Pics of Balloon Dome

[susan]

Great stuff! And the link http://jjolson.org/MiddleForkSanJoaquin2010-2.htm is a fully enjoyable read up through the part about poison oak at least. Looking forward to reading more after hours... TFPU!

[NateD]

Dingus could chime in with specifics about the East Face route, since he's climbed it. You are right that they are nearish the right skyline. He was kind enough to share a few pics from his adventure on this site. His full write up in the SSCA newsletter years ago was very cool.

Any ascents up Condor Rock are indeed a mystery - but there are those out there who like to do backcountry routes and not record them, so who knows? If not, announcing you'd like to be the first, right here on the internet, may start the race.    It's certainly crossed my mind, and no doubt many others, over the years.

[mungeclimber]

Race?

How can it  be a race if we all go out there together? 


Just wait til July or Aug for me.

[daniel banquo merrick]

I didn't know Dingus had a website.

If it's a race, it's a very gradual one.

[NateD]

I didn't know Dingus had a website.

If it's a race, it's a very gradual one.

Gradual indeed, but you might have just accelerated it with your juicy pics and statement of intent.  And yes, munge, I'd love to be in on a group effort. But anyone who knows me knows I'm much more talk than action, or really, more thought than action. And when action finally happens, I'm a tortoise. And even if the race isn't for first, seems there's plenty of blank rock to go around for a couple years.

re Dingus: I said "this site" not "his site". Doubt he has one, though he could have a really good one for sure, master story teller that he is.

[susan]

July or August seems too awfully hot there doesn't it? Need the higher elevations then methinks.

[Doug Robinson]

Hey, I'm new here. Thanks for maintaining this site, and for the excellent thread on Balloon Dome! By far the best info anywhere. I hope to go out there soon.

Maybe this is a "neglected" thread, but I'm trying to follow up on shreds of info put up by Vitaly and Yeti. No, no, no, NOT reviving the "discussion" about the value of Growing Up as a climb, but I would love to hear more about the two apparent attempts to climb it, by Salmanizer and Katie Lambert. It seems weird to me that it has not had a second ascent.

I searched ST for Salmanizer. He seems absent. Maybe he was deleted? I don't follow happenings over there much anymore. Pretty rough.

Anybody here know how to get in touch with him?

Likewise Katie Lambert?

I would just like to hear their stories.

Any ideas, please email me.

Thanks!
Doug Robinon
drobinson@movingoverstone.com

[mungeclimber]

Hi Doug,

I think Katie is on facebook...

https://www.facebook.com/katie.lambert.902/about

[susan]

Welcome Doug, nice to see you here - would be great to hear of any stories you may have of the area too! At any rate, hope you make the connections you are looking for soon. Salamanizer appears to be reachable on Mountain Project and is an administrator there. What a great resource that site!

Wow wonderful Facebook photos of Katie!

[Doug Robinson]

Thanks, Susan!

You and John truly are Heroes for being the keepers of this flame. Much appreciated.

It feels like the whole SoYo region is truly a special Hinterlands, enjoyed still 45 years after I followed Royal into it in a caravan led by his red and white VW Bus, tagging along in my yellow '58 Bus. Somehow it remains mostly unknown, the province of a select few, nearly an Illuminati, and ignored by the climbing world at large. It's a little more effort to bounce up the logging roads -- surely that helps keep it more like exploration. (I got lost even last summer, trying to find the regular road from Fresno Dome Campground out to Fish Camp. Dunno where I went wrong -- will have to go back and look -- but I got into serious 4WD terrain, inching down a ravine, walking ahead to scout and crawling over boulders. Bashed up a rental van pretty good, and was so thankful that, for once, I had bought the insurance on it.)

Beyond that sort of thing, I'm not sure I can add too many stories until, maybe, I start nosing around back on the plateau again. See, I got stuck years ago on going to Wamello Dome, and that's still basically the locus of all my SoYo experience, guiding and climbing with my kid and taking whole classes there when I taught at Foothill College in the 90s. A few, but very few, from that group are with us now.

And, yeah, from way back I recall climbing on The Balls, and a few places that I think are on the edges of Shuteye. I look forward to reconnecting with that terrain, letting the memories flood back, and mingling them with the excitement of climbing there now.

Balloon Dome began to fascinate me from way back in the early 70s when its photo was published in the Ascent article about Westside Domes. So much that the only time I have driven to the back of the plateau in decades was to walk out to an easy viewpoint and sit for an hour staring at it. Massive! Remote! Intriguing!

So thanks again for hosting this wonderful Forum. And thanks for the leads toward Salmanizer and (thanks, Munge) Katie. Onward to that.

Cheers!
Doug

[John]

Hi Doug, glad you like the site and welcome!

I too hope you can give us all some stories from the early days out there, especially ones you must have had involving VW bus epics! That sounds hardcore going out there in those things at all. Wow. (Coming from a fellow VW bus owner BTW)

Yeah, Balloon Dome sure gets in your head doesn't it. It is truly incredible.

Also a friendly warning: now that you are here I may be bugging you in the future for your insights about older routes in the area, especially at Fresno Dome since you seem to have spent so much time there over the years.

Once again, welcome and please feel free to share whatever you can, we would love to hear it all. Cheers!!

[susan]

Thank you Doug. I have struggled a bit to accept a compliment but would like to say simply thank you!

Also, I appreciate your writing style, even a few words about driving around out there "bouncing" up those logging roads. It's only been a few months since we've done that, but I really miss it -- and your post fills me with those good memories. Enjoyable to learn of others' heydays out there and to hear as much as possible about them. Sure would love to see if you had any photos at some point too.

Well, certainly hope to see you out and about out there in the coming months.   

[NateD]

Just want to add that I too would very much like to hear any tales you recall from your early days in the Hinterlands with Royal and the Rockcraft gang! And a big hearty welcome to a genuine pioneer, Doug!
Hope you can make it out there more this year, retracing old steps and finding new ones, bringing old friends and finding new ones.

[splitclimber]

Yeah Doug!! Good to see you here.

I wish I still had my 77 bus and could transport back in time and follow you guys out some logging roads.

[kenteroo]

Hello Everyone.

Newbie poster here. I am heading up to BD this Saturday August the 6th to look around. I am bring a DSLR and  "long" lens. If anyone wants pictures of anything please let me know. I'll post a trip report here if there's anything to add to the conversation. At the very least it will be a recent report.

Cheers,

Kent