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robk700
    
location:
Los Angeles / D.C.
Gender: Male
 |  | My heart is Aiken (Mojave Preserve mini trip)
< on 3/15/2010 10:10 AM >
|  | | | Another quicky in the Mojave Preserve. Sorry I didn't tell anyone. We decided at 1AM the night before. We camped at Riley's, now, an all too common site (found my next camp ground). I noticed that the snows did do some heavy damage to the main cabin. Another 10 years, I sadly predict that nature will take it's full toll.
The next day, we tested out $300 of new gear, I bought at REI, descending mines, I've never fully explored. There was lots of ground water left over from the winter snows. A left/right ascender system worked perfectly. Earlier, using google maps, I had found another clump of structures in the area. Sure enough, we came across a little abandoned community. For me, this was a huge delight.
Short on water, we drove back to the highway and refilled on supplies. After a few wrong turns, I nearly landing 2ft. deep in sand next to a mushroomed out (fill in blank). After my near panic attack, we found the correct road leading to the lave tube. We missed the xenon like rays by about 30 mins. Just not the same without. From there, we were left with two choices: explore the nearby Aiken Mine, without a spare, along lava rock road or mess around, in unknown territory, trying to locate virgin mines. I made a sudden U turn, opted for the earlier, and up we went. The road was not nearly as bad as I remembered. And the payoff: spectacular. About 4 square miles of old machinery, shacks and trucks. An end to a great "little" trip.
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[last edit 3/16/2010 2:27 AM by robk700 - edited 6 times]
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Cowboy
 
location:
Nashville, TN
Gender: Male
| |  | Re: My heart is Aiken
<Reply # 1 on 3/15/2010 2:29 PM >
| | | | Nice shots. i like the one of the guy going down the hole. i cant wate for this april mojavie trip. That place looks awsome. Is there that tipe of settlements all over that area? Because thats kinda the feeling im getting.
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Shockwave
Gender: Male
| | Re: My heart is Aiken
<Reply # 2 on 3/15/2010 5:54 PM >
| | | | man I can't wait for our next trip. this is superb Rob.
don't talk shit about total |
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robk700
location:
Los Angeles / D.C.
Gender: Male
| | Re: My heart is Aiken
<Reply # 4 on 3/15/2010 7:25 PM >
| | | |
Posted by fullondisaster
Is there that tipe of settlements all over that area? Because thats kinda the feeling im getting.
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It's not like shooting fish in a barrel. You have to look at all types of maps, ask rangers, locals, geologist and day trippers. You have to have the balls to take your car places it shouldn't. You have to know what signs to look for. And last but not least you have to be willing to spend time climbing mountains for nothing but a fence post. But then sometime you come up lucky and it's not just a post. After about 12 camping/exploration trips the more I know, the less I know. And I'm a lot poorer. But yes, Death Valley through the area now called the mojave preserve was much higher in ranching and mining than many places such as say antelope valley.
Posted by fullondisaster
very nice looks like a cool place, i like whatever that thing is in pic 16 looks like a big upsidedown funnel or somthin...
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It's jaba the hut's palace. He's doing okay.
[last edit 3/15/2010 7:35 PM by robk700 - edited 1 times]
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Therrin
 
This member has been banned. See the banlist for more information.
location:
North of Chicago, IL
Gender: Male
*Therrin puts on the penguin-suit
| |  | Re: My heart is Aiken (Mojave Preserve mini trip)
<Reply # 5 on 3/15/2010 10:12 PM >
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what kinda knot is that rob?
Give a person a match and they'll be warm for a minute, but light them on fire and they'll be warm for the rest of their life. =) |
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pmoradi2002
location:
Irvine, CA
Gender: Male
| |  | Re: My heart is Aiken (Mojave Preserve mini trip)
<Reply # 6 on 3/15/2010 10:56 PM >
| | | | Posted by Therrin
what kinda knot is that rob?
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It's his "let Poya fall to his death" knot.
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/-/ooligan
 
