Autumn climbing at Sunset Park

Malcolm preparing to climb Afternoon Delight in his swami belt

On Saturday, October 29, I drove with Malcolm and Jacob to Sunset Park outside Chattanooga to enjoy the cooler fall temperatures and to get me climbing again after a long recovery from a shoulder injury. Malcolm has started climbing at the gym once each week, and he's really getting into the sport! Having left the house about 7:45 AM, we made a few stops on the way before parking in the Craven House parking lot, a half-hour hike from the start of the main wall.

We warmed up on A Walk in the Park (5.8). Jacob led this pitch, I followed, and Malcolm finished up. Jacob climbed it again to clean the gear at the top.

Jacob leading A Walk in the Park

I have to admit this climb felt harder than I had expected. I have a long way to go to get back to the climbing shape I was in a year ago. It was great practice for crack climbing, though, and I'm always happy to find that in the southeast.

The crack halfway up A Walk in the Park

The funniest (and saddest!) part of this climb happened when Malcolm realized that he had left his climbing shoes and harness at home on the kitchen counter. We rigged him a harness out of thin Dyneema webbing and the rope itself, and he did the climb in his sneakers. Malcolm is getting stronger every week, but he still likes to hang on the rope occasionally. You can imagine how that felt in his home-made harness; I think the webbing was cutting into his legs and making him very uncomfortable. There were definite discussions about the family jewels!

Malcolm at the start of A Walk in the Park in his torturous webbing harness. He's not hurting enough yet to stop smiling!

Malcolm halfway up A Walk in the Park

Our three intrepid adventurers

From here we moved back a few hundred feet toward the parking lot to give Liberty Bell (5.9) our best shot. I had tried and failed to climb this route cleanly on my previous (miserable) trip to Sunset, and I wanted to try it again. Unfortunately, I was stymied in the same place yet again. There is a move only about 20 feet off the deck where you need to pull up and around a roof. The sequence is really awkward, with solid handholds in a crack on the right but no feet to be found anywhere. It requires a very high left foot to step over the roof, and I just couldn't do it. After several minutes of hanging and completely busting my forearms, I was forced to hang on the rope. At least the move is really well protected (I think I had a number 3 or 4 in the crack). I remembered from my previous attempt that I had been able to get the move eventually by kneeling on my shins instead of using my foot, but that particular feat had led to a bruise that left a real scar: I can still feel a bump on my shin three months later. That was the last thing I wanted to repeat. This time I finally placed my knee instead of my shin on the rock and gingerly put my weight on it. It didn't feel great, but it wasn't excruciating, either, and I was able to pull my weight around into a more stable stance. I will be back to defeat this route once and for all!

We didn't get many pictures this time except for a beautiful shot of Jacob on the bouldery start. I don't know how he does it, but he managed to get the hard move with a high left foot instead of using his knee. What a badass.

Jacob on the start of Liberty Bell

We wanted to give Malcolm another opportunity to climb, so we moved back right to Afternoon Delight (5.7+). We had seen another party climbing on this route earlier, and apparently they had been forced to bail from halfway up, lowering off of a sling hung from a horn sticking out of the rock. I felt confident that we wouldn't end up in the same situation, and I was right, but the "plus" on this 5.7 did have real meaning when the climb transitioned into smaller sizes. As usual, Malcolm was ready with tons of smiles and positive energy to follow me despite his swami belt harness and sneakers.

Malcolm prepares to climb Afternoon Delight, again in swami belt and sneakers

Kenton belays Malcolm on the lower portion of Afternoon Delight

Malcolm crushing it on Afternoon Delight. This kid doesn't need climbing shoes!

We finished the day by hiking around to the backside of the same wall to toprope Back Street Revelations (5.11). Jacob made the first attempt and made the bottom look easy. I thought for sure he had the climb clean until the crack narrowed near the top of the route and I heard "take!" After resting for a minute or two, he changed strategies and did a lay-back instead of straight-in crack climbing and cruised to the top.

Jacob hits his crux on Back Street Revelations

I was unsure how I would feel on a hard climb after such a long time away from climbing, but it turned out I did better than I had expected. After struggling to follow Jacob's path near the start up a face with only small crimps, I traversed right and found bigger holds. From there the climb moved up into a hand crack which I was able to climb straight in for a little while. When that became too difficult, I imitated Jacob's lay-back and managed to push my way up to the top. It felt good to be challenged again, and I'm looking forward to trying to lead this climb some day.

