California '07

This was a two-part adventure. Ken and I first headed to Mt. Shasta. There was little snow so
we picked the West Face Gully ascent and descended Avalanche Gulch. On the way down, Ken found ice and stuck his
crampon in his calf. We made our first emergency room visit for Ken to get stitches. We visited a local crag and climbed Cosmic
Wall in Castle Crags (Ken's first multi-pitch climb). While transitioning to the second part of the trip, Ken and I drove down the coast from
Mendocino to San Francisco. The second part of the trip with Doug and Mike started well--our rental van lost its power steering
and spewed smoke just as we entered Yosemite National Park. After losing a day to rental car issues and getting a newer, smaller
car, we were back in Yosemite at Tuolumne Meadows for a couple days of fun climbing. Then we headed south to attempt
the Palisades Traverse. On the approach to Thunderbolt, Ken slipped on the glacier and fell about 150 feet. Other than
glacier burn (which eventually became infected and sent him to the emergency room again), he was skaken, but fine.
But, our attempt on the entire Traverse proved overly optimistic. We bagged Thunderbolt (except for the summit block) and headed
back to camp. A couple of days later we traded Mike for Dave and hiked to the base of Mt. Tyndall. Over the next two days,
we sumitted Tyndall and Mt. Williamson. The last week of the trip ended happily for Ken and everyone else--no emergency room visits.
[SES: Interests page]

Ken takes a break on Mt. Shasta's West Face Gully	Ken nears the top of the gully	Descending Avalanche Gulch
Avalance Gulch chimney on Mt. Shasta	On the descent, Ken finds ice and his crampon finds flesh	Exiting Avalanche Gulch
Ken visits the Mt. Shasta Emergency Room for stitches	Ken on the first pitch of Cosmic Wall, Castle Crags 5.6R	Mt. Shasta from Castle Crags
Castle Crags	Mendocino headlands	Mendocino headlands and coast
Crippled van blows up at the Yosemite entrance	Tenaya Lake and Peak, Tuoloumne Meadows	Doug H. on the 160' runout pitch of Great White Book
Ken following on the money pitch of Great White Book	Three dope boyz on a summit (l-r: Doug, Ken, Mike)	Temple Crag and Third Lake, Sierra Nevadas
Looking north over Third Lake	Sam Mack Meadow below Palisades Glacier	Mike I-love-the-altitude Allex
Sam Mack Meadow below Palisades Glacier	Doug and Mike crossing the stream	First - Third Lakes from above
Columbines	Palisade Glacier and 14ers	Doug at the base of the glacier on the approach to Thunderbolt
Doug at the first belay station off the glacier	Mt. Sill from the Underhill Couloir	Getting back onto the glacier
Glacial pool and Thunderbolt Peak	Ken showing off his glacier burn (his second emergency room visit in two weeks)	Columns outside Mammoth Lakes
Alpine lake outside Mammoth	Soothing	Doug, Mike, and I-like-ice Ken chillin' in Red Meadows
Lakes outside Mammoth	On the saddle approaching Mt. Tyndall	Mt. Williamson
Mt. Tyndall in the morning	Ken (off route) on the Tyndall's Sierra Crest Rib	Shepard Pass from Tyndall
Mt. Williamson from Mt. Tyndall	Dave and Doug hanging out on the Tyndall summit	Sunrise on Tyndall as we set up for Mt. Williamson
Dave on Mt. Williamson summit	Forest fire in the Sierras