Last weekend I climbed both days at the Pinnacles.

On Saturday, I did a rebolting/chaining trip with Bruce Hildenbrand
and Seizo Sakurai.  As you may recall, in my previous trip report,
I moaned about the slightly short chains on the South Finger and on
The Flatiron.  I am pleased to say that their lengths are now perfect,
and I also learned much about bolt replacement from Bruce, who has
lots of experience with this.  We were also packing lots of chain
and 2 crowbars, which made for a good workout.
   We started by hiking up past The Unmentionable, where Bruce and
Seizo replaced one of the anchor bolts and added rappel chains.
I continued on to the Flatiron (via a shortcut next to Salathe's Sliver),
where I belayed myself on a short rope, and replaced 2 of the 4 bolts
on the 5.10a summit bulge.  Bruce and Seizo dropped by and sent me up
some longer chains; I traded them for the shorter ones, which they
installed on Mechanic's Delight (along with new anchor bolts).
I replaced the first bolt on Mechanic's Delight, and then Bruce
soloed up and installed chains on Photographer's Delight.
    Next, Bruce and I cruised up South Finger and installed longer
chains.  We met Glen Denny, who has done many Pinnacles and
Yosemite FAs, who was just coming down from Long's Folly.
Bruce had intended to install chains on a rappel tree at Condor Crags,
but it was already dead.  Onward to H&L, where Bruce installed new
anchor bolts and chains, while I replaced the crux bolt.  Finally I
climbed Piglet and installed new anchor bolts + chains, finishing
in the dark.  On the drive home, Bruce entertained us with many tales
from his years of climbing, including some involving Pat "No Pay" Timson.
   Bruce, Seizo, and others have now placed good anchors and chains on
all of the ** and *** routes in the High Peaks.  Bruce alone has donated
over $300 in chains (they're expensive -- $3/foot).  And on the
previous weekend, Bruce plus the Santa Cruz regulars fixed many bolts
on The Hand (Salathe', Wilt's, Burnett's, plus chains on the Carpal
Tunnel Syndrome rap anchor).  Many rebolting projects remain, of course,
and I hope to participate for more fun!

On Sunday, I climbed with Lin Murphy.  We started with the usual warmup
on The Wet Kiss 5.9, and a toprope on The Big Pucker 5.10d.  Lin then
led Pistol Whipped 5.10d, with many hangs at the crux bolt while working
out the moves.  I got higher on it than I have before, but had my feet
too low to reach to the horizontal, so I jumped off and finished on
The Verdict 5.11a.  I was suprised to find that the jug 3' up and left
of the final bolt is now gone; I had to use the remnants of the old "peanut"
knob instead.  Lin's wrist was bothering her a bit after Pistol Whipped,
which provided me a convenient excuse to avoid leading Mammary Pump, so
instead I led Lost Horizons 5.8, which I hadn't done in awhile.  It had
gotten quite hot, so we were glad to climb in the shade.  We saw that
the Moses Spring Wall was in the shade, so I led Voyeur 5.9, Lin led
Ali Baba 5.10b (seemed quite tough to me), and then we toproped
Buzzard Bait 5.9.  I then toproped Crash Buds, which I thought was more
like 5.10c than 5.10a, although I face climbed it; I'm not sure if it
can be done with jams/arm bars or not -- the slot is quite shallow.
Lin then toproped Exiles 5.10a, with the left/direct finish.
There is much good rock on the Moses Spring Wall, and
it is uncrowded, although the routes are often runout to lead.
   Lin's housemate Pat had joined us from her hike, and Lin led Monolith
Direct 5.6 with her.  I finished by toproping POD 5.10d (with right hand
start), which felt great.

Clint