us right to another interesting place, the Iron Door. We also found a Hobbit Hole and a bunch of cool boulder problems. Eventually though we left for town. We checked the weather once there and found a dire prediction of 80 mph winds for the next day followed by a chance of snow for the weekend!
We both agreed that it might be neat to see and photograph snow on the weekend but it wasn’t worth sticking it out for the rest of the rainy day and then have to survive crazy winds for another whole day after it. We were going to get our “real rest” day after all, it would be spent driving home.
Conclusion
I didn’t really push myself grade wise at all during this trip, but I felt it was great mentally. My very first climb of the trip was an on sight, one that none of us even knew its name or rating. Though it was probably a 5.8 or maybe even a 5.7. I think it was a good thing for me to do (despite getting bitten on it) because it helped put me in a leading mind set for the rest of the trip. It was great meeting other climbers too who helped me see that it’s not all about modern grades and that one can keep climbing and finding adventure everywhere… which was definitely proven by “Right On”. It may have once been called “just a 5.5” but it was definitely an old school route and needed knowledge of many types of climbing to climb it well.
I came away from this trip both humbled and encouraged; and with photos and fond memories of old and new friends. What more can you ask from a trip to Joshua Tree?
~ Eileen
I have trip photos up here and here’s a video I put together with some of my pics and some pics taken of me by my friends.
Randy Vogel leading Bighorn Dihedral (photo by Holden Harris)
If you’ve been climbing in Joshua Tree National Park, you’ve probably seen Randy Vogel’s work, for decades his Joshua Tree Guides have been the number one source for route beta for climbers there. His first guide, Joshua Tree Rock Climbing Guide printed in 1986 was a hefty tome, and its Second Edition printed in 1992 contained 616 pages of information and went on to have an update and reprint in 2000 which is probably the most widely used park wide guide book in Jtree today. In 2006 Randy published the first of a comprehensive series of Joshua Tree guides, Rock Climbing Joshua Tree West: Quail Springs to Hidden Valley Campground, which included first ascent information as well as a more comprehensive look at the history of climbing in the park. He has currently released Classic Joshua Tree Routes – 1st Edition which came out earlier this year.
Randy’s first ascents in Joshua Tree include: Swept Away (1977), Poodles are People Too (1978), Importance of Being Ernest (1982), Scary Poodles (1982), I Can’t Believe it’s a Girdle, Figures on a Landscape (1978), Last Unicorn (1980), Spirited Away (1992).
It was my pleasure to interview him for Rockgrrl.com.
Q. Where did you grow up and how and when did you get into climbing?
A. The then small Southern California suburb of Tustin was where I spent my youth. A friend in High School had done some climbing and took me out to Mt. Rubidoux (near Riverside, CA) and later to Tahquitz. Frankly, climbing wasn’t something that came naturally at all. In fact, at first I wasn’t sure that I even liked it. A trip to Joshua Tree changed my mind, the place really resonated with me and the climbing was fun.
A year or so later, I started hanging out at a local climbing store and was lucky to meet some more experienced climbers, like Matt Cox and Dave Evans, who were willing to let me climb with them. Perhaps it helped that I had a car. After this, I began to climb several times a week and would spend every weekend at Joshua Tree or Tahquitz & Suicide.
Q. What made you decide to write a guide book? The first time… the second time.
A. When we first started climbing at Josh, the old paperback John Wolfe guide was really the only information available. It contained less than 100 routes — the hardest being 5.9 with most 5.7 or lower. There were lots of aid climbs listed. And, by 1974 it was totally out of date. People were doing new routes every weekend, there were lots of 5.10s and even a couple 5.11s, and almost every aid route listed had been freed.
Matt Cox, who lived and breathed climbing, began keeping notes on what was new and who did it. Rather than have to consult his notes, I began keeping my own notebook of information Matt had gathered and then updated it constantly. Pretty much everyone stayed in Hidden Valley and knew each other. The campfire scene was a perfect source for gathering information.
This notebook became known as The Toads’ Guide (The Toads were a non-climbing club of some friends). It was copied by several people and passed around. When John Wolfe and Bob Dominick were working on a new edition in 1976, I offered my help and gave them much of the information about new route activity. By 1978, so much new stuff had been done that another edition was planned, to which I also contributed.
