2900m or perhaps a touch lower. Probably needs a day or two to dry off if
that ever happens. Everything else East of the town and east of the divide
is generally dry as a bone still. Forecast looks OK for the weekend then
perhaps another monsoon.
Had Hidden Valley pretty much to myself today as I did some trail clean up
and route maintenance. Nice warm temps and lots of wind drying things off
really well after the rains of the last three or four days. Cleaned up some
rain-generated rockfall and minor washouts on a few trails.
Got rid of lots of loose blocks from Old Salt. A lot less potential for
rope-generated rockfall now. This together with the new bolts earlier this
year make the route a very fun, easy cruise.
Spent the better part of the afternoon fixing up "Alaska Bob Buys a Jug".
This classic route is now well worth doing and has no horror pitches if you
are OK at the grade. The old 5/16" rusty bolts on the belay for pitch one
have been replace with beefy new stainless bolts and rappel hangers.
Pitch Two (crux) has been fixed to remove the runout and eliminate the
reliance on rusty old sketchy knifeblades. Four bolts were added to the
first twenty meters of the pitch to supplement the less than stellar pins
which you may now choose to ignore. Still a good idea to bring a couple of
screamers for the pins on this pitch and pitch three. Bring your medium cams
(red / yellow Camalots or link cams) for the crack on the last part of this
pitch. Bring eight or nine runners for the route plus a small Rockies rack
with small to medium cams and medium wires.
New belay / rappel bolts put in on top of pitch two to replace the old rusty
5/16" bolts which, much to my horror and surprise, were actually both in a
hollow slab of rock. I almost crapped my pants when I tapped the rock around
the old belay bolts and it all rang hollow! Yikes. I am not the only one who
has belayed off those things for years... The new stainless rappel bolts are
in sound rock just a few feet away. I had to leave the old hangers in place
as I couldn't get the darn things out.
Added a piton and a bolt on the first half of the third pitch to get rid of
some (but not all) of the runout on that pitch. Much better now. Did not get
a chance to beef up the belay pitons on pitch three but they are OK for now.
I will fix this station as well when I get a chance.
New Rappel route description for "Alaska Bob": From the Slab Emporium walk
down the gulley a short distance to the rappel bolts which double as the
belay for pitch four. Just in case you did the right-hand finish on Alaska
Bob, these bolts are on a sound outcrop of rock but not visible from above.
They should be really easy to find and you do not have to commit to
technical terrain to get to them.
All descriptions below are facing down the hill. All rappels on new 10mm
stainless bolts with rappel hangers. No tat required. The first three
rappels are not on the route of ascent but join the route on the top of
pitch two.
Rappel One: 30m - Rappel down the main gulley (some rockfall potential) and
look for a nice spacious ledge almost 30m down on the right-hand side. This
ledge is out of the gulley and protected from most if not all rockfall from
above.
Rappel Two: 20 - 25m - Rappel down steep rock back into the main gulley and
look for a second spacious ledge similar to the last one (i.e. protected and
out of the gulley on the same side - right when looking down).
Rappel Three: 20 - 25m - Rappel over steep rock once again back into gulley.
You will now be at the top of the pitch two (belay station). This is not as
spacious a station as the previous ones.
Rappel Four: 25m - Rappel back down pitch two.
Rappel Five: 15m - Rappel directly below the station on slightly overhanging
rock. End beside trees.
If the weather holds there will be more route repairs and (I hope) one or
two new projects to report.
Enjoy the weekend.
Cyril Shokoples
Mountain Guide
_______________________________________________
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