Two of my favorite smiley people!

My skinny protege

Cedar Rock, North Carolina

John Simpson at the top of the second pitch on the South Side of Cedar Rock

On Saturday, August 27, my family and I were staying at a cabin we had rented with some friends outside Brevard, North Carolina. This was my first trip to the big granite walls of western North Carolina, and I was excited to see what all the fuss was about. I had heard about beautiful crack climbs as well as about exciting, scary friction slabs in abundance. With me that morning were John and Rachel Simpson and Jacob and Kellett Lowry. We decided to make a trip to the South Side of Cedar Rock, only a short ~20 minute drive to the parking area, but an hour-long hike from there to the base of the climbs. We were a bit nervous about afternoon rain showers, but decided to take our chances. After hiking for about 45 minutes, we became a bit concerned that we had perhaps fallen off our desired path, but a quick look at Google maps revealed the rock outcropping only half a mile to our north.In the end we almost missed it! Clearly, this is an area that hasn't seen nearly as much development as most other climbing areas I've visited. We basically had to bushwack through some rhododendrons to reach the base of the cliff from the main trail.

The crew prepares gear at the base of Cedar Rock

I have been suffering from muscle soreness (and perhaps a pinched nerve) in my shoulder, so I was really hoping to find some climbing that relied more on feet than on arm strength. John really followed through by bringing us to this area. As stated in the guide, "most of the routes have 200-300 feet of low 5th class climbing capped by an excellent final pitch." As a party of five, I was concerned that we might not be able to climb efficiently enough to get much time on the rock. We decided that John would climb with Rachel, while Jacob would lead for both Kellett and me, belaying us up on separate lines after him. This turned out to be an ideal arrangement, as our party of three managed to progress up the face at least as quickly as did John and Rachel. We started up the wall beneath what we thought was Gothic Groove (5.8+), with Jacob following a path slightly to the left, and John a path to the right. But it soon became apparent that we had not started in quite the right place, as the boys kept on climbing even as the other ends of their ropes trailed past the three of us at the bottom and started sliding up the slab! The leaders each improvised a gear anchor, and the rest of us followed them up this very easy (5.5?) low angle section. It was perfect for my sore shoulder, as I could almost hike up the whole thing, just using my hands for balance.

Looking up from the gear anchor towards Jacob on the ledge at the top of the second pitch. Not Always Wet (left) and Gothic Groove (right) are visible near the center of the top section of the wall.

Having reached Jacob's gear anchor, we traded gear, and he pushed on up another 50 feet or so to a huge ledge with two bolts for protection. I have to admit that these bolts didn't inspire much confidence: one bolt was rusty, and the other had a rusty hanger (clearly visible in the picture above). John had reached the same height that we had by now but was much farther to the right, and he was forced to traverse across the slab to the bolts. In the end all five of us were anchored in a rat's nest to those two bolts. By now I was checking the weather radar on my phone every few minutes, reassuring myself that there weren't any lighting-filled storms headed our way. There were some clouds in the distance to the east, but nothing that looked ominous yet. The five of us eyed the climbs above, trying to decide what we wanted to do. Not Always Wet (5.7) looked hard all by itself. Gothic Groove (5.8+) looked as if the "+" in its rating had real meaning: there were only two bolts on the entire route, we could only see one of them, and there were no clear trad gear placements.

Jacob decided to lead Not Always Wet, but only a few feet up the climb he was stymied, unable to find good gear placements directly in the water groove itself. Instead, he traversed a bit and found some solid protection in a few thin features to the left of the main line. Moving back into the groove, he slowly made his way upward until he again ran out of obvious protection. Trying to work a #4 camalot up the water groove, he struggled to find it a good spot, really running the route out until he was able to place a small (#1?) cam in a weak horizontal crack. Right while he was trying to place the piece, and while he was probably feeling least secure, John shouted up asking him if he could "see the second bolt on Gothic Groove". Jacob politely looked over, shouted "no", and continued on. Meanwhile those of us down closer to John gave him trouble for distracting Jacob while he was clearly in such an insecure position. That's an episode we won't forget soon!

