Cam Lobe Earrings

I was recently given a haircut from a friend (and what a kick-ass haircut it was). Being a professional hairdresser and all, she required payment, but considering the conditions the haircut were given in, I thought it would be cooler to trade her service for something I could make...

After disassembling an old piece of climbing gear called a Spring-loaded camming device (SLCD), or cam, I went about looking for earring hardware on the East side of the Sierra and came up empty handed...until I found myself in the hardware store (duh). Here is the result.

Lobes removed

One finished earring, 3 lobes, 1/4" threaded aluminum spacer, and cam axle

The goods!

My friend Sarah wearing the earring

I used a 1/4" threaded aluminum spacer, which barely fit into the hole in the cam lobe. I had to gently tap it in with a hammer...and thanks to the malleability of both pieces, the threaded hole did not deform, and the cam lobe did not break. I then placed a small (6-32 x 3/4") machine screw into the threaded hole. The appropriate nut holds the earring in place, much like a threaded barbell.

I risked using both a brass flathead screw (which looks really cool) and a stainless philips screw (which looks a little less cool). The brass ended up being too reactive with Sarah's skin and she can only wear the stainless one. Thankfully in Sarah's other earlobe resides a #3 Black Diamond stopper.

Photos from climbing and foot patrol

I have the opportunity to patrol and protect some of the most beautiful places in the world. Here are some of the pictures from this season:

The view down onto Tenaya Peak (left) and Tenaya Lake (center) from Medlicott Dome


Lots of wildflowers. This is one of my favorites. Any guesses?

Unicorn Peak (left) and Cathedral Peak (right) with their early-season blankets (taken in mid-July)

The Lyell Fork of the Tuolumne River

The rare clouds and even rarer storm approaching Tuolumne Meadows.

A good assortment of the Domes and peaks pictured: from L to R, Unicorn, Fairview, Lamb, Mariuolumne, DAFF

A typical trail through the lodgepole forests.

Cloud's Rest (L) and Half Dome (R) in the evening light

The two story composting toilet in Glen Aulin, one of the High Sierra camps

There will be more patrol photos as the season progresses!

My coworker Eric finds a magical door...to where does it lead?