John Wolfe and I were from very different generations of climbers and I felt the need to do my own type of guide. In 1980 I did a Topo guide to Tahquitz and Suicide Rocks and then various Selected and New Route Guides to Joshua Tree. After a lot of help from others, in 1986 my first complete guide to Joshua Tree was published. Since then, there have been a variety of Selected Routes guides, sport guides, and comprehensive guides.
Q. What is/was your “day job” at the time?
A. In the late 1970s I was in college, then worked as a rock climbing guide for a few years. While lots of fun, at that time, it wasn’t a particularly profitable profession. So I went to law school and graduated in 1983. Since then I have been a lawyer, specializing in Business Transactions and Litigation.
Q. Did you ever think you’d become a climbing historian?
A. Its funny that you say this since I remember that John Wolfe felt I didn’t appreciate climbing history. In truth, I always liked history, but when you are young you don’t really consider what is going on around you as history.
There has been a strong oral tradition in climbing, but rock climbing never seemed to be “historical” on the same scale as Mountaineering. Certainly the Old-Boy Mountaineering network viewed rock climbing as a lesser activity. As the 1960s and 1970s generation of rock climbers have aged (and in some cases their exploits become lore), there has been a huge increase in interest in climbing history.
But rather than just writing about the history of climbing in Josh, I thought it would be much more interesting to have the climbers write about their own experiences. Classic Joshua Tree Routes and Bouldering has over 130 of these First Ascent stories, Histories and Historical notes throughout the book.
Q. Any surprises while doing your research?
A. The early climbing history of Josh had always been shrouded in mystery. With the help of several people (most notably John Ripley who located some critical early Sierra Club reports), it turned out that the conventional wisdom that not much happened in Joshua Tree until the mid to late 1960s just wasn’t the case. Considerable evidence was unearthed that a lot of fairly high standard climbing had taken place in Josh throughout the 1950s and early 60s.
Q. It sounds like folks were pretty competitive in getting First Ascents in the park, were you Switzerland in any of the feuds?
A. I don’t think anyone mistakes me for Switzerland. While some climbers definitely got their noses out of joint when someone snagged a route they had their eye on, most climbers didn’t get that upset or just found another new line to do. After you read a number of the First Ascent histories in Classic Joshua Tree, it is interesting to see how competitive, yet mostly friendly this was.
Q. What was the biggest change in grade from Book 1?
A. Pinched Rib is a good example of a route that has changed grade over the years. I think it was originally rated 5.7. It climbs a vertical dike, but over the years large chunks have fallen off and the route is now generally considered 5.10a.
Q. It has been a pet theory of mine that some of the old school climbs in Jtree have stout ratings simply because the rating system used to not go higher than 5.10 so FA’s may have been reluctant to grade a climb at the top of the scale. I’m thinking of climbs rated 5.7 or 5.9. Do you think that theory holds water?
A. Because most of Joshua Tree’s new route development was done in the 1970s and 1980s, many of the old school rated climbs you mention were done well after 5.11 or even 5.12 was established. Rating standards for routes in the 5.1 to 5.9 range (which were devised at Tahquitz in the early 1950s), have evolved over time. But, at one point of time, there was a noticeable difference in the difficulty of even routes in the 5.1 to 5.5 range. Nowdays, many of these “easy grades” are considered trivial. Thus, when a modern climber gets on an “easy” old-school rated route, it sometimes seems harder than it should. This is true throughout the grades and ratings have suffered grade inflation to meet current expectations.
Ultimately, it is my belief that what matters is if ratings are consistent in a particular climbing area, not whether they are consistent with some other climbing area.
Until the last 30 years or so, climbers did not travel as extensively as they do now, so you often found areas where ratings were developed with little feedback from other climbers. Also, locals (at any area) get used to the peculiarities of their home crag and develop techniques that visiting climbers may initially lack. This too can lead to routes seeming harder from one area to the other.
Q. Why was British Airways named that?
A. It may have been the day after we established this route, we wanted some positive feedback and coaxed Jonny Woodward into climbing it. Jonny was still somewhat new to Josh slab climbing, but a tremendous climber. We expected him to romp up it (though we hoped he would struggle at least a bit). Maria Cranor was belaying Jonny while simultaneously holding forth an animated conversation with the rest of us. As Jonny neared the top, and Maria’s attention wandered a bit, a large amount of slack had formed. Suddenly, Jonny was off. And, as the slack was drawn upward, he kept falling. It was a clean, but spectacular fall of some 40 feet. The name for the route seem obvious to us.