After pulling through the scary section the climbing got easier, and Jacob reached the two bolts at the top of the route. Kellett and I followed again on separate ropes. It was a truly interesting pitch, as I had to turn my foot completely sideways to wedge it in the water groove from heel to toe. My feet felt solid in that position, but not when I tried to put them straight in.

Kellett and Jacob at the top of Not Always Wet

When the three of us had reached the top, I shouted down to John but didn't get any response. It turns out that he had decided against climbing the rather spicy looking Gothic Groove, especially because his new shoes were too tight and were causing him excruciating pain. The three of us rappelled down to the ledge again. From here we decided to speed our descent with a technique I had not yet experience: simul-rappelling. Jacob and I each fed one end of the rope through our belay device and rappelled down simultaneously, thereby counterbalancing each other's weight and getting us down the wall twice as fast. Inspired by what we had done, Kellett and Rachel did the same thing on the last rappel. We got down without injuries, and we had avoided the threat of summer thunderstorms. A success!

Rachel and Kellett prepare to rappel simultaneously down the last pitch

Summer Trad Climbing at Sunset Rock

Nick and Jacob get ready to climb A Sense of Adventure at Sunset Rock

On Saturday, July 23, I joined Jacob and Nick on a trip to Sunset Rock near Point Park on Lookout Mountain outside of Chattanooga, TN. Our goal was to start early to avoid the heat of summer, so we left the Windy Hill Chick-Fil-A around 5:30 AM. After a stop at the Starbucks in Calhoun for a hearty breakfast and a large cup of coffee, we arrived at the parking lot around 8 AM. There are at least two parking lots with access to Sunset. The first one, the smaller of the two, is at the top of the rocks. This one has become increasingly hard to find empty, and recently we have been told that they have been ticketing people who park there all day. Instead we parked at the Craven House lot and made the 30 minute hike to the north end of the cliffs. Given the heat and intense humidity, we were already drenched by the time we got there.

Our first climb was A Sense of Adventure (5.9+). I led off on it starting at 8:30. The roof just 15 feet off the deck felt a good deal tougher than it should have, because the humidity and my sweat made the slopey holds so slippery, but I successfully struggled my way over it. For me the crux of this route came 20 feet higher, on a tricky face section near the top. The whole climb was very well protected, however, so I felt confident about pushing myself through the harder sections. Jacob and Nick followed me up. Interestingly, they both felt that the roof was harder than the upper face section. Go figure!

Jacob heads into the roof on A Sense of Adventure at Sunset Rock

Jacob led our next climb, Broken Arrow (5.10-), starting at 10 AM. His claim is that I've already led this climb, which I totally believe, because my memory for the climbs I've done is horrible! On his ascent he placed a TON of gear. I'm sure that made him feel safe, but I was actually concerned he might run out of alpine draws before he got to the top. Unfortunately he had to hang on the gear a few times on his way up, tarnishing his redpoint. When it was my turn, I again got all wet and drippy. It was just impossible not to sweat profusely. My goal on this climb was to climb the lower, corner crack section in "pure crack" style, avoiding any stemming or face holds as much as possible. This was motivated by my desire to improve my crack climbing skills after seeing how poorly I performed on cracks in Yosemite a few months ago. It didn't work. I was able to make progress, but I ended up falling at least three times while trying to make it just 20 feet up this first section and had to stem the corner in the end all the same. This crack was just a bit too large for solid finger jams and a bit too small for hand jams. Higher up, I was again slipping off of seemingly solid hand jams simply because my hands were so wet. My new Ocun crack gloves did help me to avoid shredding my hands, however, which was a pleasant change from some previous skin-shredding crack-fests I've had in the past. We finished up this climb around 11:30.

Jacob leads Broken Arrow at Sunset Park

Locks, our Nick's climbing golden doodle

At this point it was Nick's turn to lead, and we started hiking towards Liberty Bell (5.9). I didn't know how far away this climb was from where we were on the north side of the cliffline, and we hiked for almost half an hour, arriving around 12:00. Nick started up the bouldery, overhanging roof that is immediately testing you at the beginning of this climb. He tried several times to clear the roof, but was ultimately unsuccessful. Lowering back to the ground, he complained that he was so hot he was "going nuclear", and wandered off down the trail in an attempt to cool off.

