Offwidths of Pinnacles?

[F4?]

Back from Italy, man what a trip.

Must have been expensive.

[Brad Young]

"Must have been expensive."

Very expensive. Most of our meals were out, since we were on tour. Average restaurant, average meal, $45.00 to $55.00 for one person's dinner. The food was pretty darn good though. And we had a truly great time. Vic is fun to hang out with.

[F4?]

Nice.

James is pushing 15lbs!

[squiddo]

Brad,

Cool I spent two weeks in Italy this summer. Where did you make it to?

[Brad Young]

Apologies to Robert for thread drift here (just a little).

We spent three days each in Venice, Florence and Rome. The tour company was outstanding. About 1/4 of our time was taken up by organized tours of the famous things. And these tours were led by very good (even passionate) directors. The rest of the time was ours to play, and explore more.

Among the famous things that impressed me most were Michalangelo's David. And, in Florence the cathedral (Duomo in Italian). I'd seen photos of it and read it's story. But when I finally saw it my jaw hit my chest. The closest thing I could recall to this effect was the first time I saw El Cap.

We took a tour company organized trip to Pisa which was nice.

The highlight was our visits to three World War Two battlefields (at least as far as what we visited - the real highlight was 2 weeks with a really cool woman, just she and I). Anzio, Cassino and Salerno were each the scenes of savage fighting in 1943 and '44. Anzio we saw on our own, but Vic had researched guides for the other two sites. These guys reminded me of me in their passion for the subject. And both knew the respective battlefields incredibly well. I felt like I was walking among the ghosts of Polish and German soldiers up on Point 593 overlooking the Monte Cassino abbey. At Anzio I was astounded that the critical "ridge" the British defended next to the "flyover" rose only 10 feet higher that the surrounding ground (but it commanded it; everything else was flat as a pancake). Our guide at Salerno greeted me with a huge chunk of shrapnel from an exploded artillery shell; a battlefield relic for me to take home. And a story of how they had found an unknown German soldier - dead and buried since September 1943 - in their most recent battlefield search (they carefully recorded the info on his dog-tags and then notified local authorities and the Bundeswehr - the modern German army - and then re-interred him). I found myself in tears several times.

[squiddo]

Brad,

Sounds wonderful and glad you managed to have fun. My time was spent among Florence, Siena, Como and Lago di Garda. The later being my personal fav since I got to climb for a couple days. Wonderful but man....very pricy!

[Brad Young]

So, the whole Tuscany area, didn't you feel like you could be in the Sonoma and Napa part of California? No wonder Italian immigrants came to this area, it's identical to parts of Italy.

[squiddo]

Yes indeed. Beautiful. I was a bit shocked that the Italians seems standoffish to the wife and I. Almost to the point of being rude. Felt more welcomed in France if you can believe that! I suppose I can blame this on the global disgust with Americans BUT, we were not dress like tourons and in fact more than once were mistaken for Germans.

Have you ever been to Sydney or out to the Araps from Melbourne? Talk about California look alike.

[mungeclimber]

"a battlefield relic for me to take home."

whoa!  in the U.S. that's a federal offense in most cases. too cool

[mynameismud]

Brad,
Sounds incredible.  I know when I was in England, Germany and France.  I kept thinking of what little I knew of the wars that had taken place in those area's.  It is true that you can still see bullet/shrapnel chips in some of the buildings.  Some of the buildings still have pieces missing.

In Germany the quarry I climbed in, they occasionally find old artifacts and one was used to, well, shoot people.  That was the only one you could walk down into.  There were bullet chips in one wall.

Around the Verdon I had read that the land was bombed to the point where it had irrevocably changed and I did notice in places that instead of being somewhat smooth it was all chopped and broken.

I found it at times almost overwhelming. It made me a bit more aware of how insulated we are here in the US.  I can only imagine what it was like for you considering how much you have read about what went on over there. 

[mynameismud]

The Glen Denny slide show was very good.  Glen in very modest and I found him quite the character.  Did not know that he studied photography, filming and Art.

Very detail oriented.  Has no concept of business.  He could not imagine why people would want him to bring books to sell when you can buy them on Amazon.

It is amazing his current slide show is literally the tip of the iceberg.  He has boxes of photo's and film of Yosemite.  In addition he has a bunch of stuff from South America.  He stated that one project he really wants to do is a bunch of work he did taking pictures in and around San Francisco.

Oh and you can tell by looking at Glen he has an incredible reach.

[Brad Young]

On the way to Italy we stopped in Washington DC for two days with friends. I spent a day and a half walking the Mananas, Virginia battlefield too (First and Second battles of Bull Run/Mananas). Our friends there live 5 miles from it.

There there are signs about taking stuff from the field, and it is a federal offense. But, man, talk about haunted. I stood where, at First Bull Run the Confederate General Bee yelled to his men: "There men stands Jackson like a stone wall. Rally behind the Virginians," and was then killed moments later. (Although Bee died, his words stuck with General Jackson - Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson - one of the South's best generals until he too was killed at Chancellorsville.)

I walked the unfinished railroad where the Confederate army was assaulted by the Union at Second Bull Run. I swear I could feel their presence, several groups of soldiers were sitting in the grass nearby waiting for the coming battle. Farther along, in the deep cut and in the woods, desperate soldiers - from both sides -  were in furious combat. But I was all alone, on an abandoned battlefield, 146 years later.

Glad you got to meet Glen. Sounds like a long evening, but worth it. Not many people know how bold he and Colliver were together at Pinnacles.

[F4?]

And now back to the topic.

What about the Pigeon crack on Much-shitty? It looks wide. The pigeon poop prolly bonds the rock?