Q. What’s your favorite route name?
A. There are so many great route names at Josh, perhaps more so than any climbing area, that it is hard to pick one. Also, a lot of names evoke memories associated with the route. But, if forced to pick one, it would be Poodles Are People Too. It bred a spat of “Poodle†named routes, many of which still bring a laugh.
My copy, 2nd Edition (1992)
Q. What’s your next book coming out and when will it be available?
A. Central Joshua Tree is the next guide to come out. After being delayed due to a change in publishers, it is expected out December 2011. It will be like Joshua Tree West, but be full color. It will cover Echo, Barker Dam, Comic Book, Southern Wonderland, all Ryan Valley areas (Love Nest, Cap Rock, Ryn CG, Saddle Rock, Hall of Horrors, to Sheep Pass CG.
Joshua Tree East will cover Queen Mt, and everything east of Ryan Mt. including Indian Cove and Rattlesnake Canyon.
Q. Did the rise of climbing websites influence you to change any information in your books? Ratings, names, credit for First Ascents etc?
A. Climbing websites have been a great source of information and help in compiling a guidebook. The most significant information I have found has been the development of better consensus ratings. When you have a lot of people, who you may never otherwise have a chance to talk with, climb a route and rate it, ratings tend to reach a better consensus.
Even so, there is always a certain amount of “static†and inconsistency that arises when you have a user generated database and commentary. So, you still have to do your own research and climb routes and figure out descents.
Q. What did you think when the first online web resources came out? Did your opinion of them change over the years? do you see them as competition for hard copy guide books?
A. On line sources are, at least at this point in time, not competitive with a written guidebook. However, at some point, digital devices will advance enough that digital versions of guidebooks will become predominant. While we are creating phone aps for the new guides, it will be a few years before the hardware and technology really makes digital versions of a rock climbing guide a practical substitute.
Q. Before writing the Jtree guidebook, did you have any writing experience?
A. It has been a learn as you go venture and certainly there were some significant mis-steps along the way.
Q. How has writing the guidebooks changed your life?
A. It has solidified my love of climbing and forced me to get out and explore and climb routes and areas that I might otherwise have been too complacent to enjoy.
Randy Vogel leading Leave It To Beaver (photo by Andy Blair)
First off, Happy International Women’s Day!Mountain Mama Clouds Rest Maternity Top (note: NOT me). Photo from Mountain Mama.
I thought an appropriate way to celebrate would be to feature a great company which makes maternity clothing for outdoor women!
Mountain Mama, whose tagline is “Expecting Adventure” (love that), offers clothing for active women like their Clouds Rest Baselayer Maternity Top which they so graciously let me test out for the past few months… and NO I’m NOT pregnant. Teresa Delfin, Founder and CEO, assured me that the top could be worn as a regular shirt when you weren’t expecting as well.
She was right, the baselayer was quite comfy, and while it did have extra length, it was not oddly shaped nor did it bunch up as I had feared it might, instead it was a great way to make sure I didn’t get that cold gap sometimes created when baselayers don’t meet when stretching about. While the shirt draped loosely but nicely around my mid section, the fit is pretty snug in other areas of the shirt such as the chest and arms. There’s a nice stretch to the weave of the material, which has a waffle pattern on the inside. The zipper near the neck lay flat and unobtrusively on the shirt, great for comfort and also to prevent unseemly bulges when worn under clothing. The zipper is longer than others I have on baselayers, this is supposed to be for ease of breastfeeding, however I liked it just for ease of ventilation.
In terms of looks, my husband complimented me on the shirt saying it looked good on me. This was before he knew it was supposed to be for maternity wear (don’t worry I told him right away I was NOT pregnant).
I think it’s a solid buy for an active mama to be, but pretty nice for non expecting women as well.
Now here’s your chance to win the shirt!
I’ll be doing a random drawing to give away the Mountain Mama Clouds Rest Maternity Baselayer Top.
Leave a comment on this post for a chance to win. If you’re stuck on something to say just answer if you plan on staying active while pregnant or know someone who has.
Guys, don’t be shy about entering, a warm baselayer would make a great gift!
Alternative and additional chances to enter: do any or all of the following for one entry in the drawing for each action
Tweet:
Do you know a Mountain Mama? http://bit.ly/eH1Pm2 #RockgrrlMountainMamaContest
(follow @rockgrrl and @MtMamaMaternity while you’re at it 🙂 )
Use the same name on all entries so I know who to add the extra chances to. You’ll be contacted for size and shipping information so be sure to have contact info included!
