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