Bishop Canyon Vid (11.13.21)

Healy, you say is his last name huh? I guess I should finally write the tale. Some seemingly random musing, leading to a grimace or a laugh, or both.

Stevee B is a very inclusive fellow by nature. Loves to share whatever delights him with others. In particular, he likes to bring talented folks across disciplines. I like to think myself a fairly inclusive fellow, but I have struggled at times with Stevee’s timing. The discussion goes something like this….

Stevee: “I am bringing a friend along for the trip”
Ram: “Stevee, you know we’re planning some explorations with high stemming and perhaps hard X stuff too?”
Stevee: “It’s OK, he is a 5.12 climber.”
Ram: “Has he ever done a canyon before?”
Stevee: “No, but he will do fine.”

Stevee knows a lot of 5.12 climbers with no canyon experience, or so it seems, as this conversation has happened perhaps 3 times. Admittedly, it is still a small sample group from which to make conclusive statements about, but I will share what I have experienced.

All of these fellows turned out to be nice guys and while they may have continued to canyoneer after these trips, I never saw them again. That may say more about me than them….or not. Perhaps they went on to do many canyons. Perhaps these were their “one and only’s”. What I can say is that 5.12 climbers with no stemming experience, these 3 and a few others I have gone with? They were a bit surprised by the fact that while stemming can go from class 3 to 5.6 in normal situations, with the occasional harder up climbs (sometimes off width), the work is done almost entirely free solo. Many a fine rock climber is not only excellent at the climbing, but are very proficient at reducing risk. Some were OK with the risk of climbing straight up. Not so much sideways. Now easy climbing is easy climbing and with or without “R” and “X” factored in. ALL of these people were able to perform admirably. What was also true, was these fellas tended to be slow at first. They would usually travel at half the speed of the rest of the group. Those canyoneers can move in the horizontal world. Lord knows what they thought of their new partners, who appeared homeless and perhaps mentally ill, in their ratty, hole filled garments. But they picked it up pretty quickly, some on their own, others were catching on slower, with some “modeling” of the moves by a team member (this works quite well). Groups moving through together is best. Waiting for others gives one too much time to think, me especially. Most climbers tend mostly to climb with 4 points. Two feet and two hands. Canyoneers tend to evolve toward the regular use of the whole body. There are exceptions both ways, but it is a fair statement generally. So canyon folk have evolved systems to protect themselves from rock rash, when in stemming country. It is called armor. More on this later

Most folks who become regular “adventurers” become more environmentally aware and tend toward being caretakers and advocates, at some level, protecting the environment that they play in. I have a good knowledge base of these ethics in the canyons and mountains. I would need serious tutoring in many other venues, say caves, underwater environs etc.. So it might be for a climber going cross country in the desert for the first time.

On this day, I met Justin “Healy.” Justin was a fine fellow, playing in a new venue. He did fine.

So on the day of the descent of sections 1,2 & 4 of Bishop, Nat Smale and I carried the ropes over to “the rap in spot” above the start of the 4th section and returned to the group. The group was “gearing up” at the start of the unexplored 2nd section. Having looked at both ends of this section a week or so before, I told my partners to prepare for high stemming. That often involves knee and elbow pads, padding for the skin most everywhere, including the lower back. I particularly love using forearms and shoulder protection too. Anyone can get by without this fare for a day or two, but if you have a week or more of it scheduled, you better “Armor up” as canyoneers call it. You DON’T want that raspberry on your skin to be the ideal spot you need to smear with, on your next move.

So aside from elbow, knee, butt and forearm padding, I like having trunk and shoulder padding. The most common source of this type of protection for me, is the remnant of an old wetsuit top, scissored off at the waist. As I go through many wetsuits, this is easily available and easy to tailor.


So back to the top of section #2 in Bishop. Nat and I were behind in preparations as we cached the rope. It was Mother’s Day in an unseasonably warm May. High 90F’s I believe. At a glance it appeared that we might be in the sun a lot (turned out to be the case) so we drank liberally of our water. One does not want to have muscles cramp from dehydration, while high stemming. Still for me, the wetsuit jacket is worth it a bit of overheating to protect my delicate (waaa, waaa) skin. The desert was dry that year and the group had stopped at the only pothole with water in it I have seen on my two trips there that May. Small in diameter and steep, water 3 feet down. I see an opportunity and get on my belly and reach down and dunk the wet suit. I do so, then pull it up and wring the suit over the rest of my body, trying to get as wet as I can, to stay cool. I hear and ignore an uneasy laughter from members of the group. I repeat the dunking and now the uneasy laughter is louder. I look up at the group and people are looking away, or at each other, then eyes go to the ground and more soft uneasy laughter. Then it hits me. I get it. I ask the group “Who peed in the pothole?” Justin owns up. The others break into louder laughter. REALLY? You peed in the only water source around because it looked like a urinal? I was struck dumb.

I guess it didn’t occur to a “cragger” to treat the pothole with environmental care. But perhaps the salt doesn’t hurt. Maybe the dirt from my suit is a bigger environmental hazard? As their laughter starts to subside and Justin has shown proper and true remorse, I weigh my choices. Down on my belly I go, the suit dipped in and then the jacket put on. Some laugh harder. Some look on with wide eyes and gaping mouths. Staying cool and having skin protected has carried the day. The canyon delivered. In fact it was a real pisser.
Ramoo

Here is the odoriferous jacket. Note no one is nearby