EDIT (correction of deadline to enter): Winner will be drawn on March 16th, 2011 and the winner notified on the 17th.
EDIT: PS While you’ve got maternity on the mind check out the cute shirts, onesies, baby hats, bibs and more that I have in my shop! I made this climbing design especially for kids but nearly all of my other designs are also available on baby / kids items too so browse around.
I enjoyed the Asgard and white water films the most, and watching the paddle film I couldn’t help but notice that the folks in it talked about flow. This seems to be a common thread in human quests.
I’m not just talking about so-called extreme sports either. Musicians talk about being in the flow, I felt it myself when performing in an orchestra, I’ve also felt it in competitive fencing bouts. I’ve certainly felt it when creating as well.
What struck me about the paddling movie, was that the participants seemed to say that it was only in their sport that they found this flow with something “elementalâ€. Yet, isn’t rock “elemental†as well, I know many climbers have mentioned this flow as well.
I propose that it’s not that flow is rare, but that sometimes it can only be found doing certain activities for a particular person. And in fact that same person may find it in different activities during different times of their life.
Have you felt the flow? What brings you to that state?
Select photos from my climbing trip from January 13-17, 2011 to Joshua Tree National Park.
The weather was great and we met old friends and new. Unfortunately I was not feeling that well from day two of the trip which culminated in being quite sick one night (food poisoning) the next day after that I had a day of no climbing and very few photos. “Oh, you’re climbing, I’ll snap a few photos when I’m awake.” Lie down. Fall asleep. Do a sit up to watch my friends, snap a photo. Lie back down. Wake up with a funny sock tan line.
At any rate, here are the photos that made the short list. Click on the following link to see the photos in a slideshow at a large size, or just watch the embedded slideshow below.
As a rock climber, adventure seeker, and/or a general outdoors person you’ve probably seen your share of adventure films. Sometimes they are adrenaline laden shorts or music video visual montages. Oakley Anderson-Moore set out to make a film that’s also a cultural history project about the roots of climbing in the US, interviewing climbing greats like Royal Robbins and Lynn Hill and traveling around the US like her father had done as a full time climber for 13 years. Oakley started climbing young, it being in her blood as the saying goes, so she stands out not only in the adventure film field but in the climbing one as well. Her film, “The Last Wild Mountain” is a “nearly finished roc doc”, it needs funding to be completed.
I was excited to interview her for Rockgrrl.com.
Q. Is there a story behind your name?
A. I was named after Annie Oakley, the crackshot shooter who became a star in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. She beat all her male shooting competitors, and even married one! She could stand on a horse and shoot backwards and nail any target. I try to live up to her legacy, but I don’t know if anyone can! I certainly derive a lot of strength just thinking about her.
Q. Which came first, a love of film or a love of climbing?
A. Well it’s funny because I sort of grew up with climbing. Maybe not the technical aspects of it, because I didn’t start leading until a few years ago, but nearly all my dad’s friends were climbers. Many of my dad’s great stories involve climbing. Climbing was kind of a part of me before I even knew what it was.
Film was something I decided I really loved on my own. I love storytelling. Communication, language, storytelling…the ability to share otherwise internal experiences with others is one of the most remarkable thinks about people! Film is a relatively new medium for storytelling (compared to literature and theater) and that makes it exciting. I love it!
Q. What was home life like?
A. I was born in Ellensberg, WA where my parents met. We eventually moved to the grapevine area of California, and I spent a few good years with my dog and a bike and a lot of land with nobody around. Those were good times. Then all of a sudden my parents decided to get teaching jobs at international schools, and I transplanted to Sao Paulo, Brazil – a city of 20 million! We spent the next 6 years in South America, Asia, and Europe. I got quite an international education for a po’ country girl! So as far as home life…my mom and dad have always milked their time to the fullest – and growing up it seemed like every weekend we were going somewhere!
Q. Did you notice any gender issues growing up?
A. The usual stuff. I remember briefly playing on a co-ed soccer team…”Don’t pass to the girl!”. How does that Charlotte Whitton quote go? “Whatever women do, they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good.”
Q. Who are/were your role models?
A. I have so many! My family, Thomas Jefferson, MLK, Oscar Wilde, Harriet Tubman, Bobby Kennedy, Alice Paul. People who are willingly to challenge the majority and suffer as delinquents for what they believe.
