Class 5 Fitness - October 5, 2010

It had been raining for a while and all our climbing gear was still wet so we headed over to a climbing gym in Sonora called Class 5 Fitness.  No one was working at the desk when we got there so we just started climbing.  It was an ok wall but too much of the wall was slabby so we quickly climbed most of the routes there.  No one was working the desk the entire time we were there so it was the right price.  Hey sometimes you just got to be a dirt bag.

 We also hooked up the Wii Fit inside to pass some time.  Ken was excited to find out he had lost almost 20 lbs since leaving Boulder in late July.

Ram Visits - October 4, 2010

Since it rained again we couldn't go climbing so we took Ram out for some shopping at our favorite Sonora store; the Grocery Outlet.  It is like a overstock food store and because of this it get some great nicknames like the Gross Outlet or the Used for Store.  We've gotten a few great deals there and Ram has a cheap nature about him so he loved it.

Ram in the van.

After shopping Anja and Ram went up to the Moaning Caverns for a tour which they said was a big rip off.  We also did a bunch of trip planning for our travels to Thailand which Ram is going to join us on.  I think we have settled on leaving January 24 to fly to Singapore (for 4 days), then take a train to Kuala Lampor (for 5 days) and then head to Ton Sai where Ram will be with us for a while.  Anyone else want to join us there?

Ram Visits - October 3, 2010

Since we were still in California Ram wanted to come up and hangout again so I checked if there was space for a third couchsurfer in the house with Burhoe.  It had rain all night in the Valley so we headed straightout to meet Ram in Sonora.  While in California we have been enjoying the plentiful cheap wine and Keri had recommended local wine tasting in Murphy, CA.  When Ram got here we headed over there.

The van on main street Murphy.

Since Ram and Anja are the a very good pair of trouble makers.  Ken volentered to be the designated driver while they wine tasted.  We really liked Tanner (who had great wine and are friends of Keri's) and Lavender Ridge (who do wine and cheese pairing).  Ram and Anja by far gave the most trouble to our last stop.  The nice women there handled them well, even if she was only 22 and dating a 33 year old guy.

Kor Beck Wreck - October 2, 2010 - PART 2

We were both on the ground, but the adventure was only half over.  By this time both the climb and the rappel route had turned into a vertical river/waterfall with several inches of water running down them.  Ken got the tag line back but the lead rope was stuck. Wanting to get away from the base of the cliff, we left the rope and headed to the trees.

Realizing the team from above should be rappelling down, Ken wanted to stay and see if they could free our line so we wouldn't have to come back tomorrow (and risk it getting swiped).  Anja hunkered down under a large tree while Ken waited for the team to come down.  Things soon got more intense with first gravel coming down, then a fist-sized rock (which sent Ken hiding behind the big tree with Anja) followed by a refrigerator sized rock which came down just to the left of the rappel route.  Ken stopped worrying about the rope and started worrying about the level of rescue that might be needed for the climbers. We were cold and could only imagine what the climbers above were going through.  Were they having trouble pulling their ropes?  Were they in the fall zone of the vertical river and rock debris?  We were definitely glad to be on the ground!

Luckily at 3:50 pm the storm started to ease and the rock fall mostly subsided, so Ken took a picture.  The climbers are just below the tree on the skyline just to the right of the left facing dihedral.  They were moving very slow.  Ken was worried that they might have fixed a rappel rope and called up that our line was stuck on the first rappel and that they could use it if they needed it.  Another hour or so and they were at the top of the first rappel.  Unfortunately, due to communication error or hypothermia they thought we had left our rope set up for them to rappel.  Without checking the length of our rope first, and because it was difficult to communicate over the storm (and for us to see what they were doing), they started rappelling our rope.  Fortunately, they had backed the rappel with a prusik, so they were able to stop when they realized their error.  Seeing them hanging there 100 ft from the ground still raining from the safety of the trees 200 ft below it was hard to tell what was going on.  Ken called up "are you alright?"  The climber gave the "so-so" signal with his hand and lifted the short end of the rope.  Ken understood what to do right away and ran back to Anja to get the second rope.  Fortunately, one end of the rope was on the belay ledge at the base of the climb, so Ken scrambled back up to the climb and tied on our second rope.  The ropes could now get them to the ground,  and Ken put them on belay.

Now the climbers just needed to transfer their weight to the opposite side of the rope and Ken could easily lower them to the ground.  Again it was unclear what they were doing, and Ken was putting himself in danger by waiting in the rock fall zone for them to lower.  Anja got impatient and started yelling at them which helped a lot as they were unsure what to do.  They got on the single side of the rope which was a BOLD move as they put their lives completely in Ken's hands, a complete stranger, at that moment.  In one minute they were on the ground.  Ken pulled the ropes and headed back to the trees.  All on the ground in the safety of the trees, we found out one of the climbers had an injured hand (not sure how) and that they only had one rappel device (not sure why) and only one prusik.  So they had been rappelling together on the one device, again not sure why (muterhitch would have been good, carabiner brake, or lowering one person would have all worked).  Also, it turns out they had just abandoned their rope(s) when they saw ours (again not sure why).  They did not seem to be hypothermic and seemed to move ok hiking out, but we walked back out to the cars with them just to be sure.

