Prezwoodz
climber
Anchorage
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Topic Author's Original Post - Jun 27, 2011 - 01:00pm PT
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Well I made it down to Yosemite! Yay! I went with someone who I had never met and just wanted someone to head down with him and lead / teach. Well I love trips to anywhere so I was immediately in.
We got on the flight and arrived in Sacramento. I had ordered an economy car which turned out to be a Chevy HHR. Not bad for sleeping in! It was a long flight and it had been a long day but we drove right to Yosemite anyway.
Dave had never been to Yosemite so the first thing we did was head up to Tunnel View. I said "Don't look backwards, its better to see it all at once." When he finally did look his response was filled with explatives. Regular words hardly seem to be able to convey the immensity of the area.
Bridalveil Falls was flowing nicely.
After a few hundred photos we headed out.
Oh but not without taking a quick look back at the Captian. I wonder how many accidents have occurred because eyes were glued to this stone.
More tourist photos as we continued through the park.
I never really had a desire to go up Leaning Tower until this trip. Now its on the list.
We continued on our drive to see what Camp 4 and the other campgrounds looked like for reservations or space availability.
We werent really having any luck as far as finding a campsite so we decided just to wing it and go climbing instead. Since I had only climbed a few routes in Yosemite before it wasn't hard to find something to do! We climbed a few easy routes as the sun was setting at Church Bowl and then headed out of the park finding a place to sleep outside park lines. The next morning we headed back into the park and right to Church Bowl to climb a great looking line called Bishops Terrace (5.8). Which is pretty obscure, I'm sure nobodys heard of it. Or considering that this single pitch 5.8 is actually on the water bottles in the mountain shop its pretty popular. Since we were the only ones there that morning and Dave and I had never really climbed together I decided to turn it into a 3 pitch climb. Which was pretty interesting.
Dave is cleaning the 3rd pitch. It can also be climbed in one long pitch but hey thats to easy.
Dave climbed well and without falling, I yelled down advice such as "Put your foot in the crack and turn it. Use that thing as a cam!"
Anyway he powered through the route and got use to his first crack climb.
We finished up the climb in the hot afternoon sun and decided on a little break to explore the park. We hand't adjusted to the heat yet and , as we discovered, we wouldn't.
Down there lies what would later be one of the most abusive and energy consuming climbs I have done.
A closer view, it lurks in the woods and shows its mean vertical smile to the river.
Amazing history changing rocks everywhere.
We spent the end of our day climbing Lena's Lieback and a few other routes at Swan Slab. At Swan Slab you are never alone during the day.
Another climb down and just one fall. Not bad for his 3rd week of climbing.
I would spend a few nights at Tunnel View trying to get some good photos. Usually I went to bed to early to get anything amazing. There were plenty of parties taking on El Cap.
To get some more practice on our systems and climbing together as a team we headed over to After Six. We were hoping to do the Royal Arches halfway into the trip so we wanted to make sure we could move fast enough not to overnight. Unless of course we wanted to. For some reason the first pitch of After Six tired me out something fierce. I was having a rough time and placed way to much gear. The rest of the climb was very easy.
Dave did an excellent job of cleaning and didn't get a single piece of my gear stuck to where we couldn't get it out. Working on his muscle stance.
We were not the only ones at the top and I often felt I was being watched.
The upcoming objective.
There were plenty of teams out that day. It was a perfect day to be on the pile as far as weather goes!
Many have now heard about the guy that is missing in Yosemite. He went missing right when we got there and from what I heard he was actually swimming in some upper portion of the falls. Not a good sign. The search went on constantly.
That is one big waterfall.
The sky was amazing!
The wildlife…a little less so.
Washington Column.
North Dome
We got a good nights sleep and decided that it was time to give the Arches a go. By some off chance we got a cancellation in the pines campground so we actually got to sleep in the park that night! It was the only night we would be able to. We woke at 5am and put on Welcome Home by Radical Face as a prep song. Our climbing started sometime around 6. The first few pitches flew by rather quickly after one quick backpack snag.
The morning shade felt great for us Alaskans. And I secretly wished the sun wouldn't come.
We climbed quickly and soon caught up to another party that had slept above the second pitch since they couldn't find a campsite. They were very nice in letting us pass and we cruised up the to the Pendulum. We were both hoping it would be a larger swing but I guess that will have to wait for the King Swing.
Dave nails the grab.
After a nice soaking wet traverse pitch that also was capped by a tree absolutely exploding with ants we continued on our way.
After a nice reprieve in a protected shade area by a tree we came to the friction traverse. For some reason I had built all these pitches in my mind as being somewhat difficult. It turned out being pretty easy. The only difficulty I really had on the route was where I went into a 5.9 awkward bulge because the 5.7 was wet.
The climb continued without event and we arrived at the 15th pitch. A waterfall kept the 16th from looking appetizing so we rappelled and to be honest I am glad we did. It was actually a pretty enjoyable rappel! Long raps of solid bolts with rings. It was much more exposed then the climb was as well.
After we arrived back on the ground we went right to Curry Village and ate at the buffet. 11 hours of climbing can tire a person out! The next day we took a pilgrimage to the base of El Cap.
Its hard to describe something that is intimidating, intoxicating, inticing, and downright scary. Thankfully this guy was able to tell me "what are you afraid of? Just do it!" So I am excited to give it a go!
Others had already overcome their fear or insecurities!
Ah the planning process. I really love this part.
