Fixed ropes on The Cap'n, etc.

[Raindawg]

I was in "the Valley" last week salutin' The Cap'n.

Question: them mangy fixed lines for descending/reascending to Heart Ledge. Anyone maintain those things annually or do they just get replaced when someone gets scared enough? Gnarl.

 

Also...the scene down there...

 

- many of the employees seem to resent the "tourons" who are the very reason for their jobs...yah...some real snot-heads work down there.

 

- that housekeeping camp near Curry Village looks like a scene right out of Slumdog Millionaire. A genuine slum in the midst of some of the most beautiful scenery in the world.

 

- they got a jail in the Park, and I bet it gets regularly occupied by both tourists and employees.

 

-

[billcoe]

I was in "the Valley" last week salutin' The Cap'n.

Question: them mangy fixed lines for descending/reascending to Heart Ledge. Anyone maintain those things annually or do they just get replaced when someone gets scared enough? Gnarl.

 

Also...the scene down there...

 

- many of the employees seem to resent the "tourons" who are the very reason for their jobs...yah...some real snot-heads work down there.

 

- that housekeeping camp near Curry Village looks like a scene right out of Slumdog Millionaire. A genuine slum in the midst of some of the most beautiful scenery in the world.

 

- they got a jail in the Park, and I bet it gets regularly occupied by both tourists and employees.

 

-

 

Sounds like somethings never change.....

[kevbone]

I was in "the Valley" last week salutin' The Cap'n.

Question: them mangy fixed lines for descending/reascending to Heart Ledge. Anyone maintain those things annually or do they just get replaced when someone gets scared enough? Gnarl.

 

Also...the scene down there...

 

- many of the employees seem to resent the "tourons" who are the very reason for their jobs...yah...some real snot-heads work down there.

 

- that housekeeping camp near Curry Village looks like a scene right out of Slumdog Millionaire. A genuine slum in the midst of some of the most beautiful scenery in the world.

 

- they got a jail in the Park, and I bet it gets regularly occupied by both tourists and employees.

 

-

 

Got anything positive to say?

[Raindawg]

I was in "the Valley" last week salutin' The Cap'n.

Question: them mangy fixed lines for descending/reascending to Heart Ledge. Anyone maintain those things annually or do they just get replaced when someone gets scared enough? Gnarl.

 

Also...the scene down there...

 

- many of the employees seem to resent the "tourons" who are the very reason for their jobs...yah...some real snot-heads work down there.

 

- that housekeeping camp near Curry Village looks like a scene right out of Slumdog Millionaire. A genuine slum in the midst of some of the most beautiful scenery in the world.

 

- they got a jail in the Park, and I bet it gets regularly occupied by both tourists and employees.

 

-

 

Got anything positive to say?

 

I asked a question and shared some impressions and once again, you've added nothing.

In fact, I thought you resigned from this site...perhaps your boss and/or your wife discovered how much of their time you waste. It's an addiction and with over 10,000 posts, you need help. Seriously.

 

Here's something positive...Yosemite possesses "some of the most beautiful scenery in the world" and three cheers to THE Captain.

 

 

 

[olyclimber]

thats not the best pic of your TR! this off the hook picture by off_the_hook is more outstanding.

 

[pink]

I was in "the Valley" last week salutin' The Cap'n.

Question: them mangy fixed lines for descending/reascending to Heart Ledge. Anyone maintain those things annually or do they just get replaced when someone gets scared enough? Gnarl.

 

Also...the scene down there...

 

- many of the employees seem to resent the "tourons" who are the very reason for their jobs...yah...some real snot-heads work down there.

 

- that housekeeping camp near Curry Village looks like a scene right out of Slumdog Millionaire. A genuine slum in the midst of some of the most beautiful scenery in the world.

 

- they got a jail in the Park, and I bet it gets regularly occupied by both tourists and employees.

 

-

 

the proverbial nail strikes again... keep doing what u do raindawg, the world would suck without peeps like urself.

[Raindawg]

the proverbial nail strikes again... keep doing what u do raindawg, the world would suck without peeps like urself.

 

You got an answer to my question or some comments about the social state of Yosemite Valley?

What? Nothing? Kindly take a seat next to your buddy Kevbone and come back if you've got something substantive to contribute.

 

And unless you're blind and can't see it for yourself, I'd suggest that the worst part about Yosemite is alot of the people who visit or work there who don't seem to appreciate where they are.

 

[Fairweather]

Nice picture.

[JBo6]

Good question on the ropes, wish I knew.

[Off_White]

I recently spent a week in the Valley, end of May/beginning of June. It was my first trip there in at least 15 years, so I'll take a stab at answering your questions, though they did seem a wee bit rhetorical:

 

Question: them mangy fixed lines for descending/reascending to Heart Ledge. Anyone maintain those things annually or do they just get replaced when someone gets scared enough? Gnarl.

 

Yeah, they looked pretty grim to me too, I wasn't tempted to jug them, or use 'em to rap off Little John. The park service doesn't maintain them, or any other fixed lines like the bits on the Death Slabs approach to Half Dome. In fact, the park service was recently considering removing those particular lines as part of a general clean up mission to the base of the regular NW Face of HD. I think theory says if you're using those lines to Heart, you've already climbed the Freeblast or some other route and you'll have recently rapped and accessed them and be using them to get back to your high point after quaffing a six of Mickey's at Degnans. Not my cup of tea, I don't do walls anyway, but it was no big deal. I think using those lines is like a lot of things in climbing, one's choice is one's own responsibility.

 

 

- many of the employees seem to resent the "tourons" who are the very reason for their jobs...yah...some real snot-heads work down there.

