So it turns out it's not all over for me yet.

Will Johnson and I went on a modest climbing trip last weekend.  We had 
considered a variety of more ambitious destinations 
but Tioga Pass closed Thursday night ruling
out Owens River and the forecast looked shaky for the Valley so we
settled on the Pinnacles - the wild West Side to boot!  Saturday
was beautiful and a little cool - we hiked up to the Citadel area (only
a half hour with a good map in the new guide) to
check out JR's controversial routes.  I won the coin flip and got
to "warm up" by leading Mission Impossible on Whitetail Rock (10c).
This rap bolted route is both longer (12 bolts, 130') and steeper
than it looks.  Rock is about average for the Pinnacles but JR's
cleaning (5' wide scrubbed streak) has helped.  Nice and sustained
with about 3 5.10 bulges and a few strange runouts.  Will followed with
numb fingers after freezing at the belay.  It was warmer, but still
shady at the base of the Citadel.  By stick clipping the second bolt
above the chipped start, I was able to yard past the 12b and lead
the 1st pitch of Power Tools (10b, A0) without too much difficulty.
Will took the second, some 4th class on mud, then a 5.9 headwall.
I got the showpiece 3rd, 11a with plenty of bolts, taking a nice
bulge and overhanging headwall.  Nice scrubbing on this route, too -
maybe a bit too nice as incut finger jugs always appeared just when
you needed them.  The crux seemed easy for its grade as well.  Of course,
it would figure that as soon as I raved about the rock quality to Will,
he pulled one of the aforementioned nice finger holds right at the crux!
The fourth (Will's lead) is good, too, stemming in a vertical to overhanging
groove (10b).  Nice views of Resurrection, the Balconies, and the High 
Peaks area from the summit.  After the 3 raps to the ground 
(nice 3/8" stations with
lap links), we both led Peon's Delight as a warm down 
(80', 10a and newly bolted) on Whitetail Rock.   

We were so stoked by this pleasant day that we decided to camp down
there and go for more on Sunday (how bad can those Balconies routes be?).
The Mexican food in Soledad was pretty good - everything was going fine
until it began to rain at 5 am - fortunately Will had brought his
tent.  It rained off and on Sunday, but the Balconies were out and
Truth or Consequences (12a/b) on the overhung Game Show wall was the only
dry route.  We did a few variations up to the finger pockets at
the start of the crux on TR.  Will showered the ground with shrapnel
trying to find the line of Vanna (10b) indicated in the guide.
We sooned got bored of this and headed back.

Joel

Notes: West Side camping closes on weekends starting 2/15.
       Raptor closings (Balconies, Citadel) will probably come in Jan.
       Will Johnson is 55 (my Mother's age) and has recently redpointed
        a 12a!