Yosemite

The last week and a half has been an adventure to say the least. After leaving Owens River George Miles and I decided to take Sonora Pass to Yosemite. Apparently the pass is very steep, 26% grade, and our little four cylinder RV couldn't make it. After stalling out on the first steep corner we backed down and tried again. The only difference is that this time I was not in the RV, I was behind it and pushing with all my might. Turns out that was all we needed to make it up. After this corner I decided to just ride up the rest of the pass on the back bumper and get off on all the steep sections and push. The crux was the last few hundred feet that were very steep and at 9500ft. I felt like passing out by the time that we got to the top. It sounds ridiculous that pushing actually got us up the pass, but we're convinced that we wouldn't have made it otherwise.

The last corner on Sonora Pass

The next day we rolled into Yosemite early in the morning and secured a campsite at camp 4. Camp 4 is nothing to call home about, but it is cool to finally stay in the climber campground in Yosemite. There are people from all over the world that come to stay there. It is pretty cool. After getting a spot Miles and I decided to do a short climb and got on Nutcracker 5.8 6 pitches. It was my first climb in the Valley so it was fun getting on something that I didn't struggle too much with.

Miles on the last pitch of Nutcracker

On our second day we climbed the NE Buttress of Higher Cathedral Rock 5.9 900ft. It was an awesome climb and by far the hardest 5.9 I've ever done. It had several sections of hard chimney/offwidth that kicked our butts. I was able to climb everything clean but was completely drained after all the strenuous climbing in the 100 degree heat. We finally topped out at around 9pm and didn't get back to the car until almost 12.

NE Buttress of Higher Cathedral

Miles on pitch 6

A little higher

After our butt kicking we spent most of the next day resting until the afternoon when we went to the cookie cliff. We had been told that it was awesome and our guide book seemed to agree. The only climb that I got on there was Outer Limits 5.11a and I was able to onsight it. I was blown away that I actually climbed it clean first try, especially after getting my butt kicked on 5.9 the day before. Lesson learned; Chimneys and offwidths in the valley are HARD!

Outer Limits

After a kinda rest day we we decided to do Lost Arrow Spire. To do this climb we had to hike 3200ft. to get to the base, do a long rappel, climb a couple pitches and set up a tyrolean traverse between the spire and the base of the cliff. It was an incredible experience and we pulled it all off before a crazy thunderstorm hit that soaked us from head to toe on our way down.

Lost Arrow Spire. We rappelled the dotted red, climbed solid red and traversed yellow.

Miles rappelling into the notch

Miles on the tyrolean traverse

The thunderclouds that chased us off the spire

We spent the rest of the evening relaxing until my dad rolled into the Valley. He drove his motorcylcle for 1100 miles to see me. He most love me or something. The next day and a half I spent with my dad. We ate lots of great food, did a climb on glacier point apron and spent time catching up. It was great to see him after two months. Thanks for coming down dad I love you.

My dad

After my dad left I climbed Freeblast 5.11b or C1 with a guy named Charlie. It goes up the first 10 pitches of Salathe on El Cap. It was my first time on the Capitan and we flew up the climb in 8 hrs. Since we worked so well togethor we decided to do a route all the way up and we'll be starting that tomarrow.

Charlie following pitch 1 & 2

Charlie on pitch 5

Looking up El Cap from where we stopped

When I got back to camp after Freeblast I spent the rest of the evening packing for my first big wall, the W. Face of Leaning Tower V 5.7 C2F. Miles and I spent two days on the route and everything went perfect. We spent the first day climbing to pitch four, where we would stay the night, and fixing to pitch 6. The next day we jugged our lines and climbed four more pitches to the top. All in all it was a amazing climb and an incredible experience.

Big Wall gear

Miles on the first pitch

The haulbags maiden voyage

Looking down at the bivy ledge from pitch 6

Miles in the morning

The roof on pitch 9

Looking down from pitch 9

Miles on top

After I finish this post I am going to spend the rest of the day packing for El Cap. I'm going to be climbing FreeBlast to Magic Mushroom to Sunkissed. We'll be combining these three climbs to get to the top over 4 or so days. I can't wait.

Owens River Gorge

Since my last post I am proud to say that Miles and I both sent Iron Man. We spent the day in town taking care of errands and then went to the Buttermilks in the evening and sent the thing. It felt great to send it after three days of work.

The next three days we spent in Owens River Gorge with old friends and new. The first day we climbed with Roxy who was in the area for a few days and two guys from Tahoe; Andrew and Borja. We got on a ton of great climbs. Unfortunitely, I don't have the guide book with me so I can't tell you the names, but oh well. I started out the first day by leading a cool 11a crack that kicked my butt. After that we went to another area and climbed a bunch of climbs between 5.9 and 5.10c. My highlight was onsighting the 10c.

