This is Heather and James following birdland at red rocks. I was disappointed in the red rocks rock quality. If you can picture a mud puddle that has frozen, dried out and then crackled up in the sunshine you have red rocks sandstone. You can see it in this picture. The wacos (crackled mud) make for delightful climbing but I couldn't shake the feeling that my protection was less than optimal. I doubt if I'll ever go back. If I want sunny winter climbing, Joshua Tree is a shorter drive with better rock. If I want summer climbing, Yosemite is 8 hours closer, and Yosemite granite is as good as it gets.

This was the first time my old tent got knocked down by the wind. The pole bent in a big gust and we had to pull it down and sleep in bivy sacks. I do realize I need a new down coat...but it has high sentimental value, and marks me instantly as a long time dirtbag climber. Like bell bottoms on a hippie, it's a fashion statement :-)

Heather and I post holing our way toward the Birdland route. My chacos were not the ideal footwear for this hike. I wrapped my socks in plastic grocery bags, but they ripped.

There is a 4 pitch 5.6 route on the left skyline but the snow was too deep to reach it.

Heather belaying on Birdland.

James took this picture of me 2 pitches up at my high point on Johnny Vegas 5.7. My last 3 pieces were one quarter inch wired stoppers placed in gaps between sandstone wacos. They looked like they might have held a small dog. I downclimbed and donated them to the cliff. It was snowing lightly, the sun had set and it was time to bail. We had to drop our line and pull up another rope from James and Paul to get off the cliff...in the dark. When I got down the only thing I said to James was: "I am *so* done with red rocks"

Heather and I packing up for a climb at red rocks. I still can't believe the three of us drove all that way in my little Toyota pickup.

Here we are in Vegas, eating a smorgasbord off Paul's hood before driving to jtree to escape the frigid weather of Red Rocks. We were going to get a cheap hotel room and explore the Las Vegas strip, but the internet was down so we made the 3 hour drive to jtree.

This is the view from the top of the Bong on the Blob.

Paul on the crux of Popes crack. It's a stiff nine. We also did Touch and Go that day. I found that to be a much easier lead than Popes Crack.

Paul leading Sidewinder in Steve Canyon 10b. It had a hard start getting past a bolt, a moderate middle section and a desperate end. 15 feet above Paul's head you can just see a horizontal dike. There is a bolt at head height once you stand up on the dike. Then you traverse 20 feet left with nothing but sideways crimpers for handholds (in other words, no hands). The dyke is reasonable foot smears but the wall bulges out toward you, forcing you to topple over backwards as there are no handholds. Did I mention there are no hands? Very very scary, even to follow. A fall there on lead would almost certainly lead to a hospital stay as it's a ledgy landing. Brave lead Paul!

The temp dropped from 80 down to 40 in half an hour. Paul was heading for hypo by the time we rapped off.

Paul friends YaYa and Nick brought down his mail. Here he is paying bills outside the Coyote Corner shower house in Jtree. Paul's dog Bear is standing guard. Everybody loves that darn dog.

Heather and James waiting their turn for the showers.

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The guy on the left is the one who found the ham. We'd all gather around in the morning to drink coffee and plan out our day. Thanks to Heather for bring a french press coffee maker.

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I love dirtbag (read that as poor) climbers. This guy had done a wonderful job of taping his pants with ductape to make them last another season.

This is me getting ready to lead heart and sole 10a

Brett and I on bottom of heart and sole

Brett is an awesome climber. He and James and I drove to jtree together last year. This year he came down with his girlfriend Ondi and her friend Crystal...a regular harem...how does he do it?

This is Crystal. She was a lot of fun and had a great smile.

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At the end of this day of friction climbing at Echo I got this crazy idea to lead ebgbs 10c. We didn't get to the first bolt until the sun had set. I fell off the first bolt 4 times, hitting the ledge below harder each time. Finally I thought I might have the move down, but I looked at the sky and it was going to twilight. I grabbed the darn bolt and pulled up onto the sidewalk. I wanted to have a chance at finishing the main route, which was 10 feet left around a corner. The first 3 bolts were only about 5.9, but after that it got very stiff with no hands or feet, just greasy smears and imaginary mantles, with desperately thin smearing moves up to 12 feet above the bolts on almost vertical rock...and it was getting dark. I fell once with a bad sequence but got myself sorted out quickly. At the top I let out a big rebel yell. I've not led that thing in 24 years. I honestly thought those days were behind me. I finished so late that Brett had to put off following the route. As it was, we rapped off in the pitch dark, with one headlamp. I heard later that a bunch of people had watched "that idiot" climb ebgbs in the dark from the parking lot. Joe was one of them. When I met him the next day he said, "Wow, you mean that was you up there, you're getting warmed up dude!"

This was taken inside an 8 passenger chevy van. The owner called it the tikitaxi and uses it professionally in LA as a sort of Hawaiian themed limo service. We discovered it while walking around the campground loop new years eve looking for a good campfire. He invited us in with great fanfare and turned on all the lights and music. There are palm fronds glued to the ceiling. it sounds tacky but it's actually very cool.

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New years eve festivities.

If you got tired of the sweat lodge campfire and the drunken crowds, you could walk to the other end of the campground where John, the tikitaxi guy and friends always had a good fire and mellow live music. John is on the left here, with his girlfriend on the violin. They had 5 drums, a didgeridoo, a violin and 3 guitars. John could play everything. The man is an amazing musician. I joined them with my harp and guitar on a few songs. We made beautiful music! I found out afterward that Jonathan Copp is a big time climber/videographer who has climbed the North Face of the Eiger, done first ascents in the Himalya and has written numerous articles for Outside and Climbing Magazines. Check out his website here. It's amazing who you'll meet at jtree. James and Heather saw Lynn Hill walking around the campground one morning.

I was moping around my campsite new years day, waiting for my partner to sleep off new years when Joe walked up. He was looking for Bill. I asked him if Bill was his climbing partner and he said sort of. When I told him I was also looking for a partner, Joe invited me to join him and his girlfriend Michelle if I would lead the flake route on intersection. That was so awesome, I didn't even have to leave my campsite to find a partner!

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That is the dumpster diving ham guy on the guitar. He was very talented and could play time in a bottle, by Jim Croce. Also pictured are Bear, Paul, and Heather doing yoga in the morning before a day of climbing. I love the semi-communal life style at Hidden Valley. Everyone just kind of wanders in and out of each others campsite, looking for a partner, a warm fire, a cup of coffee, or a beer. Gotta love it!

The three Musketeers: James, Heather and me. We are 6 days out from a shower.

Presto logs burn cool.

This was an awesome trip. I finally got my friction skills tuned up after a long, long battle and climbed things that I thought I'd never do again. I hadn't climbed ebgb's in 24 years. To get back on it at the age of 54 was amazing. I guess there is hope for us "over the hill" types after all. Thanks to James, Brett, Heather, Paul, Crystal, Ondi, Joe, John, Eddie and the rest of my fellow dirtbag climbing buddies for an awesome Christmas!

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