God, but I do love California. Everything interacts with everything else so marvelously; everything is perfect. Last Spring at Grover Springs Mike Burns and I ran into Steve Schneider, who invited us to an American Alpine Club party at his house. At that party I was told of an AAC outing this September led by the redoubtable Royal Robbins, to a largely undeveloped collection of crags he discovered around Sonora Pass.
So last Friday Mike and I, along with Jeremy Schroeder and Chris Williams, loaded into Chris' Jetta and headed out 108 past the dardenelles and Yosemite turnoff to Pinecrest Lake. Next morning we headed out the hugely pot-holed and rocked-up and generally unkempt road to the Gianelli Edges trailhead. A short fifteen minute hike brought us to some nice (if dirty) granite crack systems, averaging perhaps 40 ft in height, and 5.7-5.10 in difficulty.
We played around on top rope, which mostly meant watching Jeremy and the other assembled rock stars get cheered up routes the rest of us couldn't touch, though the day also featured such gems as watching the incomparable Royal, the Royal Robbins who put up the regular route on half dome and chopped Harding's bolts on NA Wall and led the clean climbing revolution, hip belay and "curiously" rig a toprope. Later that evening we retired to Royal's cabin to sit in a corner of a get together starring no one we knew, and later to the AAC campsites where we were able to stretch out a bit more and meet some folks and really enjoy their company... as well of course as their bread and beans and blah blah blah.
Next morning, after blowing out various portions of Chris' auto on one or another bottomings out on the way to the trailhead, it was to be more of the same, this time at a nearby area which was less developed. Chris and Jeremy each put up some new routes, which perhaps shouldn't have been but was for me a real treat; the idea that there is rock in California as good as this that has yet to see a bolt or cam was very exciting for me. Jeremy put up a single pitch 5.9 crack - "Duct Tape Doggy," a 10c face - "Provalone," and a beautiful (but dirty, they all were) 5.10a finger jam/ lie back (all TR), while Chris led a absolutely gorgeous dihedral/ crack - "You guys decide." So sweet being in an unclimbed spot, even if the crags are a little dirty and short. And though we didn't really hob-nob with Royal Robbins or Tom Frost as much as we sort of hoped we might (though Chris got a terrific picture with Tom, who later said our crack was sweet, sweet), but we did meet some excellent folks, and had a great time. If anyone's interested in developing the area the directions to the crags can be found on the AAC website.