Roxy on a 10a

A girl from New Zealand on the 10c

The next day we started out the day by going to the Eldorado roof. All of the climbs there are 5.12 or harder. I tried to hop on a 12a and got destroyed. I made it a few bolts up and took some falls before deciding that I didn't want everyone to have to wait all day for me to get up the thing. From there we went to another wall and got on a bunch of great climbs. The one that I enjoyed the most was a super thin crimpy climb that went at 11a. I'm not the best at thin balancy climbs and I've been working on getting better at them. Turns out that I was able to onsight the thing, my first 11 at the gorge. Unfortunitely, I don't have any pictures from this day.

Our third day was one of the best days that I've had sport climbing in a long time. At the beginging of the day I was tired and not really feeling it, but I figured that once I started to climb I would calm down and boy was I right. The first climb that I got on was a beautiful 10a that I onsighted. Next I got on an incredible looking 11b and almost onsighted it. I made it through the crux throw and fell above on a balancy move. After the fall I tried a different sequence and sent the rest clean. From here we went to another wall and I onsighted a two 10a's, a 10b, an 11a and almost an 11b. I was able to climb the 11b clean, but accidentally stood on a bolt, bummer. It was an incredible day. Every climb was awesome.

Roxy on a 10a. I climbed the 10a to the right of this one. It follows the crack.

Miles following the first 11b of the day

A 10a chimney that turns into a slippery lieback

Roxy following the 10b, I also climbed the 10a crack to the left

Roxy redpointing the 11a lieback

The 11b goes up the middle of the face

Roxy & Borja at the end of the day

After three days we decided to take a rest day. Currently we are hanging out in Mammoth Lakes and are planning on heading to check out some hot springs in the evening. I think that Miles and I are going to make the trek to Yosemite tomarrow and get there real early the next morning so that we can get a spot at camp 4. I can't wait to climb in the Valley. I actually just bought a haul bag and now I have everything that I need to climb a big wall. It's going down. Expect a good post in a week or two from the Valley.

Also, check out Miles' website. He has some absolutely incredible shots from the last few days.

Hermosa Beach and Bishop

After Joshua Tree Miles and I decided to take a break for a few days and do some surfing in Hermosa Beach with Miles' uncle Bennet. We had a great time, but after three days we were more than ready to get out of Southern California and hit the open road. Here are a few pictures from our time there.

Bennet's back yard

A killer steak dinner

From Hermosa beach we had a six hour drive to get to Bishop. As usual we couldn't make it all the way without something going wrong with the RV. We were driving along when all of a sudden we heard a crazy flapping sound coming from the side. Turns out the skin on our door had ripped off and was flapping in the wind.

Our stupid door

The fix

After the episode with our door we finished the drive and spent the night in Bishop. We woke up the next morning and climbed at the Happy Boulders. We had a fun session before the heat forced us to find shade. The rest of the morning was spent doing errands in town before heading to the Buttermilks for the evening. We spent the night by a mountain stream, our first since we left Washington. It even had some fish that I caught for dinner. Protein that we didn't have to pay for. We were pretty excited.

Miles building a fire at camp

The next two days we climbed in the Buttermilks. We got on a few warmup climbs and then got on Iron Man, a cool traverse. As of right now we are both close to getting it and can't climb anything else until we get it. Hopefully, tonght will be the night that Iron Man releases its grip on us so that we can blow skin on other climbs.

Miles on Iron Man

After three days of climbing we felt that it was time for a rest day. In the guidebook there's a painting of the Bishop area and it shows that there are some lakes up above the Buttermilks in the mountains. We decided to check it out and it ended up being a great day.

It took us three hours to make it to the lake. It was still partially frozen over, but incredibly beautiful. We relaxed and ate our sandwichs before deciding that we had to go for a swim, naked of course. It took all my strength to make the dive and I screamed like a little girl afterward, but it was so much fun. To see some great pictures check out Miles' website. After our little swim we hung out for a little bit before heading back to the RV and making a big dinner.

A mountain above the lake

Now we are hanging out in the town of Bishop until the evening when the temps are better. We'll be here for a few more days before we head to Yosemite. I can't wait. We have been doing tons of homework on the Nose of El Cap and are ready to tackle it. It should be an experience that's for sure. Stay tuned.

Joshua Tree

Miles and I just spent three days climbing in Joshua Tree. We had a great time, but we were not motivated to get on lots of climbs. I for one am sore and my fingertips are raw and blistered. After a few days we decided that we wanted to take a little break. Now we are hanging out in Hermosa Beach at Miles' uncles' house and doing some surfing. We will be here through Monday morning and then we'll be off to Bishop and then to the Valley. Here are a few pictures from Joshua Tree.

Our campsite in J-Tree

Miles on top of Sail Away

The very runout traverse on Figures on a Landscape

The view from the Astro Domes in the Wonderland of Rocks