What?! Where do I pre-order?! Take my money.
You know, a random itch got me to come back to this forum after all these years. Maybe it was to share this story and to make sure Brad knows what those bolts to the right of Ranger Bolts are. Brad, I don't know if I clued you in to what I had going on over there or not, so here it is:
After I did the majority of the hard routes at Pinnacles I naturally wanted to climb more, so I started looking at obvious and unclimbed lines on the Monolith. I thought I saw a line heading dead up form the original start to Ranger Bolts and decided I wanted to take a closer look. I figured if Ranger Bolts had holds, this area must also have some features. At this point in my life I was pretty green (and young, idiotic, etc.), in fact I was almost entirely green to putting up routes in the Pinnacles style. Brad and Gavin toted me around on a few lines previously, but that was all natural stance at maybe 5.9 and I wanted more 5.13's. I knew I obviously wasn't going to rap bolt (DUH!) and a bolt latter is just bad taste, so I did the only thing I thought I could do; I went to the climbing gym in Monterey and I took the rack of hooks out of the 'history case' that was displayed at the counter. I did get permission to do so, just fyi.
Now armed with my rack of two or three hooks I went out solo to the Monolith, after having read some vague how-to on lead soloing from the depths of Super Topo. Probably. I really don't recall. All I knew is that I didn't have a proper solo device and opted not to use a gri-gri, instead settling on using a clove-hitch off a locker. I got down into the pit, got to the base of the original start of Ranger Bolts, where if memory serves me right, there's an easy to clip bolt. I imagine I anchored off the single bolt, but the memory is fuzzy. I had some aid-ladders and the hooks and all the other essentials and set off. Getting up a ways I placed a hook to test how they work and get a little comfortable before questing into the unknown. I found a good looking knob and set the hook transferring my weight slowly at first, then entirely. POP! I was back on the ground. The knob had broken and so I learned to perhaps not trust the knobs.
Not entirely undeterred by that I set off again with my loop of slack and ready to get to climbing. I think I was able to clip the second bolt of RR (or link it into my anchor) before branching straight up, perhaps slightly right. I recall free climbing in my trail runners with the whole kit hanging off of me, belayed by that guess of needed slack to get to where I thought maybe I'd get a hook and a bolt in. This system worked for maybe three bolts, perhaps even four, but my memory is fuzzy and I took no notes. I remember it was always a relief to finish a bolt and clip in after tenuously hanging on a hook hanging on mud n crud. I believe summer came in quickly after that first day and by the Fall I had moved to Bishop. I've always referred to the route as the Hooker with a Heart of Gold or Hookin' ain't Easy project.
It's likely a terrible route, but hey, it's open! I'm never coming back for it. Y'all get after it.
