A Week in Red Rock---A Photo Essay

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rgold

Trad climber

Poughkeepsie, NY

Topic Author's Reply - Jun 13, 2008 - 01:05am PT

Hi Johan! We enjoyed your company on Beulah's Book!

ktoober, we really didn't have trouble with the BV approach drive, but discussions on Mountain Project have since made it clear that the one steep and soft hill after the Windy Canyon turnouts deteriorated seriously, to the point where perhaps only a 4WD vehicle had a chance. We had a 2WD SUV with good ground clearance and it was enough at the time. We sprang for the SUV rental specifically because we knew the BV access road might be a problem.

Dr. Rock

Ice climber

Castle Rock

Jun 13, 2008 - 01:51am PT

Nice pics.
Any place to sleep at the top of these climbs?
Pack a bag and spend the night for crissakes.
Anybody not like LED flashlights?
I think they suck. Eye fatigue, lack of contrast, some marathon runners who run at night sometimes use regular bulbs when they get fatigued. Easier to see, despite the xtra weight.
See any Rattlers? Ants? Wasps? Killer Bees?
Good deal.

scottpedition

climber

SJC

Jun 13, 2008 - 11:55pm PT

Wow; great trip report, great pics, and sounds like a great time!

I loved that parting shot given your point -- it looks like development is pushing the flag right out of the picture.

Scott

Fluoride

Trad climber

Hollywood, CA

Jun 14, 2008 - 12:36am PT

One of the best TR's since I can remember, bravo!! You put a lot of time and thought into it and it was a pleasure to read. Love the pic of the conga line on Birdland. Luckily the time I did it, we had the route to ourselves (then again it was a SuperBowl Sunday).

I especially like how you countered the beauty of the climbing with the horrible urban sprawl taking over that area. Every time I take the back way through Blue Diamond, I'm always stunned how much further they built those stupid McHomes into the desert. They're heinous, ugly and all look the same. Like some urban gulag.

Half of those monstrosities are probably in foreclosure now anyway.

Rudyj2

Trad climber

Jun 14, 2008 - 12:03pm PT

Very entertaining and enjoyable TR. Thanks.

Love the ending comments on the American Way.

Zander

Trad climber

Berkeley

Jun 14, 2008 - 12:24pm PT

RG,
Thanks for the great report. The pictures are just beautiful, one after the other. Great commentary- low key, amusing, thoroughly enjoyable.
Zander

climber

The right side of the tracks but in the wrong town

Jun 14, 2008 - 01:10pm PT

Ritchie,

I started reading this thing last night after midnight, and if my eyes hadn't gone all crossed as it was so past their bedtime, I would've posted just what a fantastic TR I considered this.

Sooooooo, without further ado...Dang this is a Fantastic TR!

How were you two able to climb and get those great photos? And I mean those photos are incredible. I also really appreciate your diagrams on some of them--nothing like someone showing you a big blank mound of rock and you not having the slightest idea how or where they climbed. And the conga line--loved the arrows. Made me laugh.

You can talk about being "old dudes" and all that, but you and your partner are a couple of the youngest-at-heart guys on this site. And the wit with which you write, not to mention the meaningful observations you make, has your TR of RR right up there with my all-time favorites.

I certainly hope you post many, many more...

Your newest fan,

Laura

climber

East of Seattle

Jun 14, 2008 - 01:32pm PT

Thanks for the great story and pics. This brings ST back to its virtual campfire core.
pc

rgold

Trad climber

Poughkeepsie, NY

Topic Author's Reply - Jun 14, 2008 - 04:09pm PT

Laura,

Thanks so much for your comments. I had a lot of fun putting the TR together (it is my first) and of course it is nice, after all the effort, to find that folks are enjoying it. Thanks too to everyone else who has been kind enough to post words of praise and encouragement. It's nice that a bunch of moderates can still generate interest and enthusiasm.

As to how we got good photos, I can assure you that I'm a world-class expert in how not to get any photos. Leave the camera home, leave the camera in the pack at the base, take the camera on the climb but leave it in the climbing pack and never get it out, I've been a master of intention and a failure at execution.

The difference this time was Steve, who hasn't been able to take all that many trips and really wanted to have a decent record of this one. Without Steve's determination to document our climbs, it wouldn't have been possible to produce anything like my post. Steve's committment didn't end at the use of his own camera; it included repeated admonitions to me to use mine while we were climbing, and the end result is a consequence of his efforts in the field.

Some details for anyone who is interested.

We were convinced that it was important to have the camera on you; a camera in the pack is going to stay there most of the time. We also felt that both climbers need to have a camera. Steve and I both had small point-and-shoots, nothing fancy (mine is totally out-of-date at this point at 4 MP). We both felt that optical viewfinders were important to have, since the LCD screens we have seen are often indeciperable in bright light.