Q. Who do you see (if anyone) continuing the tradition of the past climbers?
A. I think the tradition of past climbers is a state of mind more than anything else. From what I can tell, they were motivated by seeking the unknown. Today’s climbing scene with increased beta and gear and stuff can take that out of the experience. But not necessarily. There are still many climbers at either end of the ability spectrum who are seeking what is unknown to them. You can be a 5.2 climber, go someplace where you don’t have a guide book and don’t know what you’re doing, don’t pay attention to grades, you can go up a 5.4 climb and still find yourself wildly facing the unknown. You’re not going to be able to be that climber and go to Yosemite and find an unclaimed, easy line to name after yourself, but…well, some traditions aren’t meant to be carried on. People who climb to challenge themselves as opposed to ticking off climbs or making a name for themselves, those are the people who come to climbing for the same reason as many climbers did decades ago.
Q. What’s your favorite type of climbing, favorite area to climb?
A. Crack climbing. But no off-widths, yuck! I have only started going there, but I really like the Red Rocks of Nevada. It was a place my dad did a lot of FA’s in, so it resonates with me. Plus it an absolutely amazing desert ecosystem.
Q. What do you hope your film accomplishes?
A. I hope it tells a compelling story about coming of age, experiencing life, and learning to coexist.
Q. Are you single?
A. My lips are sealed. With a kiss! Of death?
Q. Most unexpected thing to happen during the road trip portion of filming?
A. Well, while my 3 crew were catching some shut eye, I accidentally burned the brakes out while driving down Monitor Pass on the way to Mammoth Lakes. It was scary! It took us a day and a half to get to the top of this pass (the VW was averaging 25mph…so tedious) and when we finally made it, I was like “YAH!” and put it in neutral and just coasted. Unfortunately, I soon found my self coasting down a sustained, steep, one lane 8% grade. I noticed that – with my foot all the way down on the brakes – I couldn’t get the van to slow down enough to put it in 2nd gear. Ahhhhhh! Eventually Corene, one of my crew, woke up and rolled down the window and remarked, ‘woa it smells awful out here!’ (It was the brakes). We eventually were able to coast off into some dirt. We spent 3 days in Bishop waiting to get new brakes. They were completely gone! Fortunately, we were still able to make our interview. It would be the last chance we would get to talk to John Bachar.
Q. Lately with the film festival season in swing the issue of women in adventure films has come up, mainly that there doesn’t seem to be many women involved compared to men, do you think there is a need for more films about women/made by women?
A. The statistics of women making films, adventure or not, is apallingly low! This year, Kathryn Bigelow was the first woman to win an Oscar for best director in the entire history of the Oscars, and only the 3rd woman to ever get nominated!
One of the reasons why there aren’t as many women making films is because the film industry is shrouded in money and politics. It takes a lot of money to make a film – and a studio doesn’t want to risk that much money on a ‘girl’ director. In fact, anything risky in the slightest will have a hard time making it into a film. That’s why the only movies you see in your local MegaTheater are the same old tired films that have been reproduced ad naseum.
That mentality is certainly changing as the technology to make films becomes more accessible and people (women included) who couldn’t get industry backing get a chance to show what kickass movies they can make!
As for why there aren’t more women in leading roles in adventure films…well its all sort of tied up in the same stuff. And there’s this unfortunate idea that films about women are only films FOR women. An action movie with a female lead is a girl power chick flick, not just an action movie. Hopefully this will erode in time because the human experience should span more than just one gender, one race, one culture. My personal philosophy is not that we need more films from different voices about different ideas and people that aren’t being heard in the Hollywood system.
Q. What’s next for the film?
A. Well, I think we can finish the film in about 3 months, if our Kickstarter fundraiser comes through.
Once it’s done, the plan is to get it shown anywhere and everywhere! We’ll probably start by competing to get in Film Festivals, and see if we can strike a deal with a Distributor. We will definitely do a cross country tour in there as well, and go to pretty much anyplace we’re wanted. Whether we’ll take the Volkswagen again is TBD!
