Monday, July 23, 2012

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