Two to Desolation: Lover's Leap and Mt Tallac fullmoon hike, September 1999
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Kelly had Thurs. off work and I didn't have any classes so he didn't have
much trouble talking me into a trip to the Leap...I slipped out of the house
at 7am before anyone else was up, he picked me up and soon it was Eastward 
Ho! towards vertical ganite. First off was the difficult Direct Start (5.10a
or c) to SURREALISTIC PILLAR--a prospect we were both unsure of, he that he
could lead it and I that I could follow! Kelly made it up only having to rest
on the rope twice, and then it was me. All went well on the tricky but fun
lower section, but at the crux--a small roof then a crack; I'd failed to
convince Kelly that the book said the right variation was the more difficult
10c--strength and technique failed me and after several attempts I had to 
haul myself up on the rope. Sigh. I led the rest of the way to the top; from
there we walked to the base of the Main Wall and CORRUGATION CORNER, a 5.7
--we'd both had enough of strenuous climbs for the day! As I left the second
belay ledge I felt drops of rain and continued up through spots and sunshine.
"The bad news is it's going to dump" said Kelly as I joined him, "The good
news is there's a rainbow." Looking east I saw a beautiful arc reaching up 
from the valley below to the black sky above. A very short and easy pitch took
us to the top and we were off and down before it could do more than sprinkle.
Thoughts of another route banished by the risk of rain and darkness on the
rock we headed home--all in all a pleasant day's climbing on lovely routes.

Saturday rolled around and it was off again--on 80 for the third time in a row,
after a summer of leaving town on 580--to Mt Tallac in Desolation for a full 
moon hike. Going in at 3:30pm we passed a constant stream of people coming out
(I guess all those cars in the carpark had to belong to someone!); taking in
great views of Lake Tahoe and Fallen Leaf Lake, dipping in Cathedral Lake
and stopping for frivolous photos we made our way to the summit. The lowering 
sun turned the grass a lovely colour (click!) then sank behind a ridge. 
Bryce's tinted glasses made the evening sky fantastic. Reaching the summit
we kicked back and relaxed, sharing oranges, chocolate, carrots, biscuits,
crackers, sandwiches; before we knew it a great orange disc was rising up
out of a notch across the way. Moon photos were taken, as well as the 
obligatory summit shots--with sunnies on so the flash wouldn't hurt!--then
we settled back to enjoy the windless and surprisingly warm evening. Loth to
leave we stayed for several hours, singing and talking and gazing at the view
and what stars could be seen--Chris pointing out the constellations he knew.
Then, by moonlight and the occasional headlamp, we made our way back to the
car and then Berkeley, stopping for dinner (or is it breakfast?) at Denny's,
the only place open, on the way.