Filming for “The Last Wild Mountain”
Q. What was the film process like?
A. I checked out all the books ever written about climbing 1950 and on, and then some. I photocopied, cut and pasted, tried to put together many different drafts of working scripts for about a year. In the end, none of that mattered because it all changed after the interviews! Each interview was an intense experience. Here you are sitting in the dark with someone, asking them to tell you not only their stories, but their hopes and dreams, and if they succeeded and failed. Those are pretty big questions! I can’t believe I had the courage to ask them, and they had the wisdom and personal strength to answer. And ask them to please impart you with some wisdom about the world. It’s a very personal experience. And from there is was a matter of selection. Selecting material, trying to piece together a layered but coherent narrative. With 100s of hours, it was very overwhelming! It’s a lot to keep in your head, and sometimes you have to realize that the direction you wanted to go in didn’t ring true, and that is difficult as well.
Q. Any advice to female outdoor enthusiasts? How about female film makers?
A. As far as the outdoors, I probably have a lot to learn myself. I still topout in the dark having forgotten my headlamp.
As for female filmmakers, I would just say try not to get discouraged. There’s a historic thread that discourages women from pursuing the Math&Sciences, and film is one of the more scientific art forms because you have to use a little math & know a little bit about optics and electricity. So there are people who will be skeptical and come in with preconceived notions about you. That prototypical “Nick Burns the computer guy” character WILL come over and berate you for having plugged the coaxial cable into the wrong place. Who cares! Screw ’em. Just learn your craft and don’t let anybody tell you what you can and can’t do.
Q. What’s next after the film?
A. Retirement? Haha. I don’t know, it’s hard to think about. The only other thing I know a lot about is old time fiddle music/bluegrass, so maybe I will try to find a story there. Like this current film, I don’t seem to be able to pick out the ‘blockbuster’ topics, but what the hell. Life is short, might as well do something worth a damn.
Q. You’ve been incorporating Facebook and Twitter into your marketing efforts? What do you think of them?
A. They’re great! It’s one of the only places where I can be on equal, or possibly superior, footing to another interest or company or big-budget film! Reaching out to real people through Facebook and Twitter (where there is such a cool community of climbers) has been VERY cool and heartwarming.
Q. If you were interviewing yourself for your movie what would you ask yourself and what would your answer be?
A.
OAM: So Oakley, tell me, since you’ve now achieved global stardom with your breakthrough crossover climbing culture flick, how has your life changed?
OAM: Well, gee that stardom and global thing…I wouldn’t exactly use those words…
OAM: Do you feel trapped by your fame?
OAM: Trapped…I’m not sure anybody has really ever heard of me —
OAM: Let’s get down to the heart of the matter.
OAM: Yes?
OAM: Tell us what people want to know.
OAM: What do people want to know?
OAM: Your social security number and the pin to your checking account!
OAM: I could tell you, but I honestly can’t think why that would be of any use to anyone.
OAM: Sure sure, well let me ask you this: where were you the day the music died?
OAM: I don’t think I’d been born yet.
OAM: Escargot or caviar?
OAM: Tofurkey.
OAM: Second gunman?
OAM: Most likely.
OAM: Wikileaks?
OAM: How can I join their team?
OAM: Who’s asking the questions here?
OAM: Why are you yelling at me?
OAM: You have the right to remain silent!
OAM: That’s not a question, you lose.
OAM: Oh fine. What’s the one thing you’d like people to do right now?
OAM: That’s easy. Go visit http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1301221085/the-last-wild-mountain-a-nearly-finished-rock-doc
Yosemite has decided to make the hiking permit system apply everyday the cables are up starting in Spring of 2011. Previously they were only required for weekend hiking.
In 2011, free permits are available up to about four months in advance only through the National Recreation Reservation Service (NRRS).
As before, backpackers with an appropriate wilderness permit can receive a Half Dome permit when they pick up their wilderness permit with no additional reservation required. Rock climbers who reach the top of Half Dome without entering the subdome area can descend on the Half Dome Trail without a permit.
I haven’t been up Half Dome since they implemented this ticket system but I have friends who purposely hiked it on a non weekend day to avoid the permit system. Have you gone up there during the permit time, did you notice a reduction in crowds? They are limiting the tickets to 400 a day (with 300 of those for day hikers). I wonder if the day of long lines balancing between the cables will be over, or if folks will still tend to bunch up anyway.
“Whoa, that’s bright!” a fellow JTree Tweetup goer said.
“And that’s only at 90%!”
How many times have you put on your headlamp, switched it to it’s brightest setting and thought to yourself, “It’s not as bright as I remember”? I don’t know about you, but I’ve thought that a lot. It turns out there’s a reason for this and it’s not just because you don’t have fresh batteries.
