Author Topic: A shoutout and "thank you" to John, Kathy Cook & Brad Young (and others)...  (Read 3448 times)

russ p

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My friend/partner David and myself spent Sunday and Monday in Pinnacles.  On Sunday climbed on Crud n Mud, routes that they put up. Fun and exciting routes, a cool place.

The next day thru serendipity we partnered with Brad to put up what was for David and I, our first FA.  Also, got some tutelage on placing a bolt, something also that David or I had never done.  Fun, challenging, informing, had a blast. Would like to do something like that again for sure. 

Total new appreciation to the dedication, sweat, etc.  Especially to those who replace old bolts on existing routes.  A big thank you everyone...russ

Brad Young

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My friend/partner David and myself spent Sunday and Monday in Pinnacles.  On Sunday climbed on Crud n Mud, routes that they put up. Fun and exciting routes, a cool place.

The next day thru serendipity we partnered with Brad to put up what was for David and I, our first FA.  Also, got some tutelage on placing a bolt, something also that David or I had never done.  Fun, challenging, informing, had a blast. Would like to do something like that again for sure. 

Total new appreciation to the dedication, sweat, etc.  Especially to those who replace old bolts on existing routes.  A big thank you everyone...russ


The school of Hard Knocks. A fun day, and one mystery (sort of) cleared up.

JC w KC redux

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My friend/partner David and myself spent Sunday and Monday in Pinnacles.  On Sunday climbed on Crud n Mud, routes that they put up. Fun and exciting routes, a cool place.

Total new appreciation to the dedication, sweat, etc.  Especially to those who replace old bolts on existing routes.  A big thank you everyone...russ

Here's mud in your eye guys! :yesnod: :biggrin: :thumbup:
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JC w KC redux

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Hey Dave and Russ - how was the NE Frontier?
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russ p

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Hey John thanks for asking. We both really enjoyed a lot. It was really cool walking into an area we had never been, looking down on the east side from a new vantage point, and getting a real "backcountry" feel. Enjoyed the routes too!!

The best part was getting buzzed by 2 Condors. They would circle then glide down to almost eye level then swoop up to circle overhead no more than 30 feet above us (clearly saw their tags). At one point while belaying Dave I heard a flapping/slapping sound, not 20 feet behind me one was briefly touching down then flapping it's wings and taking off. Amazing. Later they came back to circle and one landed above us as we were packing up for the day. I got a couple lame photos on my crappy phone but was too busy with belay duties to take any good photos.

I am concerned tough. I checked closures and didn't see the area as part of closures and that morning in the parking lot we ran into Gavin who had just been to NE frontier, and pointed us in the right direction, so I'm pretty sure we were not screwing up. However, I am wondering if we were in a closure and didn't realize it. The fact they were circling, coming in close, and keeping us company throughout the day had me wondering. I hope that we were not stressing the Condors out with our presence and it was more of a curiosity thing. Maybe that area needs to be added to the closures if human presence stresses them and there is a nest nearby. I don't know Confor behavior, it was amazing though and I don't want to be the cause of unneeded stress.

Brad Young

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Hey John thanks for asking. We both really enjoyed a lot. It was really cool walking into an area we had never been, looking down on the east side from a new vantage point, and getting a real "backcountry" feel. Enjoyed the routes too!!

The best part was getting buzzed by 2 Condors. They would circle then glide down to almost eye level then swoop up to circle overhead no more than 30 feet above us (clearly saw their tags). At one point while belaying Dave I heard a flapping/slapping sound, not 20 feet behind me one was briefly touching down then flapping it's wings and taking off. Amazing. Later they came back to circle and one landed above us as we were packing up for the day. I got a couple lame photos on my crappy phone but was too busy with belay duties to take any good photos.