location:
Las Vegas area
Gender: Male
When in danger, when in doubt, RUN IN CIRCLES, SCREAM AND SHOUT!
| | Re: My heart is Aiken (Mojave Preserve mini trip)
<Reply # 7 on 3/15/2010 11:19 PM >
| | | | Posted by pmoradi2002
It's his "let Poya fall to his death" knot.
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Complete with the "Let the edge of the rock fray the rope" option.
There are no stupid questions, just stupid people. |
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Therrin
This member has been banned. See the banlist for more information.
location:
North of Chicago, IL
Gender: Male
*Therrin puts on the penguin-suit
| | | Re: My heart is Aiken (Mojave Preserve mini trip)
<Reply # 8 on 3/16/2010 12:25 AM >
| | | | | Complete with the "Let the edge of the rock fray the rope" option. |
Yeah that too. Or the lack of helmets.
(and *possibly* backup lighting and spares)
Rob,
while buying new gear is fun (and I'm a gear whore, so I know); to reiterate what I was just talking to someone else about:
having fancy new gear doesnt replace learning how to use it in a SAFE environement, or regular training, or getting the OTHER gear that you should have to go with it. Self-taught approach, in mine shafts, with two people who dont really know what they're doing is a a pretty deadly combo.
Every time you get a taste of success it'll get you thinking that you're doing things the right way.
Not saying you arent a cool guy, or smart, or that you cant figure it out;
but during the Tecopa trip you mentioned it was the first time you'd ever used ascenders. And at that we werent even really doing purely vertical ascent. We were using them as backup rope-grabs while climbing the existing structure.
I'm sure alot of us would be horrified ot see what you used as an anchor point and what you used to tie in with. There's a reason for that, because doing it wrong gets people killed in all kinds of different ways.
Give a person a match and they'll be warm for a minute, but light them on fire and they'll be warm for the rest of their life. =) |
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big dave
 