Most headlamps have a decreasing brightness performance, which lengthens the time you can have useable light. This is quite a reasonable trade off for a headlamp that you mainly use for the unexpected in-the-dark descent or hike out. What this means though is that the unregulated mode of a headlamp will only give you its best and brightest for a relatively short amount of time compared to the life of the battery.
Enter the Petzl CORE battery.  It’s a rechargeable battery for Petzl’s Tikka 2 and Zipka 2 lines of lamps but also provides, via the OS by Petzl software,  a way to customize your lamp’s output.
I was given a Petzl Tikka Plus 2 and a CORE battery to review from the good folks at Pembaserves and proceeded to try it out at home and then while on a 6 day trip in Joshua Tree National Park for the 2nd Annual Jtree Tweetup.
First off, I downloaded and installed the OS software. The interface was sparce with a slide show showing you how to plug in your battery and then how to configure different profiles for your headlamp(s). It was quite easy and straightforward.
Next I plugged in the CORE battery into my USB port and proceeded to choose which lamp I was using the battery with and what name I wanted to call it. I appreciated the visual graph that showed me how bright versus how long I could make the headlamp last and decided to go for a Regulated profile that would give me 90% of the light’s power for a solid 5 hours and 50 minutes. I had night climbing in mind. I then only slightly changed the Economical mode setting, making it last a total of 47 hours and  30 minutes as 10.5%. This was my “emergency mode” in my way of thinking.
Lastly, I saved the profile I had just made (with its 2 settings) so that I could use it again in the future.
Then I decided to install the battery (you can make profile changes with the battery inside the headlamp as well but I had been too eager to get it going). Looking at the instruction pamphlet that came with the battery I realized that it wasn’t just as simple as popping the battery in where the regular batteries usually go. Instead the CORE was to sit like the meat in a sandwich between the front and back sides of the headlamp. I needed to take the headlamp apart with a small twist motion. I’ll have to admit I was a little scared to do that. The folks at Pembaserves had rushed to get me the lamp and battery in time for my trip but if I broke it, there wouldn’t be enough time to replace it.
Eventually, with some reassurance via direct messages on Twitter, I did pry the back off just like the picture showed and it worked great. The final result was the CORE sitting nestled smoothly between the pieces of the Tikka Plus 2. The headlamp looked pretty much as it had before, albeit as a fatter version of itself. Petzl has since added a video demonstrating how to do this on their website.
Use in the Field
The exchange at the beginning of this review happened during one of the cold (but beautiful) nights out at Joshua Tree National Park. While you can test to see how bright “90%” looks while the light is still plugged into your computer (very handy) it looks ever so much brighter when you don’t have a room light on.
I used my CORE powered light exclusively during my trip and did a night ascent of the Manure Pile rock formation in
Lighting up those below
Ryan Campground. It turned out to be technically much easier than it looked from the bottom, however perhaps one reason it felt easier was because I had great illumination! I was even able to light up folks back at the campfire with my light.
One thing I found really nice about having the CORE was knowing that I still had the Economical mode to fall back on if I felt my battery was going low. And, in a real pinch I could charge my battery by plugging it into any USB port (I had my laptop with me) and as a very last resort I could still remove the CORE and put in regular batteries. Needless to say, I didn’t need to do any of those options, my light lasted the whole trip.
Conclusion
The CORE is quite a useful addition to a Tikka 2 or Zipka 2 light. I like that it effectively replaces 900 disposable batteries and is easy to charge. I even tested it with the USB port for my SOLIO solar charger and it worked fine. For the ultra light weight enthusiasts, the CORE weighs 30 grams, I weighed 3 AAA Duracell batteries and got 1.1 ounces via my postage scale, which is roughly equal to 31 grams. So you may or may not able to go lighter depending on which batteries you are comparing with the CORE. It definitely does add a little bit of bulk though.
However I think the selling point of the CORE is the ability to create and save different profiles for your light. I’ve definitely been in situations where I’d gladly have traded brightness for length of life. And I’ve also wished for a dimmer light around a campfire, or for reading where the thing I need to illuminate is just my book a few inches away from me and not the entire tent.
CORE specs:
Lithium Ion Polymer 900Â mAh rechargeable battery
Sold with 30 cm USB «micro B» type cable
Compatible with TIKKINA2, TIKKA2, ZIPKA2, TIKKAÂ PLUS2, ZIPKAÂ PLUS2 and TIKKAÂ XP2 headlamps
Recharge time: 3 hours Number of charging cycles: approximately 300 Weight: 30 g Guarantee: 3 years or 300 charging cycles
Peztl CORE batteries are available separately or as part of a Tikka 2 or Zipka 2 package. See more at Petzl.com.
