Smiling Cricket - Warning!

[ratagonia]

For those interested in Smiling Cricket - plans are afoot to remove the way-dangerous old/single/barely hanging on bolts in there. Future parties heading that way should be prepared to deal with the canyon in natural conditions - ie, boltless. If you are not, I suggest going elsewhere. It is a long way from anywhere, especially from 'rescue'.

Tom

[nat]

For those interested in Smiling Cricket - plans are afoot to remove the way-dangerous old/single/barely hanging on bolts in there. Future parties heading that way should be prepared to deal with the canyon in natural conditions - ie, boltless. If you are not, I suggest going elsewhere. It is a long way from anywhere, especially from 'rescue'.

Tom

Just curious, are people allowed to replace the bolts that the first decent party had placed? (thus still honoring the ethics of the first decent).

Nat

[hank moon]

Just curious, are people allowed to replace the bolts that the first decent party had placed? (thus still honoring the ethics of the first decent).

Nat

Ha! what makes you think there has been a decent party in there - first or otherwise?!!

[nat]

Just curious, are people allowed to replace the bolts that the first decent party had placed? (thus still honoring the ethics of the first decent).

Nat

Ha! what makes you think there has been a decent party in there - first or otherwise?!!

Yeah, yeah OK, so I flunked spelling class when I was a kid. Although from previous trip reports, it sounds like there has been some decent parties going on in that canyon!

Nat

[ratagonia]

For those interested in Smiling Cricket - plans are afoot to remove the way-dangerous old/single/barely hanging on bolts in there. Future parties heading that way should be prepared to deal with the canyon in natural conditions - ie, boltless. If you are not, I suggest going elsewhere. It is a long way from anywhere, especially from 'rescue'.

Tom

Just curious, are people allowed to replace the bolts that the first descent party had placed? (thus still honoring the ethics of the first decent descent).

Nat

What do you mean by "allowed"?

It sounds like you think people need my approval to place or remove bolts. People do not. People can do what they think is appropriate.

The warning is that, sometime in the near future, many or all of the bolts, or just the completely scary ones, are likely to be removed. I'm not at all sure my warning is necessary, anyway, as any reasonable person heading into an extremely remote, very difficult, rarely visited canyon would have to be nuts to rely on the whole thing being bolted up, OBVIOUSLY.

Perhaps the next group in will have a limited toolbag, and spend hours putting in sparkly new bolts on every little downclimb because that is what they think is appropriate. Hope they bring LOTS of bolts, and publish up Trip Report. Perhaps the next group will remove all signs of human passage. Perhaps...

Tom

[Deathcricket]

I like this "perhaps" game! Keep on rocking Tom!

[nat]

For those interested in Smiling Cricket - plans are afoot to remove the way-dangerous old/single/barely hanging on bolts in there. Future parties heading that way should be prepared to deal with the canyon in natural conditions - ie, boltless. If you are not, I suggest going elsewhere. It is a long way from anywhere, especially from 'rescue'.

Tom

Just curious, are people allowed to replace the bolts that the first descent party had placed? (thus still honoring the ethics of the first decent descent).

Nat

What do you mean by "allowed"?

It sounds like you think people need my approval to place or remove bolts. People do not. People can do what they think is appropriate.

The warning is that, sometime in the near future, many or all of the bolts, or just the completely scary ones, are likely to be removed. I'm not at all sure my warning is necessary, anyway, as any reasonable person heading into an extremely remote, very difficult, rarely visited canyon would have to be nuts to rely on the whole thing being bolted up, OBVIOUSLY.


Tom

Of course you are right Tom. I was just in an irritable mood. Thanks for the public warning.

Nat

[Iceaxe]

Tom, Thanks for the public service message.

[hank moon]

it sounds like there has been some decent parties going on in that canyon!

Hee hee....yeah...nice!

[AJ]

Personally, I'd love to see the bolts replaced instead of removed. There isn't a lot of anchor material in some places. (I'm specifically recalling the two stage drop that the bolt pulls right out.)

However, I feel that no bolt would be better than some of the bolts they have in there. Trusting those bolts (20-something year old 1/4" Star Dryvin's if I remember right) is downright scary... We definitely backed up any bolts we used (that we could) with meat or otherwise for all but the last person...