Jacob took the lead again, and made quick work of this low-down crux, then cruised to the top of this long (120') climb. He really made it look easy. Then it was my turn again. I fell at least twice trying to pull through the same roof that had stymied Nick. Oh well. I actually have memories of doing this climb once already, but I can't remember who I was climbing with at the time. This time it felt really hard. I just couldn't seem to grip anything well, and I struggled to lift my foot high enough to step onto the ledge over the lip of the roof. I too was exhausted, hot, and dehydrated after finally clearing this move, and I felt a strong sense that I might pass out. Slowly I cruised to the top, trying to regain my breath. Right when I reached the final anchors around 1:30 in the afternoon, the skies opened up and we were deluged by a downpour! Quickly I lowered down, we sorted our gear in the shelter of the overhang, and we made the long and wet hike back to the parking lot.

Kenton on the very start of Liberty Bell at Sunset Rock, before the real struggles began

Jacob asks the gods why they chose to rain on our already soaking climbing adventure

We all agreed that we would need to wait until colder weather arrives to try climbing outside again. What a miserable trip! I like to think that I keep a positive outlook on my climbing adventures, despite critters, bruises, and bad weather. But the overpowering effect of the humidity last Saturday was too much even for me to enjoy. It was an opportunity to get up close and personal with the local wildlife, though. I snapped a nice photo of a scary looking wasp nest, and I found a tick on my arm when we got back to the car.

We were careful to avoid these wasps, only 15 feet from the trail

I couldn't avoid this tick on the way out and was forced to pull it off with tweezers

Running in Central Park

Amy and I were in New York City this weekend. We went to see two Broadway shows yesterday, and by this morning I hadn't had a chance to do any exercise since Thursday night's trip to the climbing gym. I really wanted to get in a long run, and I thought that a few hours of shuffling around in Central Park would fit the bill perfectly. Leaving the hotel on 48th Street a bit before 7 AM, I made my way north the ten or so blocks between me and the southern end of the park.

I started my run on the main road that circles the entire park. After a few minutes I was surprised by the sound of whistles blown near an intersection. Apparently there was a small bike race going on this morning, and the whistles were a way of signaling all of us to watch out and get out of the way.

Halfway through the trip north I got off the road and onto one of the side paths. I never realized how many small paths cut through the Park. For a few minutes I was all alone, running past a small waterfall, with a quiet portion of New York City all to myself. Turning around and coming back south, I found myself on the "Bridle Path", a broad path covered mostly with crushed stone. The surface reminded me of the old-school tracks we used to run on in high school before the fancier new rubber surfaces became popular. Here and there I dodged small piles of manure left behind by horses which were nowhere to be seen this early in the morning.

Having returned to the southernmost end, I circled around and did it all over again before heading back onto the streets and back to the hotel. At just over 14 miles, it was an invigorating end to our weekend trip.

A view of the skyline from Central Park 

Yosemite adventure with Eliza and Nate - Day 5 - Lost Arrow Spire

Yosemite Falls (center) and  Lost Arrow Spire (far right)

Saturday had arrived, the last day of my big adventure. We had prepared all of our gear, food, water, and other supplies the night before. Nate had instructed me on the basics of using Jumars and stirrups to ascend a rope (not as easy as I might have imagined!). I had been careful to go to bed early. This was going to be an epic day, the first day I would aid climb, and we were planning to do a real classic, with a super-long approach: an ascent of the Lost Arrow Spire Tip and rigging the Tyrolean traverse back to the main wall. Not only that, but Eliza was also planning to bring up about 10 ten-year-old girls and some of their parents later in the day, to zipline across the Tyrolean that Nate and I we would rig. The alarm rang at 2:30 AM - we needed to get an early start to ensure that the Tyrolean would be rigged by the time the larger party arrived. By 3:30 AM we were parked in a lot near Camp 4 and had started our ascent up the Yosemite Falls Trail. To the top of the falls and a point just across from the Lost Arrow Spire would be about a 4.2 mile hike up a seemingly endless series of switchbacks, a bridge, and some steep slabs. We did it in just over two hours, despite the long (100 m?), thick (12 mm) and heavy rope in my pack. On the way up we were treated to spectacular views of the valley before sunrise. We also hiked through an area which was filled with a constant mist, almost like rain, from the falls which could be heard thundering nearby, and which we crossed over using a sturdy bridge near the top. The stars were out, as clear and bright as could be, something I always miss back in Atlanta. And we had the trail to ourselves given our alpine start. This hike was one of the best parts of the entire experience.