Last year I helped organize something I optimistically called the 1st Annual Jtree Tweetup. Climbers from all over the US and Canada came, we had a great time and I’d call it a success. But to really make it earn its name we had to have a 2nd Annual Jtree Tweetup right?
Right.
The plan was similar to last year, in fact scheduling worked out that we chose the same Veteran’s Day week / weekend. I was able to convince a local climbing friend of mine [Michael, who is now on Twitter as @ride395] to come out on Tuesday of that week to help me get some campsites. Fortunately a number of folks were arriving Wednesday as well to help hold down the fort.
So how’d it go? Well here’s a smattering of what I learned:
You don’t have to go to Griffith Park to experience Laserium or to a remote telescope station to view stars, nebulas and detailed views of the moon. Thanks for this discovery goes to Rick (@Jetforme) and his wonderful lasers and telescope and to Dave (@dmasten) for his Pink Floyd loaded iPhone and to both of them plus Aleya (@Blueskeyes207) for their space knowledge.
Patrick (@patrickgensel aka Shoeless Joe) has both good and bad luck. He left his climbing shoes in two different places this trip but got them back. He also left his camerabag with his SLR and phone in it in a car he was hitching a ride in (in the park). It was not recovered while we were in the park but we took him to fill out a form with the rangers and he got a call Monday that the park had it.
The Palm Springs airport is kinda nice.
The Thai place Urban Spoon recommends in Palm Springs is not open anymore.
Royal Siam Thai Food in Joshua Tree is not open on Tuesdays. [of note, at last year’s Jtree Tweetup we learned that Crossroads is not open on Wednesdays].
I’m not bad at this guiding thing but a big group with mixed climbing and Joshua Tree experience can tax the planning brain.
As an event organizer, a chart showing names, approximate arrival times and cars is not too nerdy to have.
Climbing the Manure Pile rock formation (the one the campsites in Ryan Campground are situated around) is fun at night. [Thanks Petzl Tikka Plus 2 and CORE system – review to come!]
Clif Shot flavors with “+ Caffeine†work well for fending off migraines.
I can lead Vorpal Sword with style (once the migraine goes away).
Handwarmers are pretty cool things and I don’t know why I didn’t think about bringing them to Jtree before.
Clif Luna bars with giant matches (provided by nice neighbors who left camp early and gave us stuff) make a cute Birthday Cake for Laurel (@mtsquirrel) [we also said Happy Belated to Adrienne (@adrienneknits)].
You can never have enough firewood in Joshua Tree in November.
Empty boxes of stuff sponsors provided can tide over a fire while someone gets more firewood. Thanks Clif Bar, Action Wipes, Boulder Canyon, Coach’s Oats you kept us from freezing! Thanks also goes to Eastern Mountain Sports but don’t worry, we didn’t burn the hats or stickers 😛
Even if your throat hurts, it’s still worth it to join in on a song you know when it’s being played on the ukelele.
When on the “reach challenged†1st crux of Gunsmoke do not: 1. Make a comment to strangers about your chalk bag being your “spot of color†after they’ve called you a Ninja. 2. Listen to your friends when they are describing your climbing with animal terms and one of them says “giraffeâ€. Doing either may result in FOTCL (Falling Off The Climb Laughing).
A cold Sigg water bottle placed on the head makes a decent migraine distraction, though not so much a stylish hat.
I should take my own advice and drink more water and wear more sunscreen.
I should check all the pockets and folds in all my bags that I brought in case the Flip MinoHD I thought I forgot… is actually there.
No two Tweetups are the same but they all have something special.
Climbers who are on Twitter are pretty darn interesting.
I think there is a demand for the 3rd Annual JtreeTweetup…
—
List of climbing areas visited during the 2nd Annual JtreeTweetup:
Ryan Campground
Real Hidden Valley
Hidden Valley Campground
Atlantis Wall
Lost Horse
Barker Dam (Gunsmoke)
Echo Cove
Pics from my cameras (mostly taken by me, those with me in them have the photographer noted in the captions).
I have so many posts to write but I went to the Banff Mountain Film Festival last night and wrote a short bit, which I thought I’d share…
Use in the Field
