May-  Too hot for bouldering, but still snowy up high.  Started the season in the Buttermilk front Country, doing little peaklets:  South Ridge of Buttermilk Dome, The Slab,  Tungsten Hills Dome,  and the Fang.  [see interesting routes page for info].

June-  A long ridge up in Pine Creek Canyon left of Possum Pinnacle has been bugging me for a while.  I soloed up 500' or so, but it was more than i was yet ready for.  Remember to practice lots of downclimbing when bouldering!

June 7-  Tioga Pass opens.  I went to the Valley and soloed after six,  Royal Arches[went slow and goofed off], and the grack center.  Glissaded the bottom pitch on the way down for the education of the Mountaineering School nearby.   Slab glissading for experts only!

June 14-  Soloed Country Glass Arete in about 3 hrs. r.t.  I did the FA with Jay Schifferdecker last year, it is on a cool little peak behind the Pine Creek trailhead.   [II, 5.4]  A mini alpine ridge climb.

June 15-  Back up canyon for another try on Possum Ridge[as i've come to call it].  It  is harder than it looks, but i force the route a few hundred more feet.  It is apparent that the farther i climb, the longer is the downclimb.  Topping out would put a climber very far from where he started, with a grievous hike out.

June 21- Soloed Royal Arches up and Back in sub-3 hours;  that's almost as fast as I was when I was young and foolish!  [my record was set in 1989, in 1 1/2 hrs. r.t.]

June 22-  Soloed Snake Dike on Half Dome, one of the world's best free climbs at any grade.  I've done this lots of times, but this time the crux haired me out bad, but eventually i sucked it up and did it anyway.

June 27-  Wild Party at Leevining Mobile Station with the TungstenCityBand.

June 29-  Milo and I attempt to solo the North Ridge of Lone Pine Peak.    A little more than I expected.  Arguing about bailing, Milo reaches into his pack and produces a 20' dog leash that we are supposed to use as a rap line.  [it was a longer rope, but Bizon cut it in half in a fit of pique at 4:00am].  Things got a little scary after that for a while, with the 8' rappells and no anchors and all.

July 5-  Soloed the East Arete of Mount Humpfrys  [III, 5.2] with Milo and Rey [an oxymoron].  About halfway, we pass Euro kids with topos, helmets, big packs, rope, metal thingies and stuff franticaly searching for "the 5.2 hand crack."  Milo tells 'em "yer standin' on it!    On our descent, the Kids tried to follow us, but we did not set a good example.  7 hrs. r.t.  The ultimate Buttermilk crag!

July 8-  Eat a tiny little bit of 'shrooms, get probed by Alien Intellegence, contracted parasitic brain wyrm. Tells me to buy a computer.  Nothing out of the ordinary.

July 12-  Did the gully to the South Ridge on Mt. Basin with Milo and Rey and Mary the Mountain Dog.  [III, 5.0]  The gully was all loose scree and sorta' sucked.  The 300' of ridge climbing on top was good.  On the descent, Rey dislodged a microwave oven-sized block that fell  100' and exploded on a boulder right in front of my face.  Shrapnell whizzed past both ears on either side of my unhelmeted head.  It didn't hurt a bit.  Again, 7 hrs. r.t.

July 13-  Solo traverse [by myself!] of Crystal Crag above Mammoth.  I went South to North and tried to ride the crest the entire way.  The white crystal gendarmes are worth checking out.  Again, more than I expected, but a really good traverse.  [III 5.6]  No fair sneaking off down  the regular route.

July 19-  Up the ridge in Pine Creek Canyon again, this time I bring Milo and a Rope.  After a few pitches, he gets tired of the route finding, so we try out a nearby 5.12 sport route,  a laser cut perpendicular dihedral with about 69 bolts.  I get tired of bolt clipping, so we decide to go drink Beer [Sierra Nevada Pale Ale].

July 20-  I wake up at 4:00 am, expecting to climb the North Ridge of Mt. Tom.  By the time the sun rises, I am just at the head of the moraine, and i realize that i don't wanna, so i drop down to Pine Creek and have a Nap in the Bushes, and played Tarzan along the creek for a while.

July 26-  Did the Northeast Gully on Mt. Laurel, near Convict Lake.  Almost a mile of gain on this'un. [III, 5.2]  Lots of loose rock and other climbers, thanx to peter's new book!  I pass 3 other parties, when i see an old fart soloing up ahead.  He seems to be moving methodically, yet I have to bust ass to catch him.   He carries an umbrella.  It is my neighbor in Rovanna, Todd Bibler.  We rush to the summit, passing another party who's whining about rotten rock and bailing way up high.  Running an Scree surfing on the descent, I saw a giant blue rabbit just above timberline [reported to http://www.cryptozoology.com].  Upon arriving down at the lake, i became unexplicably ill.  We [me and todd] both did the climb in sub 4 hrs. r.t.

July 27- Recon the backside of wheeler ridge and broken finger peak, hiked with milo and rey and mary the mountain dog.  Pretty Meadows.

August 1-Bought this here big hard drive to make up for my inferiority complex.

August 3- Soloed the SE buttress of Paiute Crag #11 and traversed it's crest to the summit of Paiute #10 [III, 5.4].  Lots of terrifying stacked footballs on the lower section, but the crest was improbably purple, steep and solid.  Looks like no one ever goes here.   5 hrs. r.t.  Note that Secor's Guide seems to confuse #9 and #10.  Roper's old green guide makes more sense here.  Wild territory!

August 9- Milo and I solo along the crest of Wheeler Peak [II,  4th]], arguing constantly about ratings, and having a mello good time.  Bagged a little subsidary peak off the crest a bit, too.

August 25-  Soloed the SE face of Emmerson r.t. in 5 hours [III,  5.4].  Pretty nice route.  Strangely, while in the middle of the crux, i spat out a big hunk of my Wisdom tooth.  Ewww!

 -the summer draws to an end.  The temperatures in the mountains are chilly even in midday now.  Hopefully, there is time for a couple more  ridges before bouldering starts over again.