New and Experienced Climbers over 50 #34

I sort of enjoy that posts about climbing, politics, maple-sugaring, and the physical challenges of aging are interspersed willy nilly.  

Frank Steinwrote:

I believe that the backtracking on the across-the board tariffs had to do with the sell off of treasury bonds with a corresponding yield increase from 3.9% to 4.6%, at the same time as collapsing markets and a weakening dollar. This is not how the bond market should behave and would have been a huge warning sign for the treasury, as borrowing costs as well as costs of servicing existing debts would have skyrocketed. Really, the dollar showed signs of behaving like an emerging currency, and we would have entered the Argentina model.
I don’t believe that the reversal was planned at all and was a more of an “oh shit” reaction. Unfortunately, this may too little too late, as the tariffs on three of our largest trading partners, Canada, Mexico & China remain in place, and global trust in our economic stewardship may have been irreparably damaged. 

It’s difficult to believe that 41% of American’s actually enjoy eating the shite they’re being fed daily.  

I’m not as confident that even if Trump backs off all his tariffs that other countries would follow suit? As it’s more likely that they would trade with each other rather than with USA again?

Sad.

Buck Rogerswrote:

On a different note:  I am going to be putting in leave soon for a Monday and Tuesday in June to go down and do a first trip to Seneca Rocks.  I'll drive down on Sunday and I'll be car camping the two nights that I am there.

Have fun down there, Buck! Since we’re talking about VT and Seneca Rocks, here’s an ancient pic. 1988 Middlebury spring break trip to WV. I think the Gendarme fell a few months earlier so we missed out. Or maybe we lucked out? Fritz the picture taker went on to start a company in Leadville called Melanzana…check out the stylin first gen mtbs.

The mob only did business with tRump once. They said he doesn't keep his word so they won't do business with him anymore. The rest of the world is again learning the same lesson. they had a taste in 2016 and here it is again twice as bad.  No sane country would do business with us in these times unless they had no other choice. 

wendy weisswrote:

I sort of enjoy that posts about climbing, politics, maple-sugaring, and the physical challenges of aging are interspersed willy nilly.  

Me too.  I am all about denial of aging.  It won’t work out long term but is great in the moment.  

What a happy day.  I finally got over to 29 Palms to see the Organic garden on the premises of the restaurant.  I’m so inspired!  

They are on some kind of alluvial volcanic ground… but still it’s good to see a desert landscape.  Brandt has a lovely garden.  I’m working on mine.

Artichokes.  

Rows of herbs with drip irrigation.

Pomegranate

Grapes

Apricot.

Oh my. The thing I miss most about my old home is my plum tree.  A few years ago we canned 400 pounds of black plums.  It was an annual family tradition. I wonder if we could grow plums here. 

Li Huwrote:

A good “friend” from Britain, can’t own a gun. Guessing an antiquated law created sometime after the Rebel war against the King…   

It's always been fairly hard to own a gun in the UK unless you're a farmer or member of a field sport organisation and want a shotgun for shooting rabbits or game birds.

Handguns were outlawed in 1997 after the Dunblane massacre. Firearm-related deaths have, broadly speaking, declined since then. Gun apologists will post a chart showing a rise in homicides after 1997 to a peak in 2002 conveniently failing to mention that less than 5% of UK homicides are firearm-related. >75% of the population support even stricter gun laws. US attitudes to firearms are regarded with a mix of incredulity and pity (and more than a hint of cultural superiority, unfortunately).

I've just had a fabulous week up in NW Scotland. It appears April is the new May and the weather was amazingly warm, dry and stable. The scenery is always magnificent. We climbed rocks, swam in the Atlantic (a brisk 7C/ 45F), and generally enjoyed the ambience. 

Diabaig Pillar (E2 or about 5.10b PG)

duncan...wrote:

I've just had a fabulous week up in NW Scotland. It appears April is the new May and the weather was amazingly warm, dry and stable. The scenery is always magnificent. We climbed rocks, swam in the Atlantic (a brisk 7C/ 45F), and generally enjoyed the ambience. 

Diabaig Pillar (E2 or about 5.10b PG)

Diabaig harbour from the main crag

Ahhhh! That's brilliant! I do love Scotland!  My daughter's in her second year at st Andrew's. We'd visited a few tones prior to her starting there when we lived in Germany.  So great.

I've got to make a side trip to the Old Man of Hoy before she graduates!  Dream climb right there!!!

Colden Darkwrote:

Have fun down there, Buck! Since we’re talking about VT and Seneca Rocks, here’s an ancient pic. 1988 Middlebury spring break trip to WV. I think the Gendarme fell a few months earlier so we missed out. Or maybe we lucked out? Fritz the picture taker went on to start a company in Leadville called Melanzana…check out the stylin first gen mtbs.

Yes!  Look at that!  So cool!  Bet that they couldn't have weighed more than 25 pounds. So light!

Buck. Seneca is amazing. Banana is an ankle breaker. a 10a move with ledgefall.  Both gunsight routes are really good. The direct is better but do them both. Gunsight is easier to access from the east side.  Green Wall is the easiest of the 5.7s. Certainly easier and better protected than Banana. 

