Hi all
Here's our trip report from our climb of Old Original on (12/15/17). This also happens to be Alex's 13th birthday.
First we had to make a stop at the Inn at Pinnacles to get the birthday gang together (Alex, Wendy, Julie). And to get a little route beta from Brad.
Alex and Laura on the hike out
We got a later start than expected but we pushed hard and made it to the base just before 11am. We could see one party ahead of us but we weren't worried about catching them since we were a party of three and weren't sure how fast we were going to move. I decided to take the first lead and quickly made it to the anchor. Try as I might I only found the first bolt. The second one up higher was either extremely well camouflaged or is no longer there. Both Laura and Alex looked as well but couldn't find anything.
Here's Alex and Laura on the second pitch.
Laura started pitch 3 staying high on the ridge. The climbing got much harder than she expected. Looking back she saw a bolt down and left. She said "oh, look a bolt" but the party behind us said that bolt is on a different route. After going out again and backing off again she decided the bolt must be on the route. This was certainly one of the harder and more exposed sections.
Here's Alex following the third pitch
A young condor watching our progress
Alex and Laura on the exposed 4th pitch. We all enjoyed the exposure
We were making good time at this point. It was only a little after noon so we decided to stop for a little break at the bottom of the fifth pitch. The climbing was fun and even with three of us we were moving pretty fast. Having Alex in the middle barely slowed us down. He was extremely confident on even the most exposed sections. What would have had most kids his age crawling along the top with fear, instead he walked along like he was completely in his element.
I'm glad there was a bolt to set up a toprope for the end of pitch 6. After the first 5 feet Alex declared he didn't need the rope. As a parent I was glad there was a bolt at the top.
Seeing as how it was only 1pm we decided to finish the last three pitches instead of rapping off.
A happy family at the top of North Tower
The decent was everything I expected and more. We rapped into the gully and after a little exploring I decided that we should just scramble down rather than rappel. The knobs were highly polished and I would certainly have used the extra rappel anchors if it was even a little bit wet or damp. We made it to the "meadow" and started the scramble around the edge. This is very exposed and for the last section I insisted that I toss Alex a rope. I told him that I just wan't comfortable sending my 13 year old son across that section. He said he would be fine. He tied in and scampered across easily. Sigh, the parenting instinct is strong and while we give Alex a pretty long leash there are still some things I find hard to watch him do.
Playing in the caves on our way out.
We had such a great time. I'm really glad we waited to do this when Alex was old enough to enjoy the climbing rather than just feeling like we were pulling him along.
Now on to the greater adventure of raising a teenage boy.
