Sunday, October 2, 2011

Yosemite

I know there's California, Oklahoma
And all of the places I ain't ever been to but
Down in the valley with
Whiskey rivers
These are the places you will find me hidin'
These are the places I will always go
These are the places I will always go

Yosemite was inspiring, majestic and humbling.

My first trad lead was less than a year ago. I've felt that my progress as a climber has gone fairly well over the last year, and even the last 2.5 years since I began climbing. Yet, despite this, in Yosemite I learned that I am a runt, an absolute baby and weakling in this world of climbers. Folks here climb HARD and really TALL walls. You see free solo’ers that move like honest to God ninjas. People spend weeks on the wall hauling up not only themselves, but also water, food, and any other life necessities. Folks fly up routes placing sparse protection covering hundreds of vertical feet with just a few hours of daylight left.

Climbing in Yosemite has been a blast and a dream. Even if scrambling up 3rd class freaks me out, leading a measly 5.8 makes me the happiest lady in the valley, and top roping a 5.9 leaves me utterly wasted. To work your body to exhaustion on inspiring cracks and see the most spectacular views from a perspective that few ever will, and then stuff yourself with pizza, beans and rice, and cookies….oh geeze, it’s a dream.

We covered a total of 6,850 vertical feet between Tuolumne Meadows and Yosemite Valley. Though two of our compadres couldn’t make it at the last minute, we were blessed with new and old friends with whom we shared food, laughter, and campsites.



It was SO beautiful our first day on top of Stately Pleasure Dome.

We had some weather to move in while in Tuolomne. It got real cold and wet!
This double rainbow was a real treat though.




The jorts...watch out, they are coming back!

The King kept our vittles safe and secure.

I supported my Auburn Tigers in spirit and by wearing my pin both Saturdays. War Eagle!


A fabulous 5.8 handcrack! I felt like a rock star on this baby!


This is from the top of Reed's Pinnacle, right after the rockin 5.8 handcrack. This climb worked me like no other climb ever has. I wasn't sure if I wanted to hyperventilate or cry.

The Nutcracker, my favorite route of the entire Yosemite trip. Five pitches of high quality fun!

The sun was setting when we arrived at the top. It was majestic.


We met Ilona and Yoav when, fortunately, going to a dome we didn't intend to go in Tuolumne. We shared a campsite the rest of the week.

It was awesome to spend the last day climbing with two lovely ladies!!

2 comments:

  1. The pictures are beautiful... I know it's even more majestic in person! PS. I am living vicariously through your post :) I really want to go west!!

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