Pinnacles - Machete Ridge new route (5th day) - 4/19/2006  Bruce

Approached via Old Original this time.
Rapped with the 9mm rope from our top chains to the chain belay below
the direct finish.  Here we tied a big knot in doubled 9mm ropes for
a belay anchor, so we could swing way left and get out of the path of
rocks coming down from above.

Last time I had placed the first bolt in the direct streak, about 50' up.
Bruce led up and clipped it with my locking biners quickdraw.
Then he smoothly freed above it and placed a bolt.  More free moves
and a bit longer to place a second bolt.  He lowered off.

I led up and placed 3 bolts.  The first was on aid from a sling threaded
through a tunnel.  Later when I followed the full pitch, the rock forming
the bottom of the tunnel got loose and I was able to pluck it out!
The second was from a big wide rock stance on the right side of the streak,
plus a good hook above to unweight the rope.  The third was a decent
stance on a rock with 2 slanting sides, and a hook on a decent incut edge,
but which was rather low to my waist.  On bolts 1 and 3 I was glad to have
Bruce's cable for clipping to the drill bit in case things go wrong.  Part
of the foothold for bolt 3 broke, and I didn't fall, but was glad to have
the cable in place.  I was having trouble with the bit binding; later we
determined it was because I was not turning it enough between hits.
I lowered down, which was halfway on my rope (100' or perhaps 90').

Bruce led up and made the last steep moves to where the streak gets lower
angle.  He ran it out to the top (180' pitch, 20' of my rope left, assuming
it is a full 200') and placed a bolt for the belay.  I followed and placed
the second belay bolt.  Bruce then rapped off single line, and placed a bolt
in the final runout to make it saner, and another in the initial runout.
I dropped the rope down and soloed around to rap the 9mm.  Then we rapped
off and climbed down our usual way.

Final bolt counts:

p2 direct: 8x + 2x anchors
p2 left: 1x + 2x chain anchors
p1: 19x + 2x chain anchors
(first 2x are an optional belay anchor, but we normally belay from
the meadow below and back clean the first several bolts on the pitch,
then use full length runners on most of the bolts).

Postscript - in fall 2006, Bruce added a second bolt in the middle of p1
a few chain links to make a rappel station.  The route can now be rappelled
with a single 50m rope (including downclimbing to the anchor on top of
"p2 left".  It is also possible to split p1 by making an optional belay
at these two bolts.  And the bolt count for p1 could be listed as 20x,
but there is not much point in clipping bolt bolts at the rap station
when leading past.  The old low bolt (just 6' above the meadow) is not
counted in the 19/20x.