2012 Climbing with John

John is getting to be a really strong climber. have been making trips to the Pinnacles, Yosemite and Tuolumne every chance we get. 

Great summer in 2012: as of mid-September:

Eagle Lake Peak with Paul Doherty, Hal Murray and Jay Bolemon! My climbing partners and friends for almost 40 years.

Paul Doherty on the first pitch of Eagle Lake Peak

Cousin Chris came down from Eugene and we headed to Lover's Leap

 John and cousin Chris on Bear's Reach at Lover's Leap

Pitch 1 Bear's Reach

Pitch 2 Bear's Reach

The boys climbed a bunch of stuff. Surrealistic Piller with the Direct Start, Bear's Reach, Beer Can Direct, The Line, Power Lust.

Powerlust 11a

Powerlust

John getting some air on Powerlust

Geared up for the Regular Route on Fairview Dome

Pitch 1 RR 

Looking down at the first three pitches

Pulling over the little roof on the third pitch

Firing up the 4th pitch

Up to easy ground and 400 feet to the top

The summit

John leading the 3rd pitch of Shagadelic

Summit shot, top of Shagadelic

John Leading the second pitch of Jam Crack Route 

Yosemite Falls

Snide comments are all you get from these guys

Camping in Tuolumne

John and Adam Long

John on Lazy Bum (5.10d)

Ordeal at the Pinnacles

The Kid: May 2012 at the Pinns

Up on the Monolith Direct

John on Pod

John finishing off POD

5.8 hand crack variation on the Southwest Face of Cathedral Peak

Near the top of Cathedral Peak

Crying Time Again: 5.10a variation 

Looking down the first pitch of the direct version of Cryin' Time Again

2012 Tall Tails: Blue Whales in the Bay

The conditions out in the Monterey Bay were right for lots of krill. The rumors were that there were blue whales along with the usual humpbacks just out of Santa Cruz. Frances, John and I took  the 7:30am boat out of the harbor and spotted our first blue whale (ever) about 15 minutes out! It was a perfect morning. Foggy, calm and lots of blue and humpback whales. A wonderful morning. Click on the images for a larger version.

The first blue whale of the day

Blue whale tail

Humpback

Birds and cameras

Frances and I have been getting back into birding, aided and abetted by our friend of 40 years Bill Frey who can only be described as a birding fanatic. It is fun and gets you out walking and paying closer attention than usual to what is around you in nature. Santa Cruz is a great place to do this! Bill was over and without trying very hard we spotted 68 species on a nice Sunday in March. I have been using a Nikon 70-300mm F/4-F/5.6 VR on the D7000, but just recently upgraded to a 300mm F/4. There is a world of difference between these two lenses!

Update: picked up a 300mm f2.8

California Quail

green-violet swallow

Anna's Hummingbird in the front yard

California Thrasher UCSC Arboretum

Rufous Hummingbird

Kildeer trying to distract us from her nest Elkhorn Slough

Lesser Yellowlegs at Elkhorn Slough

Black Phoebe at Elkhorn Slough

nesting Brant's Cormorants at Natural Bridges

Marbled Godwit ad Moss Landing

Say's Phoebe at Elkhorn Slough