Backpack to Bart Dome

The next morning we awoke to organize our packs and I discovered that Patsy had left the dried milk powder at home; so much for breakfast! In addition to regular backpacking gear, we divided up and packed in four 10.5/11 mm ropes, three 9 mm ropes, and three racks of gear plus extra draws.

We backpacked to the base of Bart Dome, eschewing the advice of the Cannell Meadow ranger station that the trail north from Manter Meadow was impassable and the advice of another climber that there was no water in the vicinity of Bart Dome. I left the trail to scramble up to a bench close to the Dome and it was awesome! A large expanse of level sand lay close to the base of the enormous Rainbow Roof. This was the place! We had three water bags and everyone toted water from a stream 10 minutes away but it was well worth the extra effort.

We had somehow neglected to show Carl where we had left the trail and even though we were not far away from the trail, he managed to walk past us. Not knowing what had happened to him, Tom and Audrey set off in the direction from which we had come and I set off in the other direction. I gave Audrey Patsy's 2 m amateur radio and I took my own. I located Carl after 10 minutes and radioed Audrey to call off the search. It's good to bring oe radio along, but two is even better. I also found that we were able to reach a repeater on Bird Springs Pass in case of emergency.

We wasted away the rest of the day, tired both from packing in so much weight and from the midday heat. Tom had packed in two litres of our (now famous) Margarita mix, so we enjoyed a preprandial cocktail.

The next morning after breakfast, we started to hash out the route possibilities. Bart Dome looked pretty imposing from our vantage point, looming almost a sheer 1000 ft overhead. Dave and Jane wanted to do Bite the Bullet, a 5 pitch crack climb, 4, 5.9, 5.9, 5.8 and 5.6. Patsy wanted to lead Follow the Rainbow, a 5 pitch crack climb, 5.9, 5.7, 5.8, 5.8 and 4. The second pitch traverses immediately beneath the gigantic roof, using the crack in back of the roof as an undercling.

Since Tom and Audrey had yet to surface and I figured that Tom would want to use his rack, I opted to lead the easiest all-bolted route to the top, which consisted of the first two pitches of Under the Rainbow, 5.8 and 5.8, followed by The Vernacular 5.10a, 5.8, 4 and 4. Dave gave me his extra draws and we were off.

Patsy planned to lead Alex and Alice and I was to lead Carl and Sue. The Rainbow itself is a huge roof, some 20 ft deep that looms ominously overhead. Another route, Over the Rainbow follows a 12c crack over the roof. Since Patsy's route was all natural pro and harder than the start of my route, I was on the second belay before Patsy had reached her first. We had Alice join me, figuring that this would even out our rates of progress, which it did almost perfectly. The crux move of The Vernacular was a crank up on thin edges and not particularly difficult. Furthermore, this pitch was well protected with half a dozen bolts. The next pitch, however, the 5.8 with only two bolts, was the real crux of the climb. This pitch follows a deep water groove, nicknamed The Luge Run. There were two separate cruxes on this climb, both well above the previous belay station and below the first bolt. The first nasty move was a 5.8 friction move about 30+ ft above the belayer. The second nasty move was a 5.8 traverse of The Luge 40+ feet above the belayer because it turned out that the first bolt was on the other side. I was trying to push aside those thoughts of becoming a human bobsled, whistling 100 ft down this luge run. I did manage to cross The Luge Run safely and clip the bolt. Damn, but that was scary.

Patsy joined us at the fourth belay. We quickly climbed a couple of fourth class pitches and topped out on a large bench beneath the summit block. Carl and I scouted around and found a chimney that led to the top. One short and easy fifth class pitch and we were on top. What a view! And a bathtub too! We pulled off our shoes and soaked our sore feet in the large pool, which we nicknamed the King's Bathtub. No organised groups frequent this summit; there was no SPS register on top. The easiest route to the summit is a 7 pitch 5.7 route named Aquaman.

We started heading down, looking for the descent route, of which there were reported to be two. We almost accidentally arrived at one of these, a single bolt hidden amongst a vertical sea of chickenheads, one of which was hitched with a sling to back up the bolt. By this time, the wind was whipping, the sun has already gone over the horizon and we were freezing. Sue was beginning to shiver uncontrollably. We rapped off in haste and made it back to camp just before dark.

Tom and Audrey hadn't surfaced all day but came out to eat dinner. Tom had an intestinal disagreement and those few times we saw him it was with shovel in hand. Audrey, his Florence Nightingale, never once left his side and nursed him back to health or at least well enough that Tom was able to lead she and Alex up The Vernacular the next day.