Steve carried his camera on his waist in an extra chalk bag, I carried mine in a case mounted on a dedicated belt. Both methods allow the camera be to be spun away from abrasion, kept out of the way of climbing, but easily accessed. My camera has an 8" loop of very thin cord through the wrist-strap eyelet with a toy biner attached. When I zip open the case, I immediately clip the biner to whatever over-the-shoulder runner is available. The 8" inch length is enough to bring the camera to my eye in horizontal or vertical format, but is also not too long, so the camera can be gently dropped into a hanging position that isn't too far down.

As soon as the belay was put on, we opened our cases and readied the cameras. Well, at least Steve did---he had to remind me. Shooting had to be done one-handed of course, since the other hand was pretending to belay. It is very difficult to use most cameras left-handed, so the belay strands had to be transferred momentarily to the left hand so that the right hand could grab a snapshot. Steve and I both come from a time before safety Nazis outlawed such practices, and we were comfortable with the short-roping or slack accumulations that sometimes occurred. One does, after all, have to sacrifice for one's art, but not too much: photography did not occur in the middle of crux moves with this system. Still, we should probably be made to wear giant bright orange tags, equipped with a skull and crossbones and saying, CLIMB AT YOUR OWN RISK: BRAKING HAND MAY LEAVE ROPE.

Under these circumstances, it is hard to concentrate on the alignment, much less the esthetics of the shot, and I think the best approach is to include somewhat more in the frame than you actually want, with the intention of cropping the picture later on. I suppose it goes without saying that one should take lots of pictures in the hope of getting a few that one likes.

I was far more diligent about taking scenery (and anti-scenery) shots, and for them I had a Nikon D80. I ran all our pictures through PS (Elements) for cropping, contrast, saturation, sharpening, and perhaps some dodging and/or burning.

I ended up posting about 80 pictures; I'm sure we started with four or five times that.

climber

A rubber raft in a sea of sharp teeth...

Jun 15, 2008 - 03:27pm PT

Thanks for the beta and details, R. We're obviously from the same tribe.

I take my little point-n-kill with me everywhere I go. If I don't actually forget that I have it, then I think I'll wait till the next Kodak moment appears because NOW is just a bit inconvenient. Or even better...I've filled the card the last time I used it and forgot to download. Or forgot to charge the battery.

It's a wonder I ever get a photo of anything...so your buddy there is truly an asset. He may have annoyed you a bit (probably not, but who knows with us photo-challenged, huh?), but at least you have photos!!!

Looked at the TR again...just incredible.

pimp daddy wayne

climber

The Bat Caves

Jun 15, 2008 - 08:45pm PT

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chiloe

Trad climber

Lee, NH

Jun 22, 2008 - 06:24pm PT

Inspired me to dig out & scan a few slides Steve might not have seen ... Rich's shot of Steve Molis, RR '08:

and 30 years earlier, in the Gunks:

Double D

climber

Jun 22, 2008 - 07:46pm PT

Great TR, great post!

smolis

Trad climber

Patterson, NY

Jun 22, 2008 - 09:12pm PT

Wow.... Chiloe

What a great photo! Real good scan! CCK Right? I don't have many photos from that time period. EBs with sewn-on leather.. Forrest legloops... and what's in that red bag?? Could be a camera... I'll have to check if I have any photos of you from that day.. However, if I did they would be "pocket Instamatic quality".

Thanks for sharing that one. I would be interested in what others you might have. Holly thought it was great as she hasn't seen many old climbing photos of me. Wish I had some of that hair now!

Richard and I had a great week at Red Rock. Thought about you trying to hold up part of the Rainbow Wall every time I looked up there.

Steve

Chiloe

Trad climber

Lee, NH

Jun 22, 2008 - 09:41pm PT

Hey Steve, glad ya liked that one. Hasn't seen the light of day in, umm, 30 years -- Rich's TR
just brought it to mind, so I scanned it this afternoon. Here are a couple more, from that same
ascent of CCK. I might have one more from Birdland as well.

Richard and I had a great week at Red Rock. Thought about you trying to hold up part of
the Rainbow Wall every time I looked up there.

One of my better stories. There haven't been many other moments like that, fortunately.

cheers,
L

climber

Eating sand on the shores of Malibu...

Jun 22, 2008 - 09:46pm PT

Alrighty then!

Larry--we want to hear that story!

Chiloe

Trad climber

Lee, NH

Jun 22, 2008 - 09:54pm PT

Larry--we want to hear that story!

Uh-uh, I can't tell it no more -- you'll have to buy Jerry Handren's guidebook!

There's a short version in Larry DeAngelo's book (Red Rock Odyssey) too. Every
climber's bookshelf needs them both. ;-)