ElCap Report 6/30/08

Yo.. Well it started out really nice today here at the bridge.  Great weather with clear skies and a nice wind from the SE.  But that soon changed and the prevailing west wind did its thing and came along late in the morning with tons of smoke.  I was lucky I got out a little early to shoot the NC lads on Zodiac before the smoke set in.  The bridge was pretty quiet today.  The action on the Cap was quite subdued, as you will read below.

ElCap Report 6/29/08
By Tom Evans

Yo..  Yep it is Sunday and another fine day here in the Valley.  I was up very early to go down to the Great Rock and see the unfolding events of the day.  There was a nice wind from the SE for a change and the sky was clear with some small white clouds briskly moving across the sky.  The air was crisp and clear, a real pleasant change from the smoke and haze of the past week.  I gave the show at the lodge last night and we all had a good time.  There were few climbers with Winky holding down the rear seating area.  Bobo showed up for a time with his partner Chris but they were off to the Dome for a one day climb so they didn’t stay long.  Most of the climbers are gone now or climbing on the routes.  So I was kind of tired when I got up at 5:25 this morning but the cobwebs were soon gone with excitement of the day.

ElCap Report 6/28/08
By Tom Evans

Yo.. Well I wish I could tell you that the air is fresh and clear like it usually is this time of year… but the fires keep making the smoke that the west wind keeps blowing into the valley.  It was very smoky most of the day with short spells of fair visibility.  For a Saturday the place was pretty dead.  Some action on the big stone and several new teams getting ready to depart. 
Today’s report is brought to you by Hollywood Hans himself as he drifted by with the kids for a little down by the river time this afternoon.  Nice to see him out and about with the kids for a little relaxation.

ElCap Report 6/27/08

By Tom Evans

Yo… The fires are not going away in CA and neither is the smoke in the Valley. The mornings aren’t too bad but the afternoons are really ugly. Today was nice enough if not for the smoke. The Touron traffic is down too. The Cap is pretty active all things considered. Photography was particularly difficult in all the smoke and it was difficult to see any one west of the Nose as the light conspired with the smoke to produce a screen almost impossible to even see through. Today’s report is brought to you by Megan McGahey, the wife of our own climbing ranger who is presently trying to sneak up Zodiac without telling anyone! Fat chance of that Jesse! The eye in the sky is on you Son!

ElCap Report 6/26/08

 By Tom Evans

Yo! Still very nasty air here in the valley. The smoke was as thick as Stews skull today. The photography was nearly impossible and few good shots were taken. However, early in the day, when Hans and Yuji went for the record on the Nose, the air was much better but that usually welcome west wind was the agent of doom today. There is a lot to write and I will have to include pics later as I have 300 images to do and not enough time to do it all tonight. So you get the report now and the pics inserted when I can… live with it pukes! Today’s report is brought to you by Jannett, or it might be Janice, you know how bad my memory can be especially in the company of a beautiful woman! She came up to me, as I was about to leave this afternoon, with a pile of home made cookies and a box of beers to share with the bridge rats. She was just so sweet and nice that I stayed a while to chat with her, as we looked at the great rock. She explained that she and her husband are climbers who are mostly weekenders on the cliffs but that does not diminish their love of climbing and this place. She reads the Report every day and enjoys knowing all that is going on here. Very refreshing to talk to such an enthusiastic woman. Thank you so much Jannett for brightening my long day here at the bridge. It is for people like you that I come out here day after day and do the photos and the report, sometimes working late into the night to get it all done.

ElCap Report 6/25/08

 By Tom Evans

Yo! It was another nasty day here at the Bridge and in Yosemite in general. The smoke was so thick I could barely even make out the Cap much less focus the camera on climbers. But I do all I can because I know that the climbers up there want to have something to see from their climb and with image processing programs I was able to salvage a few shots of each team. All the climbing images below looked like the following one before I processed them. It is a frigging miracle I got such good results.

ElCap Report 6/24/08

By Tom Evans

Yo… the smoke was just about impossible here at the bridge today. I couldn’t even see enough to focus the camera. I shot anyway knowing that the processing program can take a lot of the junk out of the shot and I was amazed to get some fair shots. Also Doug was on his last day and I wanted to have some record of the end of his climb. The Tourons were as thick as the smoke and it was tiring to explain things over and over and to try to show them where the climbers were through the dense smoke. It is bad enough even on a clear day. Several climbers came by and relieved me for a time. There was some action on the cliff and more to come in the next few days.

ElCap Report 6/23/08 By Tom Evans Yo.. So you may have heard that the Valley is pretty smoky these days, well it is Way Smoky. But, I know that my audience of cubicle pukes, and tied down worker bees in the in the crush of capitalism don’t give a rodents rectum about my working conditions and just want the news right from the rock directly to them. I set my alarm and got up early, so you would have a front row seat to all of today’s action on the Captain. I was in the Café by 6:30 and had my usual heart attack special, the Breakfast Burrito! Then I went down to the big stone to see what I could see.

ElCap Report 6/22/08

 By Tom Evans

Yo! Guess there is a fire out to the west of the valley as there was some smoke drifting in today on the Cap. Otherwise it was nice and a little cooler maybe. We had a little gusty wind with just a few drops of rain late in the afternoon yesterday and it was hoped that would bring in the cooler weather. I had a good show last night with lots of Tourons and Monkeys in attendance. It is my last one of the spring as I am out of here in a few days. I will be back in late Sept. Most of my posse left for Sequoia this morning, leaving me and BMDJake to hold down the fort. He is off in a couple of days to do a route on the LA with a female friend who is a relative noobee to the sport. The bridge was deserted in the morning until Jingy showed up with beers and a philli-cheeze he got outside the park… nice!! So today’s report is brought to you by Jingy who was here with the goods … So kill all the prisoners, burn the buildings, scatter the animals and pay attention because here is today’s … ElCap Report…

ElCap Report 6/21/08

 By Tom Evans

Yo… Well it was another nice day here with some cooler air and a few clouds coming in later in the day. There were few Tourons and fewer climbers hanging around which made for a very quiet day here. I have to get some work done on my show tonight so this will be to the point. Today’s report brought to you by Big Wall Kate who was by for a while sporting a new Subaru wagon. She looked fit and happy and is looking forward to doing some climbing. So here it is for today…