The campground right in town by the general store is the more convenient and cheaper one but the state campground up on the hill has nicer bathrooms and a killer view. 

duncan...wrote:

It's always been fairly hard to own a gun in the UK unless you're a farmer or member of a field sport organisation and want a shotgun for shooting rabbits or game birds.

Handguns were outlawed in 1997 after the Dunblane massacre. Firearm-related deaths have, broadly speaking, declined since then. Gun apologists will post a chart showing a rise in homicides after 1997 to a peak in 2002 conveniently failing to mention that less than 5% of UK homicides are firearm-related. >75% of the population support even stricter gun laws. US attitudes to firearms are regarded with a mix of incredulity and pity (and more than a hint of cultural superiority, unfortunately).

I've just had a fabulous week up in NW Scotland. It appears April is the new May and the weather was amazingly warm, dry and stable. The scenery is always magnificent. We climbed rocks, swam in the Atlantic (a brisk 7C/ 45F), and generally enjoyed the ambience. 

Diabaig Pillar (E2 or about 5.10b PG)

Diabaig harbour from the main crag

Great pictures Duncan. Must be pretty rare to have a bluebird day like that in Scotland!!!!
My only experience in Scotland was a brief visit with my wife and then 10yo daughter to Loch Ness to commune with Nessie. We'd rented a car for several days, hoping to go into the Highlands afterwards, but we were so freaked out by the driving that we turned in the car after 3 days--just doing that was a bit of an epic, traveled afterwards by rail, and spent our remaining time in Edinburgh instead---well worth while. Oh yeah, it rained most of the time we were there.

I suppose that the (intelligent) normal posting style is to include photos with comments about a trip (in the Pinnacles and Sonora Pass forums the saying goes "invalid without pics"). I uploaded mine from the Old Mans' Trip to Pinnacles.

Sometimes even easy routes can be photogenic (on the north end of Byzantium):

Steve leading the first pitch of The Flying None (not a spectacular photo, but he's a great friend and I put this route up over 11 days four years ago so it was really pleasing to see him enjoy it):

Dave following Steve on pitch two of The Nightman Cometh:

These two Star Dryvin bolts are more than 60 years old. They're now replaced with two one-half inch stainless steel ASCA bolts (didn't bother with shots of the new bolts):

We took this shot to possibly include in the guidebook. Slung knobs are a critical part of the protection on one four pitch, 5.4 route at Pinnacles (which is very many people's "first multi-pitch"). It's ground-fall between bolts one and two but there are multiple solid knobs that can be slung in that area. And a lot of beginning climbers just have no clue that this is even possible:

EDIT: I should probably say that the bolts I replaced were around 60 years old. Two bolts replaced in seven hours car-to-car. One of the very few disadvantages of mandatory hand-drilling!

Lori Milaswrote:

 Brandt has a lovely garden. 

In January we tried. Things were going quite well with a cover to keep it from freezing.

We had some Bok Choy.   

And we had some lettuces and other stuff.

Then a squirrel discovered it, ate a hole through the cloth, and we were left with this:

Maybe we'll try again this Fall.

Episode 35 coming up so soon?

Ouch, getting old… either that or we all write far too much   

Brad, I know I’ll get howled down for this, but I’m not sure I’d call that good pro. At Araps ‘chicken heads’ are great for slinging, esp with thin dyneema slings like in your pic. However, if the rest of the route is bolted, and with additional bolts one needs to sling those nobs to save a ground fall, why not another bolt? Of course I know all the ethics and rules around consent and consensus etc. 

Ward I hope you send your boulder project.
Gabe we are boiling on an old Lapierre 4 x 12 evaporator. We are still boiling but are making commercial grade. Made 30 gallons of dark on Thursday and 40 gallons of golden last night. I could debate you about the RO and flavor, but like politics everyone has their own opinions, my friend has won many awards for his syrup . Looking forward to spending a few days in the woods cleaning lines. Then I can get back to climbing. I managed to get a couple times a week in the gym so I will be able to get up a 5.7 or two.
 Nick you’re scaring me. Time to pull out some rock shoes. 

Give me Sun and 65f and I will be excited to touch the rock. I had 9f Thursday morning. 

Isidnar wrote:

Climbing in Pinnacles National Park (almost wrote "Monument"), 

That's okay, under the current Administration, it will likely soon be Pinnacles National Sandpit and Crushed Stone Company. a subsidiary of the Trump Organization.

And it snowed here at West Point overnight! Got to love "spring" in the northeast of the USA!

Emil Briggswrote:

I'll respect the rules of the forum I'm engaging in. But I'm not open to all views. I mean disagreeing about the top marginal tax rate is one thing. Arguing that some people should have fewer rights because of skin color, sexual orientation or religious preferences not so much.

Where it gets more complicated is when someone says they don't support such things but then come up with tortured explanations of why they support politicians who do. I used to take that into consideration but at this point I no longer feel any need to give such people the benefit of the doubt. I mean one of the most common explanations I heard before the election from Trump supporters is that they didn't like the other stuff but he was going to be good for the economy. Well he isn't but they still support him so I don't think it was ever about that. 

Eric Hoffer, "The True Believe. Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements," 1951. Decent explanation.