I am concerned tough. I checked closures and didn't see the area as part of closures and that morning in the parking lot we ran into Gavin who had just been to NE frontier, and pointed us in the right direction, so I'm pretty sure we were not screwing up. However, I am wondering if we were in a closure and didn't realize it. The fact they were circling, coming in close, and keeping us company throughout the day had me wondering. I hope that we were not stressing the Condors out with our presence and it was more of a curiosity thing. Maybe that area needs to be added to the closures if human presence stresses them and there is a nest nearby. I don't know Confor behavior, it was amazing though and I don't want to be the cause of unneeded stress.

Russ, the "normal" closures are for raptors, not condors. So, for example, The Yaks, which are 1/3 of a mile from Northeast Frontier are currently closed for raptors. As a further note, Gavin was climbing with me and my family at Northeast Frontier the day before you and David went there.

There is a separate closure right now, in the park, for a condor nest site (Gavin posted about this on the sticky thread). But that is nowhere near Northeast Frontier.

In my experience, condors "buzzing" people like that is extremely common behavior. Try not to encourage them  ;)

Which routes did you do and how were they?


clink

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 Try to look not dead to discourage buzzing by condors. This is different from undead, which is how some of the posters here look on occasion.
Causing trouble when not climbing.

JC w KC redux

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Russ - thanks for the concern. Brad is correct - the closures are mostly about the raptors with a few special exceptions. The hard closure at Machete this year for a condor pair is a nice example of one such exception. Realize too that condors are curious. Gavin and Alacia encourage us to shoo them away if they get too close. They don't want them to become comfortable with people - in other words keep them wild. There is a whole condor crew that monitors activity - including any nesting and breeding. Gavin, Alacia and their crew members spend many hours each week tracking and observing bird activities. They'll give us a heads up if any other areas become sensitive.  
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russ p

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Thanks guys for the beta on Confr vs Raptor closures. It was pretty cool. Will do more to shoo them on if I'm lucky enough to have that experience again. I think the routes we did were soap box slab, sidewinder, snake charmer, black snake, and snake eyes. Wish we would have time to try hood of the cobra and reticulate.

waldo

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Try to look not dead to discourage buzzing by condors. This is different from undead, which is how some of the posters here look on occasion.

You might try to avoid climbing with old guys like me, too.

JC w KC redux

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Thanks guys for the beta on Confr vs Raptor closures. It was pretty cool. Will do more to shoo them on if I'm lucky enough to have that experience again. I think the routes we did were soap box slab, sidewinder, snake charmer, black snake, and snake eyes. Wish we would have time to try hood of the cobra and reticulate.

Nice. Hood is clink's favorite and Reticulated has that dicey section that may evolve over time.
Soap Box was a bit of an eye opener in terms of rock quality compared to many of the others - it might have made the others seem pretty sweet by comparison. That thing is a bit dicey between bolts 3 and 4. Check out Trifecta when you get back up there. It has some seriously weird climbing through what Brad describes as a square cut slot.
Sidewinder was just plain fun.
Snake Charmer was originally just the 2 bolts and I ran it to the top (after clink did the work  :out: :prrr: :devildevil:)
Black Snake got the whole snake theme started.
I think Snake Eyes has some nice contrast with the stiffer bouldery start, pin, hidden holes and gear.
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clink

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Quote
You might try to avoid climbing with old guys like me, too.

 Vintage 19--?


 Hood of the Cobra is my favorite. There are more FAs waiting to be climbed.

 
Causing trouble when not climbing.

waldo

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Vintage 19--?


 Hood of the Cobra is my favorite. There are more FAs waiting to be climbed.

 

Vintage 1977 - Hood is good!

russ p

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Yes, Soapbox was definitely an eye opener as rock quality was concerned. Got smacked square on my helmet by a pretty good sized rock. As careful and gentle as I was, I still managed to have a handhold disintegrate, if I hadn't been following on a tight rope I think I would have pitched over backward.  That's when David and I decided to move over to the right sided climbs. The rock quality inspired more confidence and we enjoyed all those routes quite a bit. A pretty cool area.

JC w KC redux

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Hood is vintage 1959.

It's 4:20 Dude is vintage 70's  :lol: :thumbup: :biggrin: :rolleyes:
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