Here, you have Greg Loniewski and his old YOSAR tent cabin. Recently, the rangers turned YOSAR into a training ground for wannabe rangers (i.e., it’s no longer Monkey-friendly). Still, I had a good four-year run on SAR before getting the boot for being too “countercultural.” Greg, too, fell prey to the same dilemma, but not before luring several girlfriends to his Nylon mansion.

Perhaps the social epicenter for the Monkeys is the Yosemite Lodge Cafeteria, a short stumble from Camp 4. On a busy day, Monkeys infest a couple large tables. For many years, Chongo held court here, but his constant presence eventually became too high-profile, and the “Tool” ran him out. This photo shows “Hippie” Walt and Luis “Lucho” Rivera hanging. Lucho is always game for chossing up a first ascent; he learned the finer points of new route-ing from me and the legendary Rob “Platinum” Miller.