Pinnacles Bills Bad Bolts

Question
Dear Robert:

Tomorrow I'll be up on one of your routes on Machete, "Bill's Bad Bolts."  I
would be grateful if you would take a few moments and tell me the story of
the first ascent.  In closing, let me add that I have been a fan of your climbing
fiction for many years.

Sincerely,

Pete Gray (aka pedro)

Answer
Dear Pete,

I just returned from the Valley this afternoon, so I hope this message reaches you in time.  
As many have noticed, the bolts on Bill's are mostly star-drvyins.  Many of the bolts on the aid ladder are tiny one inch bolts.  The intention was to treat these placements like rivets on a big wall climb and use two or three of them between decent, longer bolts.  The early and mid-eighties were not a good time as far as bolting equipment was concerned.  
Bill Hunt is an old friend and partner of mine.  I talked him into going up to work on the lower part of the bolt ladder.  Cursing and sweating while hanging in aid, he managed to drill a 1 and 1/2 inch hole for a two inch bolt.  After pounding in the resulting spinner, he came down and swore off the climb.  When Lincoln and I finished it, I had to blame the whole thing on Bill.
Families, jobs, injuries and actual fun climbing made progress on Bill's a sporadic affair.    The first time I came out of aid at the top of the ladder, a big hold broke off in my right hand.  I didn't fall, but I was scared witless.  Adrenalin shot me up all the way to the belay alcove.  I put two bolts in, rappeled off and didn't go near the climb for a year.  
Eventually, Lincoln and I made it up the ramp and established a belay at its end.  A better belay is on the little ledge above and to the right of the ramp, though I haven't gotten around to putting good bolts in there.  We came back one more time and finished out on top.  Both the ramp and the final face proved far easier than we'd thought they would be.  
The climb has a spectacular view, though the rock quality is so-so and the climbing pretty easy.  I've done it six or seven times since then.  I very much admire the unknown climbers who went straight up from the belay alcove after the aid ladder.  That was a daring and logical variation.  
There's another ramp fifty meters or so to the right (facing Machete) of Bill's.  It appears to offer a long and moderate couple of free pitches.  I put in an initial bolt, but did nothing further. I started climbing with Jack Holmgren in 1989, however, and Jack frowned on aid.   The initial climbing off the second ledge is far harder than anything I can do, though I don't doubt someone might be able to tackle it.

Yours,

Bob Walton

P.S.  Thanks for your encouraging words about my climbing fiction.  I keep at it, though there's hardly any market left.