hemp22

exasperator, eh?

was the previous one revalations/irreverance? that last one has something crazy going on in the background...looking down from the nose boulder on Monkey?

looks more like a slabby route in the main area - almost like something on bunny face or the peanut...

I haven't done the route, but this is high on the Red Wall, above the dances with clams area. looks interesting - will have to put it on the list.

the offsets nuts are hard to find - they used to be made by HB before they went under. The smaller ones (brass) are now only available at http://www.yosemitegifts.com/hboffsets.html the larger ones are theoretically going to be re-released by DMM next summer.

yeah, very good fgw - monkey off my back.

Kevbone: overboard or magic light - they share the first couple bolts - i kinda thought it was one of those. here's another non-descript one:

possibly too obvious, but i'll play:

Moscow?

there's definitely some poison oak around the tree(s) that you use for an anchor on white rabbit. it's mostly very small plants hidden in amongst the ivy, so it's hard to see. (by the way bill, your anchor rope that we used there probabably got some on it). i tend to think that a few routes would benefit from new/updated anchors where nice big trees aren't easily available to TR from - but putting in bolts at the top of every route just isn't necessary. i do agree with your observation that the mystery bolt chopper only goes after bolts that are right up at the top of the cliff. i think broughton lends itself to more of a mixed gear lead ethic due to the nature of the location & the rock. at rocky you approach from the top and can just TR everything, whereas at broughton you approach from the base and only a small percentage of climbs can be conveniently TR'd. i think the mixed gear ethic at broughton is just to use gear where it's available and bolts where it's not, regardless of where the crux is (although that changes a bit and becomes less strict on the farthest walls). certainly, some of the most popular routes there do require you to start up on gear before getting to bolts up at the crux, but i think that's mostly due to the rock at those walls, which tends to be more columnar & fractured for the bottom 20 feet. There are also some climbs where it's the other way around, and you start on bolts, then pull the crux on gear. it would be nice to see some of those rusty old chains replaced in the video bluff & silver bullet area. come to think of it, there are some manky old chains at broughton that should probably be replaced too.

Hey Bill - thanks for all the work out there with spraying the oak at WR and everything. Did you happen to hit the oak at the top of crack warrior too? I agree that the area would improve with some more reliable top anchors, so I'd also say go for it - and we'll keep our fingers crossed that they stay.

Edit: Yes, I think the Western Oregon series does cover some stuff in that area.

near hood river will be your best bet. check out Beacon Rock in the gorge - about 30 minutes towards portland from HR. it has plenty of long sustained trad pitches (no sport) in the 5.9-5.11 range; single and multipitch. Or, head south towards Bend for 30(?) minutes or so to Bulo point (mostly 5.7-5.10 sport) & some other areas. Or go all the way around to the west side of Mount Hood to French's Dome (small selection of good sport climbs, 5.8-5.12), which'll probably be ~1.5 hours. You can get detailed directions to most of these places online - mountainproject.com or rockclimbing.com probably. none of these places are really bouldering destinations, so bring your harness & you can probably meet people out there (especially @ beacon on a weekend) to climb with. as for Manzanita, I don't know of anything specific there...the best you'll get is probably some chossy beach-side bouldering. there are plenty of small sea cliffs & rock outcroppings on the oregon coast, but not much of it is solid or clean rock. But, if you just want up or down the beach far enough you'll probably find something to play on. but, i'm guessing it won't be worth it.

It's all this beautiful weather that must be motivating people.... I was looking forward to getting out today until I woke up to rain. i'm hoping it'll dry up enough this afternoon - are you gonna still head out there? maybe if you bring a hair-dryer instead of the crowbar...

yeah, and it doubles as an MLU too

that Czech device looks like a pretty elegant design. it would be nice to check one out to see how easy it is to get used to. it's hard to tell from the pics, but is the path of the rope the same for lead belaying vs autoblock belaying? as another alternative, I've been pretty happy with my TRE Sirius with all the advantages it has over a Reverso or ATC-Guide.

yeah, i somehow took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up at broughton... i'm apparently not very good at planning things in advance - even if it's only 1-2 hours in advance. we got in some good climbs there too. i'll get back out to rocky eventually

it's nice out and it looks like i have time this afternoon, so i might stop by....should be there before 5:00 too

good to hear you're going to be okay, man! thanks for sharing with us. hope to see you back on the horse and back out there leading!

so - anyone get outside yesterday evening? was it worth it? the slight drizzle when I was leaving work convinced me to not go sit in traffic.

agreed - we made it as far as Berlin wall a week or two ago to check out closet nazi. there's poison oak on the trail past bat wall, but it's totally covering everything by the time you get to berlin wall. but, the wasps on bat wall are more under control. the nest was sprayed by the park service at the access fund adopt-a-crag a few weeks ago, but there are still a few surviving wasps...

Damn - that truly sucks. i can always relate to what people are going through when they get it bad. i figured i'd re-post the following that i put on another forum recently in the hope that it might help you out: "seriously though - i feel your pain, as i've had it really bad in the past, thanks to the abundance of it around here. There are some areas at the local crags where I have learned the hard way to not visit, or certain climbs where I know to never top out. the main thing I've had the most success with is really prevention - i always wear closed shoes & long pants to the portland-area crags, no matter how hot it is. and then i always make sure to shower as soon as I get home. If I suspect or know that I've been in some, I'll use Tecnu first, but usually a good cold soapy shower manages to remove the oil before I break out. (don't do a hot shower, since the heat will open up your pores, and could make it worse) As for relief once you get it, i have used Zanfel in the past with some success - it does seem to help it clear up a little more quickly, but it's probably not worth the $$. The best instant relief I get is from taking a really hot shower. This works the same as the hair-dryer remedy that someone else mentioned. the heat causes your system to increase the release rate of histamines. The histamines are what cause the itching sensation so it will really itch/hurt at first, but after you've kept your rash under the hot water/air for a long time, you'll have depleted the histamines in that area for a while - and the itching will die down, usually for 2-4 hours before they build back up. of course, if you have it on your face/genitals, or covering a large percentage of your body, then the only recommendation is really that you get yourself to the doctor and get a serious prescription for some Prednisone ASAP." oh, and to help with prevention, i highly recommend taking a long look at the pictures that Sarge posted above, and also the ones on CBS's link. i think i'm getting better at the identification & prevention - so far i'm clean this year, despite spending a lot of time where the stuff is running rampant.

I saw this posted elsewhere. It may be old news, but I hadn't seen it before. Wild Country did some testing on cut/abraided belay loops. It's worth looking at if you're worried about the age/wear of your harness or belay loop. PDF: http://www.wildcountry.co.uk/dnlds/Belay%20Loop%20Test%20Lite.pdf Video: http://www.wildcountry.co.uk/Downloads/Videos/BelayLoopBreaking/ the tests are similar to the tests done by black diamond, and show very similar results. http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/scene/beta/qc_kp_archive.php#102706

Update - there will be FREE FOOD. Barbeque put on by the guys at Climb Max. all the more reason to get out there and help.

Yes, he will be.