Half Dome silhouettes sunrise in Yosemite Valley

Yosemite Creek viewed from the bridge above the Falls. Sentinel Rock is in the background.

Unfortunately, I personally had not fully prepared for the conditions we encountered at the top of the hike. Anticipating a day in the sun similar to the ones I had already experienced, I was wearing only my climbing pants and a t-shirt. This had been plenty for the temperatures in the parking lot and on the hike itself, but it wasn't enough for the lower temperatures and stiff breeze we were surprised by at the summit. Already a bit wet from perspiration and moistened further by the mist through which we had traveled, I rapidly began to lose body heat as a chilly wind that must have been at least 25 MPH roared down the slope. Luckily for me, Nate had brought just enough layers for me to borrow a lightweight long-sleeve shirt. How about that for excellent guiding instincts? Nevertheless, we both felt a strong urge to get off the peak and into the notch below, where we hoped weather conditions would be more favorable. Nate swiftly rigged a rappel using the long static rope we had brought for the Tyrolean and made his way down to the base of the notch. I huddled behind a small rock with my teeth chattering, shivering all over, waiting until I could descend after him. It was an airy rappel, heading first downwards and then swinging over to the ledge where Nate held the ends of the rappel lines for me.

Route description and topo map for Lost Arrow Spire Tip. We rappelled from the tree at top right to the belay at bottom left, climbed the spire, and ascended/traversed the tagline back up to the tree to finish the Tyrolean.

Once anchored at the first belay, Nate led off up the 5.10d starting pitch. When he got to the bolts at the second belay, he pulled up the extra slack and tied my line into the anchor, a technique know as "short-fixing" the pitch (remember, I didn't know anything about aid climbing until the previous evening!!!). Honestly, I remember very little about the rock features I encountered here, because I was so consumed with learning how to ascend the rope with the Jumars. Using one Jumar to pull up with my right hand, a Grigri to pull with the left, and my feet to scramble on the wall, I made steady (if inefficient!) progress upwards. Reaching the second set of anchors, I put Nate on belay and watched as he worked his way up the aid wall. In a little while he had reached the summit and fixed the rope again. I worked my way left across the ledge, cleaning gear as I went, careful not to swing too hard into any corner as I detached the rope from various quickdraws and slings. Halfway up the final wall I encountered gear I had never seen before: narrow wires attached to rivets, sufficient perhaps to hold body weight, but not much more. These are apparently a common piece of gear in aid climbing. At this point I also took a brief pause to snap a selfie from above. Man, did I need to concentrate hard on not dropping that phone!

Kenton hanging by a (11 mm!!!) thread off the top of the Lost Arrow Spire

A bit more jugging, grunting, and heavy breathing brought me to the top of the spire where Nate sat waiting patiently. This was another opportunity for some priceless photos.

Nate rigging gear atop Lost Arrow Spire

Kenton atop Lost Arrow Spire with Yosemite Falls in the background

Kenton atop Lost Arrow Spire

Nate attached the long, static line (that we had rappelled down originally) to this new anchor atop the pillar, I clipped onto it with a sling like a zipline, and I used the Jumars and Grigri for a final push back to the tree on the main wall. Nate laughed at me when he saw how I was trying to make progress, cluing me in that this final push would take a lot longer if I didn't use the (somehow difficult to figure out) stirrups which dangled from my harness. Heeding his advice, my ascent was soon complete, and I took off my harness to relax while I waited for Nate to join me. By 9 AM he had finished rigging the Tyrolean, and we could chill out while we waited for the rest of the group to hike up and join us.

As I sat with my head resting on a Boulder, glad that the wind had died down and that the temperature was rising, I noticed what looked like large white birds soaring far below. It took me a little while to realize that these were actually hang gliders, who were jumping off a nearby peak and landing in an open field in the center of the valley! I also noticed the same swift birds I had seen a day earlier. Soon I felt some strong hunger pangs coming on, and ate an early first lunch (second breakfast?). In general I was starving that entire day, presumably because the hikes (both that day and the day previous) had me burning serious calories.

