The 1966 Steve Roper Pinnacles guidebook uses a fairly casual approach. That was his style, but also seemed like the style of the times. Often, books from that era give just snippets of information and (presumably) the climber - one of very few around at that time - is left to piece together the rest.
One of my all-time favorite examples of this style is found in a very late printing of his Yosemite Valley guidebook. There, at the end of a description of a spanking new El Capitan route, Roper describes the gear needed as simply: “the usual bone-crushing load.” It’s also sometimes fun reading his Pinnacles book and finding, literally, three routes described in one sentence.
But sometimes the casual style results in errors, incorrect assumptions and misleading information. We finished our investigation into a glaring example of this yesterday.
In his 1966 book, Roper makes this description of Doodlin’ Dody:
“…a jumble of three pinnacles. Scramble up to the talus-filled notch in the center of the pinnacles. Doodlin’Dody is the one toward the High Peaks - the other two are class 4. The route on Dody is [he then describes the 5.7 route on the northwest pinnacle].”
All subsequent guidebooks, to the extent that they include climbs on Doodlin’ Dody, have included the 5.7 route and the class four, south pinnacle. None have included any route on the northeast spire.
There’s a good reason for this omission. I remember standing in the notch among these three while working on the 2007 guidebook. There’s one non-vertical, accessible-looking face on the northeast spire (the face toward the notch). Looking at it from below it’s clearly not “class 4,” but it looks like it might be easy, if very exposed class five. And then one moves up the face. Fifteen feet up is a bulge and one quickly realizes that it’s not going to be “easy” class five. And there’s a steeper bulge just above, a death fall to the left and a really bad fall to the right.
I backed off then.
Within the last month, while working on the new edition, I tried again. Twice a few weeks ago, with a rope tied off so I could make a Pinnacles rappel, I moved up that face. No way. Alone and in approach shoes, I backed off. Trying that route in those conditions seemed like a really good way to die. And it’s not time for that yet.
A few minutes later on the same day, with binoculars borrowed from a birder, I scoped the whole summit, hoping for a clue, some indication that anyone had ever been to the top of this third of Doodlin’ Dody. Nothing. Not a sign of any bolt, bolt stud, cairn, or even a rock out of place.
I went back with J.C. on Monday, this time armed with brushes and climbing shoes. Still no pro, but if Roper called it “class 4,” I should certainly be able to solo it, especially with the right gear.
John looked at it when we got there and said: “it looks like it might go.” I thought so too.
Uh, no.
Looks from below are deceiving. I backed off again.
John climbed up 15 feet. What he saw completely changed his mind too.
At that point, I made an executive decision that the formation had never been climbed. No way, no how had anyone ever been on top. Certainly not “class 4.”
Yesterday at my request, John accompanied me and we climbed the spire. I put in a bolt. He stanced the next one and then ran for the top (stealing my lead, since I’d assumed he’d come down after a strenuous stance - but that’s a different issue).
There was nothing on top.
A “found” friend, Mark, followed John, thereby joining in his first-ever first ascent. Then I led it. Kathy followed.
The consensus? The climbing is harder than anything on Bacon Bits, a fine new 5.8 route in the High Peaks that we’d done the day before. There’s a first, 5.7 crux above the first bolt, and a tricky, balancy, mossy crux above the second bolt. Class 4? Yeah, right. Like I’ve got four left arms.
Doodlin’ Dody - Northeast Pinnacle had never, ever been climbed until yesterday. It has now. At 5.8 (no stars). J.C. posted photos of our effort on the separate Quest for Mud thread.
