Road Trip: 8th Annual Fall Pilgrimage to The Valley
Climbed in The Valley and Tuolumne Sep 23 - Oct 7. Record high temp's for most of our stay, but it didn't rain this time 'round! Climbed almost every day, seeking shade where possible; chilled out when it got too hot. Pretty leisurely and relaxing trip overall. Personal highlights were red-pointing Moby Dick and linking Royal Arches to Crest Jewel. Good times!
Tick list:
Week one roster: Tony, JP and Judy.
TONY ON P1 OF NUTCRACKER

TOP OF NUTCRACKER

JP LEADING LITTLE JOHN, LEFT, EL CAPITAN

Wednesday we climbed Half Dome via Snake Dike (5.7R).
SOUTH FACE OF HALF DOME

TONY LEADING P2

PITCH 3

TONY ON P3

TONY LEADING P5

TOP OF SNAKE DIKE

3RD CLASS SLABS FOREVER

HALF DOME SUMMIT



DESCENDING THE CABLES

HALF DOME, MT. BRODERICK, LIBERTY CAP, NEVADA FALLS

TONY EXHIBITING SIGNS OF ACUTE "POST SNAKE-HIKE BLUES"

Thursday was a rest day; we went sightseeing at Glacier Point.
LOOK MA, WE CLIMBED THAT!

Friday I revisited an old "friend": Moby Dick. Finally climbed the bugger clean!
READY FOR BATTLE







Photos by JP
That afternoon we went cragging at Pat and Jack's Pinnacle.
TONY LEADING NURDLE


Saturday Tony and I climbed Higher Cathedral Spire.
PITCH 3

TAKE US TO THE TOP TONY!

GOOD TIMES

EVENING IN LOWER PINES

OUR PATRON SAINT (CANDLE, THAT IS)

The roster for week two was Kurt, Sam and Dave. The first half of the week was still hot: we cragged mostly, escaped to Tuolumne for a day, then linked Royal Arches to Crest Jewel on Saturday for an epic finale.
KURT ON LITTLE JOHN, RIGHT

VIDEO: CLIMBER DOING THE KING SWING ON EL CAPITAN
On Wednesday Kurt and I climbed West Crack (5.9) on Daff Dome in Tuolumne.
CLIMBERS ON WEST CRACK, DAFF DOME

KURT FOLLOWING P2


FAIRVIEW DOME AND CATHEDRAL PEAK FROM SUMMIT OF DAFF

The next couple days were spent cragging. Then on Saturday - my last full day in The Valley - Sam and I linked Royal Arches (5.7 A0) to Crest Jewel (5.10a) for 24 classic pitches. We simul-climbed all but the final pitch of RA in just under two hours and an hour later we were making our way up CJ. We linked the first and last two pitches, climbing it in 3.5 hours, topping out a few minutes before 1pm. In a couple hours we were at the Porcupine Creek TH where Kurt & Dave picked us up on their way back from cragging in Tuolumne. Pretty slick!
SAM GETTING STARTED ON PITCH 1

SLAB CRUZIN'

NICE VIEW!

RUNOUT ON PITCH 6

PITCH 8

FINAL PITCH - ALMOST THERE

ON TOP!

View all 108 photos: my Yosemite 2012 photo set on Flickr ยป
Tick list:
- The Grack
- Nutcracker
- Little John, Left
- Pee Pee Pillar
- Snake Dike
- Moby Dick
- Ahab (utter fail on TR)
- Sherrie's Crack
- Regular Rte., Higher Cathedral Spire
- Bishop's Terrace
- Uncle Fanny
- Harry Daley
- Chouinard Crack
- Little John, Right
- West Crack, Daff Dome
- Nurdle
- Suds
- Golden Needles
- Royal Arches to Crest Jewel
Week one roster: Tony, JP and Judy.
TONY ON P1 OF NUTCRACKER

TOP OF NUTCRACKER

JP LEADING LITTLE JOHN, LEFT, EL CAPITAN

Wednesday we climbed Half Dome via Snake Dike (5.7R).
SOUTH FACE OF HALF DOME

TONY LEADING P2

PITCH 3

TONY ON P3

TONY LEADING P5

TOP OF SNAKE DIKE

3RD CLASS SLABS FOREVER

HALF DOME SUMMIT



DESCENDING THE CABLES

HALF DOME, MT. BRODERICK, LIBERTY CAP, NEVADA FALLS

TONY EXHIBITING SIGNS OF ACUTE "POST SNAKE-HIKE BLUES"

Thursday was a rest day; we went sightseeing at Glacier Point.
LOOK MA, WE CLIMBED THAT!

Friday I revisited an old "friend": Moby Dick. Finally climbed the bugger clean!
READY FOR BATTLE







Photos by JP
That afternoon we went cragging at Pat and Jack's Pinnacle.
TONY LEADING NURDLE


Saturday Tony and I climbed Higher Cathedral Spire.
PITCH 3

TAKE US TO THE TOP TONY!

GOOD TIMES

EVENING IN LOWER PINES

OUR PATRON SAINT (CANDLE, THAT IS)

The roster for week two was Kurt, Sam and Dave. The first half of the week was still hot: we cragged mostly, escaped to Tuolumne for a day, then linked Royal Arches to Crest Jewel on Saturday for an epic finale.
KURT ON LITTLE JOHN, RIGHT

VIDEO: CLIMBER DOING THE KING SWING ON EL CAPITAN
On Wednesday Kurt and I climbed West Crack (5.9) on Daff Dome in Tuolumne.
CLIMBERS ON WEST CRACK, DAFF DOME

KURT FOLLOWING P2


FAIRVIEW DOME AND CATHEDRAL PEAK FROM SUMMIT OF DAFF

The next couple days were spent cragging. Then on Saturday - my last full day in The Valley - Sam and I linked Royal Arches (5.7 A0) to Crest Jewel (5.10a) for 24 classic pitches. We simul-climbed all but the final pitch of RA in just under two hours and an hour later we were making our way up CJ. We linked the first and last two pitches, climbing it in 3.5 hours, topping out a few minutes before 1pm. In a couple hours we were at the Porcupine Creek TH where Kurt & Dave picked us up on their way back from cragging in Tuolumne. Pretty slick!
SAM GETTING STARTED ON PITCH 1

SLAB CRUZIN'

NICE VIEW!

RUNOUT ON PITCH 6

PITCH 8

FINAL PITCH - ALMOST THERE

ON TOP!

View all 108 photos: my Yosemite 2012 photo set on Flickr ยป