Around 9:30 (sooner than I had expected), the group of girls showed up. I pretty much just sat back and watched as Nate and some of the other parents carefully clipped each of them in turn to the Tyrolean line and lowered them out onto the traverse line. This seemed pretty easy, at least from a physical standpoint, and I felt as if it was over too soon.

One of the girls being lowered along the Tyrolean traverse to join friends on top of Lost Arrow Spire

Several of the girls (and a parent) atop Lost Arrow Spire

When everyone had been lowered across, we began the far more arduous process of bringing them back over to us. This was an uphill process. For the young girls, we got away with redirecting the towline through a pully with a ratchet (a Petzl Traxion?) and cooperating in groups of three to do the necessary pulling. For the heavier folks (two of the dads), we had to rig a 3:1 pully system to reduce the required pulling force. By early afternoon, everyone was back together, and we relaxed in the shade of a tree for a while, almost napping, before we began the hike back down.

What struck me the most on the walk back to the parking lot was how crowded the trail had become. Whereas Nate and I hadn't seen another soul when we hiked up at 3 AM, the path might as well have been a highway filled with people at 3 PM. It became easy to understand why Yosemite has such a problem with erosion on some of its paths. The views also looked entirely different with the sun high above than they had in the pale light of sunrise. Back to the car around 4:30 PM, I snapped a few final shots of the spire and the falls from below. What an unforgettable end to this incredible week!

Close-up of Lost Arrow Spire

Yosemite adventure with Eliza and Nate - Day 4 - Higher Cathedral Spire with Margaret

Lower and Higher Cathedral Spires

This has been such an active trip that I haven't had the time or energy for my last two blog posts until this morning! On Friday both my hosts were busy with work, but Eliza is so popular around here that she easily managed to round up another climbing partner for me. We decided to climb Higher Cathedral Spire's Regular Route (5.9), which Eliza had recommended the previous evening. This route features a rather long approach from a parking area across the valley from El Cap, two peaks down from Middle Cathedral Rock (which I had climbed two days before with Nate and Eliza). It turns out that Margaret, my partner for the day, is from Marietta, GA, just a few exits up the highway from where I live now, and that she came to Yosemite a few years ago. As we walked up to the trailhead we were joined by three other guys who, we quickly figured out, were also from the Atlanta area. What a coincidence! Not wanting to become stuck climbing behind a (presumably) slower party of three, Margaret and I put our legs into high gear on the approach trail, a steep path winding its way through both forest and talus fields. Our fast pace turned this already steep ascent into a serious enduro-fest. I guess that makes up for my lack of running all week. But the three guys behind us managed to stay with us for a long while, so we had to try to go even faster! We lost the trail a few times but finally came to the base of the climb, breathing hard but ready to climb. The three southern boys were only a short way behind us, but it turned out that we hadn't needed to hike so fast after all. They happily agreed that we should go first, as they would definitely be the slower party; they had just wanted to follow us, because they were concerned they might get lost on the approach! In the end, there was already another party starting up the climb when we arrived, but these two were moving quickly enough that they didn't slow us down by more than a few minutes.

Topo map of Higher Cathedral Spire's Regular Route

I was certainly a bit nervous about this 5.9 climb, especially given the spanking I felt I had received the previous day on an "easier" 5.8. But Margaret had assured me earlier that she would be willing to lead any of the pitches that I felt uncomfortable leading myself, and the guidebook seemed to indicate that the climb had a bit less crack climbing and a bit more face climbing than the typical Yosemite route. We decided that I would lead the easy 5.6 first pitch and the 5.9 third pitch, and she would lead pitches two and four. After waiting for the previous party to finish up, I set off up a gently sloping ramp and left-facing corner system, then traversed left and up some more to belay at a tree. This pitch was relatively casual.

Margaret at the first belay

Kenton at the first belay

Margaret led the second pitch, which went up about 15 feet, then traversed left around a bulge with a horizontal finger-crack/undercling to easier climbing above. This pitch finished at another tree belay. I then started leading the third pitch, which followed a bulging pillar for a while before traversing left into a rotten orange chimney. Here there were two variations I could have followed, either climbing left around the bulge and then up, or climbing a portion of the rotten chimney, then traversing right onto a section of exposed and exciting face climbing (5.9 face variation on the topo map). I chose the second option, especially since a party that had just rappelled down next to us assured me that it was easy to protect. True enough, there were some small but reliable cam placements in this section, which finished with a narrow, balance-y mantel. I must have stared at that move for a full five minutes before giving it a good try, even after the girl belaying above me assured me that she could see a solid (though invisible from below) handhold to which I would be moving. In the end I succeeded, but not without the grace I might have hoped for! Instead I ended up on my knees, performing the move in a style more like the long-lost cousin of the beached whale. With a huge sigh of relief, I found the "thank God!" handhold and pushed myself the final 10 feet to yet another tree belay. Backing the tree up with a few cams, I watched as Margaret made quick work of this pitch and joined me.

