Kat and I had quite the adventure working on Nebulous Knob yesterday.
We did a recon hike past there last weekend.
Here's a few shots from working on Nebulous Knob.
The white streak you see just above center photo is tat on the lead bolt. The location of the bolt relative to the stance was interesting. I sat down to work on it. I would say it was either drilled sitting down or from a kneeling position. By the time you move up to reach those knobs on the left (one of which is cracked and wiggly), the bolt is below your feet. Moving past the knobs is the second crux.
I climbed to the summit and replaced the anchor first. The old single anchor bolt was a quarter incher with a smash link in so so rock. Based on the rock quality, I decided to relocate the anchor and aim the rappel back down the route. The hanger on the old bolt was tight and oriented to put you over the left side of the formation relative to the route (the left skyline in the picture above). The rappel in that direction is much longer and would deposit you well below the start in poison oak.
Here is a picture of the old anchor bolt which I left for the sake of history.
Here is a picture of the replacement anchor with the old, single anchor bolt shown above.
After I finished working on the anchor, Kat followed the route (thanks for your patience Kat) and I rapped down to replace the lead bolt.
The lead bolt was tight in the rock but the hanger had enough room behind it to get the tuning fork in as shown. For this picture I merely slid it behind with my fingers and had not hammered it in yet. I drove the fork to its limit and then slid the bolt out with almost no pressure on the crowbar. I could have left the crowbar at home. A little wiggling with fingers would have accomplished the desired result. I have serious doubts that the bolt would have held a leader fall, especially given how far you are above it when you are making the crux moves.
Two inch long, quarter inch compression bolt showing no compression and an inch and a quarter embedment (the hole was under drilled). The nut was screwed all the way down until it bottomed out (ran out of threads). That is why the hanger was loose. FA 1965.
Parting shot showing the replacement lead bolt.
