Greetings, JC~
It was superb to meet you on Friday, and I was stoked to see your post here! (Not, perhaps, as stoked as I was to be called "young" in your post- I was grumbling under my breath all weekend about being 42 and suffering from a litany of lingering injuries, but anyway...)
In any event, we had a superb time over the three days we were there- I'd somehow (thankfully?) forgotten over the past twenty years about the, uh, "sublime" pleasures of climbing at the Pinns, and my girlfriend Heather (being an eager and happily suggestible novice) simply didn't know better- a splendid recipe for scaring ourselves senseless!
What with the perfect weather and a perverse capacity for hiking a long way for short climbs, we managed to get up a number of moderate Pinns classics: Burgundy Dome- Rappel Route, The Sponge- Regular Route and Holes, Photog’s Delight, The Cone, The Unmentionable, The Anvil, Sinbad, Plumber's Crack, Ordeal, The Flatiron (the 5.3 to the right of Burton's), Mushroom Boulder, and First Sister- Center Route and Twisted Sister. By the way, JC- many thanks for the tip on the latter: a very fine route, indeed.
And, while I know I will likely be banned forever from the forums for employing such a scurrilous phrase, the rock on the Regular Route on The Sponge reminded me of excellent, weathered alpine granite- quel horreur! (Seriously, if that line were 1000 feet long, it would be among the most classic routes in North America, at any grade.)
The campground was full of fun, as well: we were waked up numerous times by a very brazen pair of raccoons, and also, at about 3am on Sunday morning, by a drunken lout stumbling through our site and trying to find his tent. Me, mostly asleep: "What are you doing out there?" Him: "Lookin' for my tent..." Me: "It's not here." Him: "That's one way to look at it." I had to give the poor sap credit there...
For some strange reason, we didn't take many photos, but we did see a condor hanging out on a pinnacle as we ambled back late-ish on Sunday afternoon- despite having grown up on the Central Coast, this was the first time I'd ever seen one in the wild. Which sighting, perhaps, inspired us to finish our trip with a jaunt up the Cone.
In amazing light as the sun was setting, Heather grabbed the sharp end for her first lead of any kind, ever, and cruised it in exquisite style- truly inspiring.
You mentioned rebolting some "salad"-y routes, JC (sincere thanks to you and everyone else for your rebolting efforts, by the way), and I could think of nothing but baby escarole as I padded up to the top- the moss on the top half of The Cone looked just like it in the near-dark...
All in all, it was an extraordinary weekend- much as it makes me shake my head, I'm looking forward to getting back up there as soon as possible. Or, as someone else here wrote: "I can't recommend the route, but it's a must-do." Indeed.
I look forward to seeing you- and the rest of the local Pinns crew- next time we're in that neck o' the woods...
Onward and upward with warm regards,
Jeff (and Heather)
PS: I suspect this is a well-known commodity in these parts, but El Huarache King in King City? Five star burritos, astonishingly great service, and ice-cold beer: highly recommended.