location:
SoCal
Gender: Male
| | | Re: My heart is Aiken (Mojave Preserve mini trip)
<Reply # 9 on 3/16/2010 12:53 AM >
| | | | What, no weigh station?
An armed society, is a polite society. So lets get to it! |
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robk700
location:
Los Angeles / D.C.
Gender: Male
| | Re: My heart is Aiken (Mojave Preserve mini trip)
<Reply # 10 on 3/16/2010 1:13 AM >
| | | | It's all out of shot. I think what you guys see flopping around is the tail.
Edit: :sigh: I got a little upiddy with Therrin. Damage control.
[last edit 3/16/2010 2:36 AM by robk700 - edited 3 times]
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Wilk
location:
NYC
Gender: Male
| | | Re: My heart is Aiken (Mojave Preserve mini trip)
<Reply # 11 on 3/16/2010 1:35 AM >
| | | | What kind of shape are the roads in out there with all the rain and snow? Pretty muddy?
Ready for liftoff
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robk700
location:
Los Angeles / D.C.
Gender: Male
| | Re: My heart is Aiken (Mojave Preserve mini trip)
<Reply # 12 on 3/16/2010 2:10 AM >
| | | | One picture of 25ft shaft and everyone gets all crazy. Sheesh. To answer the question about what knot it was it was a bowline, with two half hitches followed by 2 more reversed followed by another two more revered. I was board already. It and the SOLID anchor are all out of frame. A bowline alone would have been fine. We rig thousand of pounds from them in my work (but I always sneek a few halfs just to be extra safe). It was practice and not some 300 ft. drop. He could have climbed up without any ascenders but we practiced using a left/right. The same system you did in the youtube video. It was tiring and next time it will be with stirrups.
[last edit 3/16/2010 2:33 AM by robk700 - edited 1 times]
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Therrin
This member has been banned. See the banlist for more information.
location:
North of Chicago, IL
Gender: Male
*Therrin puts on the penguin-suit
| | | Re: My heart is Aiken (Mojave Preserve mini trip)
<Reply # 13 on 3/16/2010 2:42 AM >
| | | | Good to hear!
I've never seen a bowline with...8? half hitches, that sounds awesome!
You should check out the yosemite bowline. It integrates a backup into the knot, and doesnt require any other additional funk.
BTW... using handled ascenders with stirrups only really works in truly vertical work. If you're working on a sloped surface, you'd just end up dragging your body and all your equipment against the slope the whole time.
*not being able to wait any longer, Therrin leg-humps Rob anyway*
**EDIT**
Almost forgot... I'm glad to hear it was only 25ft. If its a 25 foot drop that actually requires a rope, as opposed to using one as a backup or for ease of climbing, and it snaps from fraying against the rocks at the top, you can still find yourself relatively F'ed.
In the future, at the very least, throw a sweater under the rope at an area like that.
Otherwise you can take 1" or 2" tubular webbing, just a section a couple feet long. Open the tube, and insert the end of the rope through it so the rope is "sheathed" inside the tubular webbing. Tie a smaller accessory cordage piece to the tubular webbing and either use a prussik knot to secure it to the rope, or tie it off to the anchor to keep it in place.
[last edit 3/16/2010 2:47 AM by Therrin - edited 1 times]
Give a person a match and they'll be warm for a minute, but light them on fire and they'll be warm for the rest of their life. =) |
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robk700
location:
Los Angeles / D.C.
Gender: Male
| | Re: My heart is Aiken (Mojave Preserve mini trip)
<Reply # 14 on 3/16/2010 2:43 AM >
| | | | Posted by /-/ooligan
Complete with the "Let the edge of the rock fray the rope" option.
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You ever try to cut one of those fuckers...wait don't answer that.
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Therrin
This member has been banned. See the banlist for more information.
location:
North of Chicago, IL
Gender: Male
*Therrin puts on the penguin-suit
| | | Re: My heart is Aiken (Mojave Preserve mini trip)
<Reply # 15 on 3/16/2010 2:48 AM >
| | | | YES! and under tension they cut VERY EASILY. Not the same as trying to cut them when they arent under a load.
(whoops!)
Give a person a match and they'll be warm for a minute, but light them on fire and they'll be warm for the rest of their life. =) |
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JBuss
location:
China Lake
Gender: Male
Rolling out the .50 cal just for Elf-boy
| | Re: My heart is Aiken (Mojave Preserve mini trip)
<Reply # 16 on 3/16/2010 3:11 AM >
| | | | I personally prefer a figure eight follow through and a few half-hitches. at my work we use these roller things you anchor to the edge and the rope slides over that preventing any kind of wear.
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robk700
location:
Los Angeles / D.C.
Gender: Male
| | Re: My heart is Aiken (Mojave Preserve mini trip)
<Reply # 17 on 3/16/2010 3:24 AM >
| | | | Posted by Wilky
What kind of shape are the roads in out there with all the rain and snow? Pretty muddy?
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The roads are great! We only saw one puddle.
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Therrin
This member has been banned. See the banlist for more information.
location:
North of Chicago, IL
Gender: Male
*Therrin puts on the penguin-suit
| | | Re: My heart is Aiken (Mojave Preserve mini trip)
<Reply # 18 on 3/16/2010 3:25 AM >
| | | | Those things are hella expensive! (re: the roller things)
they're like $150 PER SECTION! That's cool that you've got use of them though.
+1 on preferring to use figure 8's. If you're gonna use a bowline though (and they are hella usefull) the yosemite version is steak sauce.
http://www.trailsp.../topics/25044.html
Give a person a match and they'll be warm for a minute, but light them on fire and they'll be warm for the rest of their life. =) |
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big dave
location:
SoCal
Gender: Male
| | | Re: My heart is Aiken (Mojave Preserve mini trip)
<Reply # 19 on 3/16/2010 4:10 AM >
| | | | ROB WHATS WRONG WITH YOU? YOU DID IT ALL WRONG!
An armed society, is a polite society. So lets get to it! |
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