We continued on our way and I told Dave "I kind of want to destroy myself a bit. I haven't really climbed anything here that has challenged me since we arrived." So for some sadistic reason I chose to climb Generator Crack. It is a bit odd but I looked at it and actually thought it would be fun. I spent 45 minutes wedged into this crack. The first part that is often called the crux was actually really easy for me. I cruised right through and into the wider areas. That is when it got nasty. Turns out that my chest is to broad to actually chimney until the last 5ft or so. I don't know when others go into the crack but I basically did everything from armbar to lie-back. A few times I looked up and told myself "I'm not going to make it, I actually cant climb this stupid thing." And then I would soon find myself chicken winging back into the crack. I think this may have been one of the hardest single pitch climbs I have ever done. Its not the first off-width for me but I'd call it the meanest. I got my destruction.
Dave staring down the Rostrum from the top.
More Leaning Tower
We climbed by headlamp a few times out at Swan Slab. It was fun the first night but less then enjoyable the second as the bugs kept flying in my face and then a gigantic spider came rushing up my leg as I belayed in shorts and had to swat it off. When he hit the ground it chased after me as I jumped around. I finally apologized to mother nature and vanquished him from this plane of existence. It was a very clear spider. Half dollar size or larger and he looked like a scorpion with regular spider legs.
This was Daves second lead on gear. A short 5.6
On our way out of the park we took the mandatory trip to Glacier Point (almost running out of gas in the process)
Often Yosemite doesn't even look real to me.
Our next plans are to come back down in September and climb Lost Arrow Direct and East Buttress of Middle Cathedral. Time to get training again! What was a huge waterfall on our arrival in the park was merely a trickle by the end of the trip.
Goodbye for now Yosemite! I'll see you again soon. Oh and thanks to anyone who made it this far. That was a lot of photos to look at!
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seth kovar
climber
Reno, NV
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Jun 27, 2011 - 01:07pm PT
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Sweet!!!! Looks like awesome fun...
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Weld_it
Trad climber
Chatsworth
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Jun 27, 2011 - 01:11pm PT
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FACT: OUTSTANDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Jeremy Ross
Gym climber
North Fork, CA
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Jun 27, 2011 - 01:13pm PT
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Awesome.
I love the F-it hat.
-JR
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Mark Hudon
Trad climber
Hood River, OR
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Jun 27, 2011 - 01:15pm PT
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Dang! Excellent photography!
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just_one
Mountain climber
CA
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Jun 27, 2011 - 01:21pm PT
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awesome pics! sounds like you guys had a blast. thanks for posting.
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bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, CA
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Jun 27, 2011 - 01:52pm PT
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Wow!!! Really nice (vivid) pics!
Glad you had a good time.
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QITNL
climber
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Jun 27, 2011 - 02:07pm PT
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That's what it's all about!
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eKat
Trad climber
RuralFrikkenMontana
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Jun 27, 2011 - 02:10pm PT
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FAKT: TFPU!
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Phil_B
Social climber
Hercules, CA
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Jun 27, 2011 - 02:17pm PT
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Love it.
Thanks for posting.
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freerider
Trad climber
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Jun 27, 2011 - 02:18pm PT
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FACT: AWESOME!!!
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John Moosie
climber
Beautiful California
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Jun 27, 2011 - 02:19pm PT
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Wow!..Thank you for sharing the stoke. I loved this trip report. Its a blast to see the park through fresh eyes.
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jvSF
Trad climber
San Francisco
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Jun 27, 2011 - 02:33pm PT
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amazing photos from my favorite place. what kind of camera do you use?
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Gene
climber
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Jun 27, 2011 - 02:36pm PT
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Your Ribbon Falls/El Cap photo is stunning!!
TFPU!
g
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Dingus Milktoast
Gym climber
And every fool knows, a dog needs a home, and...
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Jun 27, 2011 - 02:41pm PT
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Sweet. Great seeing my Valley through the eyes of your camera!
And good to hear you survived an encounter with the poisonous Yosemite ground spiders. Alas there was no need to terminate the bugger; their poison is quite mild when compared to the wall spiders.
DMT
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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Jun 27, 2011 - 02:42pm PT
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Fine photos, and good fun. TFPU!
John
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Prezwoodz
climber
Anchorage
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 27, 2011 - 02:50pm PT
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Thanks for the replies everyone!
DMT : Thanks, I wasn't sure what it was as we don't actually have any poisonous spiders in Alaska! So being that we were in the dark and he was following me around I squished him. We didn't squish the other giant spider we found that crawled into a hole only to be scared out by a scorpion. That was awesome.
jvSF : I use the Canon 7d with a 18-135mm lens. Its bulky but goes up all the climbs with me.
bluering : thanks for the extra tips! I am not sure where I ended up but it was a good spot!
Mark : I am not sure but I thought maybe I saw you coming off the trail from El Cap? I was sitting at a white Car. I think you guys came down, threw away the dookie bags and took off real quick? Not sure but I thought it might have been you!
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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Jun 27, 2011 - 02:51pm PT
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Nice
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Ricky D
Trad climber
Sierra Westside
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Jun 27, 2011 - 03:01pm PT
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What's that smell?
Oh, just some digi-cam shooting on full auto. Rat-a-tata-tat - there's a hundred pictures to be taken in a hundred seconds. Part of the wonder of the place isn't it?
Seriously Prez - good job on showing a bud the Valley for the first time - pure magic. Thanks too for the scenic photos. Just the ticket for a foggy azz coastal eddy day down here.
Rick
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fattrad
Mountain climber
GOP Convention
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Jun 27, 2011 - 03:04pm PT
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Nice TR, thanks.
The evil one
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