Monday morning I was in a frenzy because I couldn't find my coffee. All disconsolate, I considered hiking but was fortified anew when my fourth search revealed the coffee hidden deep inside a stuff sack. Awake and happy once more, I set off with Patsy and Alice to climb The Mike Mason Memorial, a 5.10c absolutely classic quartz dike, while Dave, Jane and Sue climbed The Jim Jenkins Memorial. Jim was a Southern Sierra FS ranger who was killed by a drunk driver. I don't know who Mike Mason was.

I led the first pitch of The Mike Mason Memorial. This 3 bolt pitch was rated 5.9- but seemed more 5.9+ to me, with the 5.9+ move below the first bolt. Patsy led the second pitch which featured a difficult, height-dependent 5.9 mantle (probably 10+ for Patsy). We all three reached the second belay and stopped for lunch and to argue the direction of the route above. I voted for up and right (clearly difficult), whereas Patsy voted up and left (clearly easier). However, the first bolt, the only bolt that we could see (and even then we had to look very carefully) was up and right. The dike went up and right. The route did, in fact, go up and right. Maybe it was the postponed relief from caffeine deprivation that morning or maybe I was just having a bad day, but I did not like the look of this. Patsy bailed me out and offered to lead. When she clipped into the first bolt, she could see the next two spaced close together just above the first on the right hand side of the dike that ran over a roof. She had some trouble moving past the first bolt but then cruised past the next two bolts and disappeared over the roof. Patsy soon called down, "Off belay".

Alice and I fidgeted nervously. "Belay's on", came the command from above. "OK, your turn Alice". "I don't know, maybe I wait here". "No, go on, go for it". Alice took off up the dike, easy at first and switched ropes at the first bolt. She went up and fell, up again and fell again. "God almighty! . . . Tension! . . . Holy cow! . . . Tension Patsy! . . . You guys are knuckleheads!" A combination of tension and persistence finally won her the top and she joined Patsy at the belay. My turn. I reached the third bolt without much problem. Now I was standing on two micro edges, right hand on a similar edge and left hand on a greasy piece of quartz. Now what? My strength was ebbing fast, just hanging on. I solved the puzzle just before all my strength ebbed away. I reached right for that quickdraw and hauled up on it. Phew, I was a wreck after that.

At the belay, an alcove above which the dike soared at a wicked angle that was decidedly beyond the vertical, Patsy still wanted to continue. "I'll lead", she said. "This is a classic dike." She looked so forlorn. But I still didn't want to go on. I was really scared. "It'll be dark before we're off". I finally managed to persuade her that we should descend. As we rapped off she wore a huge ear-to-ear grin as she gazed up at the dike. "We could have done it", she said. "Maybe you baby, but not me, not today". I think that lead of Patsy's must have been the best on the whole trip.

We joined the others at camp, Tpm and Audrey, Alex, Sue, Dave and Jane. Sue, Dave and Jane had gone to the summit but after my stories of The Luge Run, T&A and Alex had rapped off after the third pitch. Jane wanted to go and lead the first pitch of Under the Rainbow before dark. Audrey said was going to go with her. Jane asked Patsy if she would like to go. Of course Patsy would go. I said, "Why don't you and I climb the first pitch of Jim Jenkins' instead?" "OK". I gulped down my Margarita and said, "Let's go".

"Come on Alice". "No alcohol dehydrogenase". "You'll be all right, you're on top rope". Patsy and I raced over to the base of the climb, hurriedly putting on our harnesses and shoes, I grabbed a bunch of draws and started up. A bit shaky to the first few bolts but then above the fifth bolt, I stopped dead in my tracks. "Hey, where's the next bolt?" Dave called from camp, "Do you see the next bolt? It's above you, about 25 feet". Sheesh, that's a long way up. How quickly one can sober up! I moved cat-like to that next bolt and safety.

At the belay, I clipped in and looked for my belay device, but in my haste I had forgotten it. "Hey, I forgot my belay device but no problem, I'll give you a body belay". "Body belay?" "Yeah, don't worry, I've done it before, you're safe". Alice started up. "This is a l-o-n-g pitch!", she screamed up at me. Patsy joined us. I had already knotted the two ropes together. I clipped the biners together to make a brake. I was being extra careful now since I knew the Margarita was having an effect. Gates opposed, gates opposed, gates opposed. "Good, I'm out of here". I reached the ground in less than a minute. "Off rappel". Now where did I put that headlamp? We all made it back to camp safely but there was no more Margarita left.

The next morning we were packed up and heading out at 9 am. We reached the cars at 1 pm, ate lunch and began the long drive home. The Kern River was incredible. Although we had planned to visit some hot pools on the way, we figured they would be flooded and pressed on home instead. Patsy and I reached home about 11 pm.

Once again, good weather, good people and good climbing made for a great trip! It was like having Tahquitz all to ourselves. And the backpacking made an enjoyable change from our usual routine of car camping.