Pinnacles:  Lower North Face, Hook and Drill, Digger  12/16-17/89
Subject:      more time at the mudpile

Saturday:  climbed at the Monolith with Bill Wagner ("Wags").  Subterranean
Tango 5.11a (first move), TRed 4-Play.  Bill was coming down with a cold and
basked in the sun awhile before getting 4-Play on his second try; I'm willing
to call it 5.11b again.  I looked at incomplete routes right of
Ranger Bolts.  The SW Arete looks complete and maybe 5.12.  Led Piton Traverse
which is more like 5.11a than 5.11c, then TRed Rocket in My Pocket 5.10d and
Future Shock 5.12a off the same anchor.  Wags had a few falls on the first and
didn't try the third.  I had one hang on Future Shock, which had small holds
but was a bit less than vertical.  Should be able to get it next time now that
I know the sequence.  As darkness fell we TRed Auto Cream 5.11a, which had a
real marginal sloper move (choice of 2 slopers actually).

Sunday:  West Pinnacles with C family, Joel, Alice and Sean.  We started on
Hook and Drill 5.9 and Digger 5.10a, not realizing they were loose and runout!
I led the 5.9, and had to haul up crack pro after the 25' runout (only 4 bolts
on the pitch).  The 5.3 X dirt gulley and crumbly pillar on top was also scary.
Everybody followed it; Sean got it on a strong second effort.
Joel had to haul up the bolt kit on his pitch, as there was no fixed anchor!
Too bad, as he would have preferred to chop the route!  I TRed a direct start
up the right side of the waterstreak (overhanging 5.11c with a few loose holds)
.  The Balconies Regular Route also looks like poor rock; not as good as
Lava Falls (the darkest streak).  We moved over to Machete Ridge, where Nancy
led Destiny 5.8 (Alice, Sean and Nancy followed) -- a lower-angle route with
small holds.  Joel led Bandits in Bondage 5.11a, taking one fall.  I followed
(barely), and Nancy tried it but couldn't reach the wide stem at the crux
bulge.  This route also featured no fixed anchor except a small tree, and we
were out of bolts, so I rapped off the last bolt (in the dark).  Machete Ridge
is a nice large formation, but it doesn't have much new route potential due to
steep holdless rock.  Verdict:  the bolt kit came in handy, but bring more
bolts next time and stick to the routes with darker rock.