A TIMELINE OF TRIPS AND ADVENTURES
1977
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Name: West 1977 Destination: Another long trip. Aiming even higher. Timeframe: May - September Description: A tragic summer on two occasions. Painful memories mixed in with new locations and new partners.
The Albums:
Magic Mushroom w/ Mark Hudon and Mark Richey
A seven day adventure : One day of fixing, lots of waiting on bad weather and then 5 nights on the wall. Hud had other commitments and after fixing we were worried he might not be able to finish with us. But in the end it worked out well and we had a good time.
Direct NW Face w/ Mark Richey
A beautiful line up a dead vertical wall ... hot, dry and way low on water.
1976
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Name: West 1976 Destination: Trying to duplicate the magic of '75 Timeframe: July - September Description: Shorter trip: later start and later finish. Great expectations. Sometimes the experience doesn't quite live up to it. Bad weather didn't help. But still, some great climbs and moments of comraderie
The Albums:
New Dawn w/ Mark Hudon and Rainsford Rouner
After the Keeler Needle epic Rains left for the Valley to go catch up with Hud. Mary and I had gone to do the Starlight Pillar on Clyde. After that she went home and I went to the Valley. After some fun and free climbs, the three of us did New Dawn in 7 casual days including a rest day on El Cap Tower. The blank dihedrals were spooky to say the least!
1975
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Name: West 1975 Destination: A major excursion: Yosemite, RMNP, Tetons, Winds, Bugs, Sierras, and back to the Valley to finish up. Timeframe: April - September Description: The first real road trip. The one that set the stage for so many to follow. We left NH late in April and I got back to North Conway around Labor Day. Those were the days. Hard to believe I was able to leave for months on end, do it on a shoestring budget and still have a job at EMS when I got back. Of course nothing lasts forever, but while it did, this was good.
The Albums:
South Face of Mt Watkins w/ Michael Hartrich and Walter Dembitsky
After we bailed on the Muir, Walter came roaring into Camp 4 demanding to climb with us because we all knew Rick Wilcox and he had done Half Dome with Rick the year before. And so we did. Had a great time on the wall
All alone on the Nose w/ Mark Richey and Rainsford Rouner
Most likely this happened because it was still hot in the valley. We'd just come from the high country and our Mendel Couloir climb and had just enough time for one more big adventure before it was time to head home. One highlight I'll never forget is Rains casually asking me about 2/3 of the way up the route .... 'what are we going to do about the dropped jumar?' What? Didn't even notice it fall off my rack. Dealing with that slowed us down a bit. Four nights out.
1974
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Name: West 1974 Destination: Yosemite Valley and Long's Peak Timeframe: April - June Description: A month in the valley and a trip up the Keyhole Route on Long's Peak in Colorado with my older brother. Setting the stage for longer trips to follow. Life would never be the same.
The Albums:
The Prow w/ Jeff Pheasant
Don't recall all the details, but I took some kind of convoluted route thru Utah/Arizona to finally arrive in the Valley just about the time everyone else did. Did a few free climbs, but mostly I wanted to climb walls. The Phez and I had done our share of wall climbs in NH so this was a logical start on a bigger canvas.
The Salathe w/ Mark Hudon
For some unknown reason, after getting down from the Prow, Jeff wasn't too keen on doing the Big Stone. Lucky for me I meet up with Mark Hudon (Hud) who clearly was. On the Salathe, we fixed pitches and then went for it. Short storm at Mammoth and then fine weather the rest of the way. Not really knowing which way to go, we mistakenly walked out to the Tioga Road - in the snow.