On the way back we passed a trail marker that had stood about 3 feet above ground on the way in but was now buried by several feet of sediment.  We were back at the cars by 5:15 pm.   Soaked but happy to be climbing into the van to change clothes.

We then headed to meet up with Alex, Adam and Yumi.  Alex was joined on the weekend by his lady Cathrine and a couple other people from SF area.  In a small world moment it turned out that Cathrine knows Bill and Leslie as she normally rents a place just up the road from them during ski season.  Since it had rained so much and probably wouldn't be dry on Sunday, Alex headed back to SF and we camped with Adam and Yumi.

Kor Beck Wreck - October 2, 2010 - PART 1

Our good friend Alex had made plans to be in Yosemite for the weekend and had gotten a campsite in Upper Pines. He had space for us, so we headed back into the Valley for the weekend.  As luck would have it Adam and Yumi were also looking for something to do, and we made arrangements to meet up in the Valley.  Ken wasn't too excited about heading into the Valley to climb on a Saturday, but it's always great to see friends!

Anja really wanted to climb Central Pillar of Frenzy so we headed to Middle Cathedral, racked for a trad climb and headed up the short walk.  We got to the base, and (not surprisingly) 3 parties were already on the 5 pitch route and one party was at the base.  Route traffic wasn't too bad for a Saturday, except that the party currently on the first pitch was rumored to have taken out aiders.  For those who don't understand this, it would be like someone putting on tire chains (in the middle of the road) to drive on a dirt road. We waited for a bit, and realizing we were not going to make it further than 3 pitches on this route Ken headed up to look at the line on the Kor Beck.  There was a party on the first pitch moving fast and a party descending from the top, so there was only one other party on the route.  That sounded better than joining the circus on Central Pillar.  The weather was looking questionable, but it was sunny down in El Cap Meadow, so we decided to give it a go.

Anja really wanted to climb, so she headed up the first pitch.  The team who was directly in front of us rappelled off after the first pitch and took off which just left the one team above.

Shortly after the other team left we felt our first rain drops.  It was 3:15 pm.  Anja asked what to do and Ken suggested she climb faster.  Luckily the route had bolted belays, so it was easy to bail off the route.  The rain quickly turned to a down pour and the first pitch turned into a small river.  To get off the route as fast as possible, Anja set the rope through the rap chains and lowered as Ken climbed up.  We both cleaned gear and Ken set a quick anchor to lower Anja using the second rope.  When Anja got to the ground she stood and waited so Ken could single line rappel using her as the anchor. Soon we were both safely on the ground.  Part 2 of this adventure tomorrow.

Twain Harte Disc Golf - October 1, 2010

After flying Ken felt nauseous so we decided on a low key activity.  After some down time on the couch, we headed to Twain Harte (about 20-30 mins away) for some disc golf.  We had gotten a map of the course and directions at the climbing (and disc!) shop "SNAC" in Sonora.  It was easy to find the parking lot, but a bit tricky to find the course itself.  It was a fun little course and not many people were around to worry about hitting.  The elevated flume made a unique course setting and a fun disc throwing obstacle.

Top of the elevated flume.

Ken at the green of hole 1.

The elevated flume from the green of hole 1.

Ken teeing off on hole 2.

Here's a rough course map that Ken made.  Anja vouches that it is much better than the photocopied map we picked up in SNAC!

Flying with Burhoe - October 1, 2010

Burhoe offered to take us flying at the local airport.  He has started racing airplanes and learning acrobatic maneuvers.  He rented a 2-seater Citabria from his club and took both of us up for a 30 minute tour of Sonora.  Anja went up first and was nervous and excited at the same time about the flight and the tricks.

Nervous Anja.

Excited Anja.

Anja taxiing out on the run way.  When Anja got back she was very excited and a bit queasy.  She had an awesome time!  Burhoe had done wing overs, barrel rolls, loop de loops, and aileron rolls.  She had started to feel a little sick so Burhoe stopped.

Ken went up second and was pretty excited and nervous like Anja had been. 

Ken's flight was a little longer.  They went up and did a tour of the area and then did a wing over, aileron rolls, and loop de loops.   Then Burhoe intentionally stalled the engine for Ken to see what it was like. Near the end of the flight Ken was ready for more tricks so Burhoe flew over the reservoir and let the tricks rip with more aileron rolls, loop de loops, ingalmen rolls, and a hammer head.  Ken just keep saying I feel ok at the end of the maneuver so Burhoe would go straight into the next one. 

After the flight Burhoe said he was impressed that Anja and Ken both had good stomachaches for aerobatic flying.  The flights were awesome!!! Thanks Burhoe.

Anja also went for a run today:
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