This last weekend I was able to return to Dogtooth. My number one goal was to do a new line in honor of Mark Haymond which many of you knew. After his passing in July last year his wife gave all of his gear to Scott Jet who gave some of the pieces to some of those who had climbed with Mark. I was honored to receive his old 1/4” hand drill a few old hangers with one having a split shank button head. Paul Amico and I left Thursday night after work and hiked in getting there at 1130 pm. Fred Vermote left Monterey at 130am And was able to meet us at Bullfrog Lake by 9am. We headed over to the middle tooth and picked a line that started on the lowest part of the middle slab 60’ or so right of the big pine tree. Paul took the first pitch and up came Fred and I. I brought Marks drill and the leaper with the split shank. I started the hole and then Paul and Fred each shared some wacks on it before I finished by placing Mark’s hanger and bolt. The bolt wasn’t needed for the anchor but we felt it was a great way to honor Mark and ID the top of the first pitch. Paul handled pitch 2 with Fred P3. I took P4 and 5 and Paul finished us off on 6. It ended up being a great line that Mark would of really enjoyed with pitches of 5.4, 5.5, 5.7, 5.8, 5.7, 5.7 for a total of 1,270’. If your interested in climbing it or want some beta message me and I will send you the topo for the Mark Haymond Memorial Route.
I ended up having a toe issue the following day when Paul Souza and Laurel showed up so I didn’t join Paul and Fred on their adventure of a fresh line on the north tooth at 5.8+ since they couldn’t find the start of Matt’s Gin and Juice Route they intended to climb. They are working on the topo for that.
