Dale Bard on Peregrine Pillar Sea of Dreams on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park

by Dave Diegelman

Title

Dale Bard on Peregrine Pillar Sea of Dreams on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park

Artist

Dave Diegelman

Medium

Photograph - Archival Photographs

Description

Dale Bard started out the morning free-climbing off of the Big Sur ledge, across an unprotected face where a fall would mean smashing into the ledge itself. “How is it?” I yelled just prior to capturing this picture. “Not so bad, maybe 5.8 and a bit loose.” My eyes strained to make out anything that looked as easy as 5.8 but then again this was Dale Bard, one of the boldest climbers of his era. In this photo he was just about to mount the pillar that we named Peregrine Pillar because we heard and saw the hatch site close by; the significance of which we’ll get to shortly. The only piece of protection he had from the belay at the shelf some 30 feet away was this one shown in the photo. Dale mounted the pillar and proceeded to tap out several intricate head and knifeblade placements and eventually finished the pitch which I cleaned. As I approached the pillar, with the chicks chirping for food a few yards away, I saw that the top of the pillar was basically a spike rendering the climbing straight above it a potential death sentence. “Nice lead off of that spike” I told Dale as I reached the belay. “Yeah it captured my attention” he replied nonchalantly.

Yosemite climbers in the 70”s had been watching the aerodynamically stunning Peregrine falcons for years. These predator’s are amongst the fastest birds in the world, clocking in at nearly 200mph. If you’ve ever seen cliff swallows darting around, just ponder how Peregrines catch them mid-flight, which they do and we got to witness. Those of us who climb big walls have been blessed with front row seats in their “hood” so to speak.

Shortly after completing the climb we told the Camp 4 Ranger, John, about the nest just because we thought it was a cool find. Peregrine’s were on the endangered species list largely due to the use of the pesticide DDT in the central valley. Three days later my partners, Jim Bridwell, Dale Bard and myself, got summoned to a closed-door meeting where several NPS brass from Washington, all of the hierarchy from Yosemite, and one of the world’s leading Peregrine ornithologists, Kurt (Stolzenberg?) were present. It’s sort of funny to reflect back on now but the main thing going through our minds then was, “what did we do now?” Formal meetings with the Park service were rarely a good thing. Anyway, as the meeting unfolded, we were given a summary of just how rare these birds were and the importance of locating a Sierra hatch site. Another factor in play was just how potentially valuable this could be to a poacher as falconry is a very royal sport in the Mid-east and a Peregrine might be worth in excess of $150k.

The suits asked if we would be spokespeople to the climbing community for partial wall closures during the nesting season in order to help protect their habitat. I think we were all stunned that there was a side to the park service that was so concerned about preservation, as our dealings with them seemed to mainly be about law enforcement issues that usually tried to group climbers in the same category as the hippies that erupted in the Stoneman’s Meadow riots of a few years earlier. Unanimously we agreed to support the cause. That was the inception of the seasonal wall closures that are in effect to this day. A few years later I was recruited by Kurt to be a climber, to swap out the real eggs with fake ones, so they could be hatched at a facility with the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group. The hatchlings were then replaced in the nests so that the parents could raise them in the wild. Thankfully, through the banning of DDT and the vast efforts of many, they are now off of the endangered species list. I was thrilled to be a tiny part in that effort.

This image was captured on June 1st 1978 with a Nikon Nikkromat camera and Kodak Ektachrome film.

If you're interested in acquiring a mural-sized wall covering of this piece, feel free to inquire via email. It's a part of my Limited Edition series, with only 100 prints available. Please note that the price increases as it sells. Just like all my editions, you can obtain certificates of authenticity by providing proof of purchase and your mailing address. Please send the necessary information to ddiegelman@gmail.com.

Photo & Text All Rights Reserved © Dave Diegelman

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May 8th, 2023

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