 

I didn't spend too much time in stores, but my few encounters were pleasant. The young woman at the checkout in the Village Store laughed along with me at the tacky crap I found for family souvenirs, the people of Eastern European extraction at the deli were polite and efficient during a lunch rush, staff at the Mountain Shop were just fine to deal with, and I had no adverse ranger encounters at all.

 

- that housekeeping camp near Curry Village looks like a scene right out of Slumdog Millionaire. A genuine slum in the midst of some of the most beautiful scenery in the world.

 

That place has been a slum for at least 35 years. I thought the ugly portables moved into the Yosemite Lodge parking lot where I once lived in my hippie van for two months were more startling.

 

- they got a jail in the Park, and I bet it gets regularly occupied by both tourists and employees.

 

Again, both the jail, and the attendant courtroom are venerable institutions. I recall dealing with a traffic ticket there, which cued me into the way to get into the Valley for free: just tell them you had a court appearance and you were free to enter. I suspect this might not work in the modern computer age where the docket is just a few clicks away. On this recent trip, I spoke with a ranger who was waiting her turn for Bishops Terrace, and she averred that city dwellers up from Fresno for the day were the most common jail denizens these days.

 

So let me give you some of my impressions from this Homecoming dance. I found the tourist crowds no less, but certainly no worse than remembered, and the Valley still filled with lots of cars.

 

 

I do wish they'd followed through on the master plan that was going to ban private vehicles from the Valley proper, even if it would mean leaving my beloved Vanagon behind. Aside from a couple nights with friends in the Pines, we stayed in Foresta most nights, making us commuters who added our own little bit to the problem.

 

What most struck me was I had forgotten how flat out amazingly beautiful the place was. The various falls were all in fine form. Those nights spent at the Pines campground was like staying in a beehive, yet from 400' above the valley floor it was completely invisible. Lots of folks I saw, all ages and shape, seemed wowed by their surroundings. Somehow, the crowds and the sheer beauty were two different and seemingly disconnected facts, experienced concurrently yet distinct from each other.

 

 

Getting to climb there again, on a tour of classic moderates with my son before he moved to Michigan for grad school, just made me giddy with delight. I was on Goodrich, on the Apron, holy shit was it great.

 

 

Sure, the weather was unstable, it rained every day, so for the most part long routes were off the table, but still, often with 5am alpine starts, we climbed every day: from Cascade Falls to Church Bowl, Five Open Books to North Dome, base of El Cap to the Apron.

 

 

We even climbed on the day of the wedding we came down to attend. The service was at Cathedral Beach, with El Cap looming behind, just 45 minutes after the rain squall moved on.

 

 

We did some old favorites, like Crest Jewel. Afternoon thunderstorms inspired a very early start from Porcupine Flat rather than via Royal Arches, but it was a grand day out anyway

 

 

 

 

 

We enjoyed the surreal pleasure of climbing short routes at the base of the big stone, much as you must have done: both sides of La Cosita, both sides of Little John, Pine Line; all enjoyable moderate outings.

 

 

I climbed on Manure Pile Buttress for the first time in 33 years, since I did Nutcracker as my first route in the Valley.

 

Now

 

Then

 

I got to spend a lot of time with my son, one of my favorite climbing partners ever, just a week after his wedding and three weeks before he moved away for 4 years.

 

 

 

Hell, we even got in a couple pitches in the Meadows on the drive home.

 

 

 

In short, I had a pretty damned good time in the old ditch, and really had no complaints. In fact, I'm looking forward to the next trip, don't think I'll wait so long between visits this time. Hopefully this has added something to your topic Raindawg.

 

 

 

 

 

[PhöQ]

Thats a fuckin' rad TR there OW! Thanks for sharing and grats to you with such a great son!

 

BTW, was that Doug Robinson in that wedding shot?

 

:tup:

[genepires]

awesome pictures. I like the black and white "then" shot and the color "now" shot. Is that you in the B&W shot on the right? Skinny guys.

[billcoe]

Thats a fuckin' rad TR there OW! Thanks for sharing and grats to you with such a great son!

 

BTW, was that Doug Robinson in that wedding shot?

 

:tup:

 

Ditto on the TR!

 

It is.

[Drederek]

Off is the Anti-Raindawg!!!!!!!

[catbirdseat]

There is some powerful positive energy there!

[el jefe]

awesome tr and photos, off white! the best possible response to raindawg's puerile whining.

 

 

 

[RuMR]

the proverbial nail strikes again... keep doing what u do raindawg, the world would suck without peeps like urself.

 

You got an answer to my question or some comments about the social state of Yosemite Valley?

What? Nothing? Kindly take a seat next to your buddy Kevbone and come back if you've got something substantive to contribute.

 

And unless you're blind and can't see it for yourself, I'd suggest that the worst part about Yosemite is alot of the people who visit or work there who don't seem to appreciate where they are.

 

Damn Don,

 

Did you shoot that pic yourself? Could i buy a high rez copy from you???

[Raindawg]

Thank you, Off W., for actually addressing my question and for adding your personal commentary and perspectives about the state of the Valley.

 

And best of all, your TR and photos were awesome!

 

 

 

Damn Don,

 

Did you shoot that pic yourself? Could i buy a high rez copy from you???

 

I wish! I found it during a Google image search when I was looking for a beautiful illustration. Viva The Cap'n!

[RuMR]

can you post the link???

[billcoe]

http://mariposa.yosemite.net/weddings/ElCapitanFromCathedralBeach.jpg

[snoboy]

A+ for that TR!

[Choada_Boy]

You're a cool Dad, Off! Keep gettin' after it!!

[Tom_Sjolseth]

You know, you're actually OK Offwhite. Nice TR.