Pinnacles:  Shake and Bake, Conduit to the Cosmos   12/8/91
Subject:      Climb Mount Niitaka?

Joel and I climbed on the Balconies (Pinnacles) on Sunday, after I had nearly
OD'd on Pearl Harbor TV specials during the final days of my 6-week layoff.
My finger tendon sheath seems to have healed fine, and it was helped along
greatly by Joel leading everything (I would have been way gripped on all the
runouts!).  On the hike in we got a good chuckle when the leader on the first
pitch of Lava Falls (5.9) was just reaching the sling belay, and asked her
partner "do I clip into all these ribbons?"  Must have been a rock gym person;
pretty rad for a possible first lead at Pinnacles!  Joel and I had been waiting
two years to do some Balconies routes, because they are usually closed from
January to June, and Pinnacles trips get put off, since Yosemite is usually
still good in November.  We were well-rewarded by some "steep and deep" lines.

First was Shake and Bake 5.10a R ***.  Excellent rock (fairly deep waterchute;
this leaches minerals to harden the surface), except for the short first pitch,
which traverses in to avoid the non-leached (overhanging) start.  The bolts
are all spaced an exciting 20-25' apart, and they are somewhat old, but at
least they are 3/8".  The crux is found reaching the 3rd bolt on pitch 2 (well
runout!), and there are several 5.9 sections.  Natural pro is not needed, but
the following could be used to protect relatively easy but long runouts:
 pitch 2, between 1st and 2nd bolt:  #2-3 Rock in gap between boulders,
   and/or sling a breakable knob.
 pitch 3, after 3rd (last) bolt:  #1.5 or 2.5 Friend (but it's only 5.6 there).
The top belay is at the Electric Blue anchor; then 2 long raps down E.B. reach
the ground.  E.B. looks hard, with more breakable rock (more a streak than a
deep chute).

Next was Conduit to the Cosmos 5.10c R **.  The first pitch is good rock (after
the start), while the second pitch starts great but fades a bit up high.
Many of the hangers have narrow holes, and there is a neat tunnel to sling
down low.  The first pitch has a 5.9 runout which "warms you up" for the crux
5.10c runout at the high bulge (where we removed a bail-out sling).  Glad I
wasn't leading.  Both pitches have a set of "doubled" bolts, where the FA party
realized they were placing a bad bolt, and placed a good one next to it.  The
second pitch features some "gratuitous runouts" in a steep but fairly solid
"boulderfield", and a neat belay atop a huge boulder left of the chute.  On the
first ascent, the tired leader placed a hanging belay just 10' shy of the
boulder, and the second (hangerless) bolt is still in place there (his partner
corrected the problem by forging onward to the boulder).  A third pitch is in
progress, but it was getting dark and cold, so we didn't get to check it out.