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
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