Margaret just after moving through the crux mantel on pitch three

From here she started up into the fourth and final pitch, traveling through some rather blocky face climbing terrain protected by old pitons. Then the climb moved right, following a huge horizontal jug in somewhat chossy rock to a short section of crack climbing (5.9 steep hands variation in the topo). This portion was the only part that felt very similar to the splitter crack systems I had encountered during my first few days in Yosemite, and I was very glad to be wearing my crack gloves. By now, I felt that I was finally getting the hang of climbing these cracks! Now I just need to learn how to do them without putting myself in too much pain. Easy terrain led to the top of this beautiful climb, which finishes directly on the spire with beautiful views of the valley floor. It was a short but really fun ascent!

Margaret atop Higher Cathedral Spire

Kenton atop Higher Cathedral Spire with El Capitan in the background. On the far right, snow covers the peaks of Tuolumne Meadows in the distance.

One thing I noticed for the first time while on this peak were the birds. There are birds here that move so fast, you feel as if someone has thrown a projectile at you when they pass by. As quickly as they appear, they’ve passed by, an encounter almost too brief for me to figure out what they look like. Nate later told me he thinks they’ve evolved this way to avoid their ever-present predator, the peregrine falcon. There are a few of these endangered raptors in the park, and this sometimes leads to closures of popular climbing areas. I gather the falcons can be disturbed if people spend too much time nearby.

After taking a break to eat lunch, rehydrate, and enjoy the view, we started the four rappels we would need to get back down. This was a bit tricky, as the rope got stuck once or twice when we pulled it down. Still, the descent didn't take too long, and we were back at the car about six hours after we had left it. We finished with another quick dip in the frigid river. Wow, is that refreshing!

Margaret starting the first rappel off of Higher Cathedral Spire

Yosemite adventure with Eliza and Nate - Day 3 - Base of El Cap

On Thursday Eliza and I left relatively early (7 AM) to drive to the base of El Capitan. We were hoping to get an early enough start that we could finish our planned route before the sun came around the arete and took the rockface we were climbing out of the shadows. As we hiked up the short approach, we had to keep swatting at mosquitos. It seems that at this time of year there are a ton of these critters at the bottom of the valley. Luckily they don't breed higher up on the rocks, thereby providing another strong motivation to quickly ascend onto the imposing walls lining the valley.

Our plan was for me to lead Little John, Right (5.8), see how we felt at the end of that, then maybe climb 1-2 more pitches and head home. This way, Eliza could get out of the heat and prepare for her kids to come home from school. Eliza had pulled her hood completely over her face to keep out the mosquitos by now. I racked up and led on up the starting corner. I was in for a rude awakening on this climb, which I quickly discovered just a few feet off the ground. Yosemite crack climbing is just unlike any other climbing I'm really used to. It seems that so often the only thing to use is the crack, and this requires a different set of skills (and a tolerance to ankle pain!) than I already have. I struggled up the first pitch of this climb, through a small chimney and above that into a hand crack, grunting and laughing at myself the whole time. How do you put your feet in the crack below a roof and your hands in the crack above at the same time? How do you keep your hands from sweating and sliding all around? How do you stand for long periods on a foot jammed in the crack when the muscles and tendons just below your ankle start to burn, and your toes are screaming? These are all skills that I want and need to learn to climb around here.

Eliza and Kenton at the top of the first pitch. Middle Cathedral Rock is in the background.

I made it to the top of the first pitch, belayed Eliza up, and we surveyed the second pitch to our left. It looked straightforward enough: ascend a narrow, low-angle ramp, climb the crack above for a short while, then traverse left across a relatively blank face to another ramp and from there up a short way to a belay in a corner. Here I wish I had looked more closely at the topo map before setting out. My heart was already racing while I was on the narrow ramp just above the belay. I moved into the crack above and starting up what seemed like a straightforward path. Eliza had warned me several times that I would need to traverse left early on and that I wanted to be sure I didn't go too high before I made the traverse. Look at the topo map below:

Topo map of Little John Right and a few other nearby climbs.

