Message from discussion
Needles trip report (long)
Path: sparky!uunet!biosys!dak
From: d...@biosys.apldbio.COM (David Knorr)
Newsgroups: rec.climbing
Subject: Needles trip report (long)
Message-ID: <278@biosys.apldbio.COM>
Date: 19 May 92 01:25:02 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Applied Biosystems, Inc., Foster City, CA
Lines: 100
Thanks again to all who submitted info on the Needles of California.
Here is what we did.
John and I left Thursday night and blasted down I-5 to
Bakersfield to crash at Jack and Heather's. Friday afternoon we
arrived at Dome Rock, which was to be our base camp. Dome Rock is a
beautiful hunk of granite containing a bit of everything: steep
friction, cracks, knobs, and chicken heads. The weather was perfect.
As we pulled up to the campsite, we met Herb Laeger and Bob Kamps on
their way to some as-yet unrated line recently put up by Herb. John
and I had met Herb (and Eve) and Bob a couple of times previously at
Joshua Tree. Then we met Patrick Paul, a local hardman who was just
returning from a morning of replacing bolts on some line he'd done
earlier. It seemed to be a nice crowd to hang out with, so we took a
recommendation from Herb and Bob to try "Just Lovely", a 3 pitch 5.10+
face route.
The climb lived up to its name. The first pitch ascends steep
friction past two bolts to a small diagonal band of white crystals.
The technical crux is leaving the band after the fourth bolt and
moving to a small dihedral. There's a couple of ways to do it, none
real easy. John led by downclimbing to a small depression and moving
over on 10b friction. I followed by continuing straight up the
crystal band to the dihedral (topropes are great for that...would have
never led it that way). Later Herb would point out that the section I
climbed is just as easy using fists instead of fingers 'cuz there's no
holds anyway'. The second pitch was easy 5.8 friction using some
interesting finger pockets. The last pitch goes over a small roof via
a tricky mantel (probably 5.9) followed by some enjoyable steep face
climbing on big knobs and edges. Just Lovely was an excellent
introduction to the area.
We stopped and watched Bob on Herb's route. He was doing it
again on TR after leading it earlier. He was a little upset because
he had slipped in a couple of places and wanted to see if it was
really his new shoes or was it really that hard. The consensus was
Herb's route was somewhere in the low 5.11's, but it was hard to tell
because it was so sustained and there was no clear way to do the moves
forcing one to think the whole way. John tried it on the TR and got
up to the really hard part. He later confessed that "After that, it
was just imaginary".
Rather than thrash up the TR, Jack and I did a neat 5.7 crack
called the "tree route". Also really enjoyable. The second pitch is
an almost perfect 1.5 inch crack that can be either laidback or taken
straight on.
Camping plans were completely destroyed that nite when the
whole crowd went to The Ponderosa for dinner. John supplied the wine
and the "Pondo" supplied the glasses. What a great place. They even
keep a copy of the local climbing guide to climbing forays with.
Friday we got up late and got to the Needles parking area
late, about 9:30. The hike in takes about an hour. John and Jack
went off to do "Igor Unchained" ( rated 5.9...Herb sez "it really is
5.9, but it'll feel like 5.11"). Heather and I, feeling less
ambitious, decide to go for the long and easy "Black Magic" (5.7-8).
There's not a lot to describe on this climb. It ascends the lower
shoulder of the Magician Needle (the formation with the lookout tower
on it). The four lower pitches angle up a series of dihedrals to the
crest of the dome. From there the route follows easy friction and
cracks to the top. The weirdest part was literally wondering around
on the face for two pitches looking for any bolts at all. I missed
the only one on the first of those pitches. But I knew I was close to
some sort of belay because Heather called up "5 feet, Dave". The next
belay was easier...a very small tree and a couple of nuts. It was a
walkoff from there.
As we topped out on The Magician, we could see two souls
struggling with Igor Unchained. We met another party who looked over
and said, "Are those two still on that thing? They've been there all
day" Yep. Jack and John. They came back with tales of lowering to
retrieve gear from below to use up higher (because they didn't take
enough of the right sized pro) and generally difficult climbing.
All-in-all though, they had a fun time.
Back in camp that night, Herb's wife Eve had arrived, and so
had Brian Morris and Dustin, but Patrick had left (are you keeping
track of this?). Mexican food was great. I got into a conversation
with 16 year-old Dustin about his day. "Me and Kamps just did some
easy stuff, Lightning's Hand (Bob sez 10d) and some easier 10's". I
said, "You do realize you've spent the day roped in with a true legend
in climbing history." Dustin was aware of Bob Kamps reputation. He'd
read some articles about him. He replied, " Yeah, I liked climbing
with him. Most people think that because I'm just a kid I'll only
want to do 5.7. Kamps doesn't mind doing harder stuff though."
The next day I led the 'Anti-Jello Crack" ( 5.10+) a thin
finger-tips crack keeps you on the rock while your feet skate around
on the face. My feet went to sleep, so I'll never know how good they
were. By that time we were all burnt out. Heather and I watched John
and Jack psyche themselves up The Lightning's Hand, only to be
repelled below the third bolt. After that we all went to Peppermint
campground to soak our feet in the river before the long drive home.
All in all, it was a wonderful trip. John and I decided that
it would help to be climbing a lot stronger the next time we went to
the Needles. Before leaving we made one last stop at the Ponderosa
for ice cream. In walks Bob Kamps (returning from climbing Thin Ice
at the Needles, probably in record time). "What did you do today?",
he asked. "Led the Anti-Jello Crack", I replied. His eyes flashed
slightly bigger. "You led that? Boy that's hard". And that was the
high point of my trip.
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