High Adventures in Yosemite National Park

 

First view of El Capitan at sunset

A picture is worth a thousand words, so thankfully I have a ton of great photos from my recent 2 week trip to Yosemite California or this blog post would have broken some records. My first real climbing trip to the valley was everything I wanted and more; great rock, high exposure and epic adventures with friends. Never have I experienced such splitter cracks of all sizes and traditional multi-pitch adventures of such massive heights. And it was all just a mere taste of what this world class destination has to offer.

First splitter of the trip, Outer Limits 5.11a



A quck and hard lesson in wide hands, fists and looooong yosemite pitches.

We kicked off the trip in true motivated style and upon our 9pm arrival in the valley, we strapped on our headlamps and geared up for a moonlight cruise of a 5 pitch 5.8 called Nut Cracker. Little did I know that this would actually be night climbing training for my next multi-pitch of choice. We spent a nice first day at the Cookie Cliff, then Ryan Brown and myself set out to crush a link-up of The Moratorium a 4 pitch 5.11b that leads into the East Buttress of El Cap, making a huge 16 pitch adventure that landed us 1 pitch short of the summit in the dark. Thats the consequence of a later start on these short fall days and lets just say that the descent was memorable... a very memorable 5 hours.


 

Ouch, should've taped apparently.

But what would Yosemite be without an epic? After all, that is why I came here. I had butterflies in my stomach before even leaving on this trip after hearing friends stories of being "be-nighted" (stuck on the wall overnight, unprepared), worried that it would happen to me. After such a monster day, the ground felt pretty nice so we decided to crag for a couple days after that. Then with charged minds and bodies, we set out for the unbelievable spitters of Serenity Crack and Sons of Yesterday. Probably the best 5.10 traditional multi-pitch anywhere. I can't believe it even exists!



Ryan Brown styles one of the coolest routes I have ever climbed, New Dimensions 5.10a

Lunatic Fringe, another stout and long Yosemite splitter.

I wish I could say that after these two burly introductions that I was finding some flow on this perfect granite, but I was actually freakin' destroyed! Each day I was tested on a splitter size that I had never climbed before, and full rope stretching pitches.The learning curve was fast and painful. I needed rest but with such a short trip, I was suckered into another crazy multi-pitch with On the Rocks Guide, Chris Pegelo. We took a ride on a more obscure and adventurous classic, The Northeast Buttress of Higher Cathedral. It was 11 pitches of insane 5.9 and I say insane because we were both pretty overwhelmed on the 3 wide pitches that this route threw at us. Chimneying, flares, offwidth, fists, stacks. Phew. All worth it however for a lesson in wide crack skills and summiting at sunset with valley views from a position almost as high as El Capitan (7569 feet).

Half Dome glows in the golden hour



Ryan Brown dances up Fish Crack 5.12b, with the famous Crimson Cringe 5.12a in the background.



Ryan logs some sc-air time

I really enjoyed all of the great single pitch routes we hit up too, the valley floor is the perfect place to hone your skills before you go up high. It was also amazing how many familiar faces I stumbled across!



Chris Pegelo starts up the incredible rock of Crimson Cringe 5.12a



Half Dome reflections





The quintessential tourist shot.

Group dynamics were quite entertaining this trip seeing as how I was the only girl amongst five crazy dudes. There was lots of farting, drinking and shit talking as you can imagine. It was wonderful how well we all worked as a team however, despite being an odd number all trip, everyone got a chance to reach their goals.



Some of the hooligans I hung out with for 2 weeks.



Johnny Hamilton on the incredibly exposed and run out 5.6 arete of the East Buttress of El Cap

My highlight of Yosemite was definitely getting the chance to climb The North Face of the Rostrum, a world famous 8 pitch 5.11c with my buddy Chris. I have never even attempted to climb a traditional multi-pitch this hard in my life and I was really happy and suprised with my efforts. It was a reminder that grades mean nothing in this game, as both Chris and I cruised the crux 5.11c finger crack pitch and got completely destroyed on the 5.10a offwidth section. This didn't really come as much suprise, it really is the awful-width when you don't know how to climb it. What the heck do you do in those things??? I still look like I was badly beaten and I guess you could say that I was. The rock won.




Chris gets his first glimpse of the offwidth, our crux.

The final pitch was outstanding. I will never forget Chris's facial expression after he traversed into the unknown and peered out the final roof that is split by a crack that widens from #4 to #6. And with 900ft of air below his feet. That pitch was an amazing gift for our efforts, and yeah we laybacked the shit out of that offwidth. Eat it offwidth poo.

The most insane pitch of rock climbing ever, the Rostrum finale.

Psyched on the summit of The Rostrum.

The Rostrum was the perfect way to say goodbye to the Valley and with a window of warm weather, we jumped on the chance to hit up Tuolumne Meadow for our last day. Tuolumne is an extension of Yosemite National Park and yet another amazing granite playground that sits well above Yosemite Valley, at 8619 feet. This day was such a teaser and I am already planning my return to this majesical place.

The rock was out of this world!! Little tiny quartzite knobs protrude out of the granite, making for some of the coolest rock I've ever climbed in my life. So psyched.



Callum Clark enjoys some classic Tuolumne knob climbing

 

Chris Pegelo cruises a short and pumpy 5.11 crack

We finished off our trip on an amazing and casual 5 pitch 5.9 called 'Blown Away". Our buddies Callum and Johnny climbed a route next to us and we got to watch eachother dance up this exposed dome to meet again at the summit. It was a "this is why I rock climb" experience and I will forever remember this day.

Slab approach of Blown Away

The amazing knob pitch

The summit was breathtaking with 360 degree views of Tuolumne Meadows and perfectly timed for the beautiful golden hour. I was having way to much fun to even notice how cold and windy it was!



Summit Lovin'

Team summit photo, Johnny, me, Callum and Chris.

Sunset on the descent

A trip of inspiration and a pleasant reminder of how much I still have to learn. I think I can confidently say that I am slowly evolving into a crack climber, it is kinda cool. I still cant get over what I am doing half the time and I still catch myself thinking things like, "Woah! Fist jamming!!". Crack climbing humbles me, yet really inspires me to continue learning. It scares the shit out of me too, but I love facing these fears and challenging myself to push through. The rewards are surreal. What an amazing trip and it definitely won't be my last!




View of Half Dome from Tuolumne lookout.