See where it says, about halfway up, "traverse 10' above 2nd piton (don't go too high)"? Well, I went too high, probably about 15' too high, before I realized that I was just going to have to make the traverse whether it looked like the right place or not. And then I was forced to downclimb around the shrubbery, effectively on toprope with one solid cam at this point, but with a heckuva lot of rope drag. Finally finding myself on the proper ramp to the left, I climbed as high as I could to make a belay in the corner above (circled "K" in the topo map with " 140' " written next to it).

Unfortunately, the situation I created by taking such a tortuous route was not the safest one for Eliza. She would have preferred to make the traverse lower down, in the recommended location. But before she could do that, she needed to climb up to where I had traversed, remove the cam I had placed there, and then traverse over. In my attempt to keep the rope drag to a minimum, I had not placed any gear after that cam, so a fall for her would have been a terrific pendulum, a very dangerous fall to say the least. Eliza calmly cleaned the last cam, downclimbed as far as she felt she could (to remove as much pendulum swing as possible), and made the traverse over to the ramp to join me at the belay. Eliza Kerr is a badass climber, cool under the most intense pressure!!! Needless to say, this episode did not inspire confidence in my route-finding abilities.

The last pitch was a short and straightforward crack in a corner to a wide, blocky ledge. At the top, over on the left side of the ledge is a 5.10d, single-pitch finger crack called Hardly Pinnacle. After the spanking I had just received on a 5.8, I wasn't in any mood to try leading 5.10d. Eliza happily tore up the route, setting up a toprope for me on the bolted anchors. Yet again, I was forced to use techniques that felt foreign, difficult, and painful to me. This crack was narrow enough in places that I could barely get the tips of my fingers and shoes into it. But Eliza assured me that I could get my toes in far enough to stand, using just the tips of my fingers for balance. And she was right! If I can perfect my technique on cracks like this, I'll be prepared to head back to tackle Finger Lockin' Good at T-Wall again next fall.

From there we rappelled in a single shot to the valley floor below. We finished with a relaxing picnic by the river in El Cap meadow.

Eliza coils the rope at the bottom.

Yosemite adventure with Eliza and Nate - Day 2 - East Buttress of Middle Cathedral

Middle Cathedral Rock - view from the ground

Wow, am I tired! We sent at least 13 pitches today. Nate did almost all of the leading. Today I got to follow him (in tandem with Eliza) up the East Buttress of Middle Cathedral, one of the 50 Classic Climbs of North America!!! It was a relatively short approach, but by the time we got to the start at 9 AM, there were already two parties there. Nate took matters into his own hands, free-soloing the first pitch and setting up an anchor. We quickly climbed up after him, trying to get ahead of these other parties. From there on out it was a race to the top. I've never climbed so quickly. The two of them clearly wanted to 1. avoid slowing down the parties below us (not a problem) and 2. finish the climb quickly so that we could get out of the hot midday sun. From start to finish we were done in 4.5 hours. We did the "50 Crowded" variation.

The climbing generally felt casual, but the exposure and views were incredible. Here are a few photos.

Kenton belays Nate up one of the first few pitches.

Nate and Eliza crank through the belay change with El Capitan in the background.

The descent was through a gully apparently prone to rock slides. Needless to say, Nate kept us moving quickly.

Eliza coming down the scree-filled descent gully.

After 1100 feet of climbing in the hot sun, we were tired and hot. A quick dip in the frigid river quickly cooled us off.

Nate, Eliza, and Kenton after jumping into the Merced River. That was bracing, and refreshing, all at the same time.

But that wasn't enough for Kenton. After a (large) snack I led the two-pitch classic Bishop's Terrace. This was filled with fist-sized cracks, but I was smart enough to wear the crack gloves this time. This was definitely the right decision, as it made the jams feel completely secure AND painless. At the top we had good views of Half Dome in the distance. Nate gave me helpful pointers on proper anchor-building and rappelling techniques. It was another awesome day!

Kenton at the top of Bishop's Terrace, with Half Dome in the distance.