Sierra Nevada

Well, it was a pretty eventful August this year. Nice time to take vacation.

I'm curious to see what everyone else has been doing too! So, once you've read this, feel free to leave a comment, a link, a something. I shall relate my adventures in the middle of California as best I can, and offer whatever insight I've come to in the last couple weeks.



Well, I took off with Monica Heiken on the morning of the 9th, headed to Yosemite. We drove all day, and were lucky enough to find a quiet spot at Cold Spring, right outside the valley.

After a fairly early night, we were up at six a.m.



Hah. . .
just kidding.

Actually, I slept in until like ten.

Then we made a leisurely breakfast. Really important part of the day.


At this point we decided that we should hike Half Dome. After getting some fresh ice for the cooler, we headed over towards Glacier Point and started trekkin' up with all the other folks towards Vernal Falls. We were in really bad moods by this point, and it was okay. To be quite honest, we probably started a bit late.



It was pretty hot, and it was a hard day of hikin'. Spot on though - last ones on the summit. We enjoyed an amazing sunset; it was great to be up there, all alone on the cables, and with no crowds on top.

Silence. Wind.

Sunset.

Damn tired. . . still stoked though!

After getting down, we began the drive to Tuolumne.

Small note here: Signage in Tuolumne is tough to navigate at night, regardless of the fact that the main road runs east to west, with no junctions. Better yet, campgrounds fill up quickly in the summer - definitely not many openings between one and two a.m.

So we found a spot off a dirt road, and slept. It was a very, very long day by this point. One of the longer ones I can remember.



By the time morning came, we were still tired. After sleeping in, we headed to Tenaya lake to make some breakfast and relax a bit.

We were headed out of Tuolumne by mid-afternoon.

Highway 120 runs basically east from Tuolumne to Lee Vining, and 395 runs north and south from there. After a stop for a milkshake, we headed towards Bishop.

Our backpacking destination was south of Lee Vining and north of Bishop - Rock Creek Canyon.

We arrived at Mosquito Flat by late afternoon, with intention to leave in the morning.

It's really not a bad drive in the Sierra. Everything is gorgeous and super alpine, and driving distances are fairly short - 'specially with two drivers. It's about an hour from the border of Yosemite to great backpacking, climbing, skiing, etc.

Looking down an upper section of Rock Creek Canyon

The morning came quickly.

By the afternoon we found ourselves at Ruby Lake, below Mono Pass. We swam, relaxed, made some dinner, and were sleeping as it got dark. The climb the next day was gonna be long!

We got a fairly quick start in the a.m. - oatmeal fueled crazies. We were over Mono Pass and headed southwest by one in the afternoon.



Mono Pass rises to just over 11,900 feet, though the peaks around it are much higher. It was roughly the highest point on our backpacking trip.

Though our original plan was to continue to Pioneer Basin that night, we found a beautiful little spot near a small creek, and chose to take an easy day instead. Hard to beat lying in soft grass next to an ice cold stream - especially after the long, hard, dusty slog over Mono Pass and down.

. . .Proved to be a good choice.


In the morning we were hiking down to the valley that holds Golden Creek. We saw several groups of people - everyone very nice - and had the usual yummy lunch right next to the water.

Looking north up Golden Creek

The mosquitos got worse as we headed closer to Pioneer Basin.

I had to remind myself that even though we were packin' in the right time of year for the Sierra, the season was still early because of the amount of snowpack (late snowpack). Pioneer is like a alpine marshy place - sort of meadow like, with incredible lakes and some very rocky patches.


Thus, the insects were still pretty bad.


Pioneer Basin was the worst though - everywhere else seemed fine.

Hate bear canisters

Luckily we found the best island ever - smack dab in the middle of the larger lake, in upper Pioneer. Plenty of breeze, and the best swimming.












We took an extra layover day.

Next, we headed down into the valley again, and back up Golden Creek to its head. Golden Lake was one of the higher lakes we camped at. We got there fairly early, so we set up camp, and I eventually scrambled up an easy 5th class ridge to the top of an adjacent peak.

The rock up there was phenomenal. I even found several slabby boulder problems, and one of the most perfect finger cracks i've seen in a while - 15-20 feet of perfect granite and precise finger locks. Very nice way to spend the afternoon above 11,000 feet, sending wilderness granite!

Looking south down Golden Creek, back towards Pioneer Basin

Golden Lake

In the morning we were out early - heading east back over Mono Pass, past Ruby Lake to our exit trailhead.





We'd hoped to stop at Pie in the Sky, located at the resort just below Rock Creek lake, for some. . . pie. (Apparently some of the best pie ever), but by the time we got there. . . the pie was sold out.


We were fairly depressed about that. We got some more ice for the cooler, cried a bit about our lack of pie, and continued on.


After a refuel stop in Lee Vining, we drove west back to Tuolumne. Before hitting the park border, we turned off and found a great camping spot in a meadow below a walk-in campground. It was nice to have a comfy night in the grass again, without all the dusty, dry air and knobby granite to lie on.

Still mosquitoes though. . .

And super awesome lenticular clouds!

Since we were so close to Tuolumne, we decided to spend the next day there.

We climbed Lembert dome, hung out for a while.










Then, suddenly plans got rearranged.

Realizing that we were somewhat tired for now of the incessant sun, and the dry air. . . we kept driving west.

Before we knew it, we were in San Francisco.

This was weird.

We kept on talking about the coast, and got super psyched up.

We were in Fisherman's Warf, downtown for dinner, walking around.



We definitely looked out of place - greasy, grimy, probably not smelling too good. But we went to the best restaurant around - Buena Vista Cafe, for the original U.S. Irish Coffee and seafood. Stuffed.

By sunset, we were out, headed northwest past the Golden Gate, Point Reyes, and Highway 1.

We spent the night on the beach south of Mendocino, after a lot of extra driving. It was a really late night, and all the campgrounds were either way too expensive or full. Sleeping in random locations isn't as easy when you're not in National Forest land. . .

The next day we drove north through a wonderfully foggy California coast, and by the early evening we were in the Humboldt Redwoods!




Our last day was spent at Gold Bluffs, near Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. This is without a doubt my all-time favorite campsite on the California coast. Right on the beach, and absolutely beautiful regardless of the weather. . . get there before 1pm if you want a spot!

We cooked alfredo pasta with salmon, butter, parmesan - adventured around the beach - and tried hard not to think about all of the things we had to do upon our return the next day.

Fern Canyon. 1 mile-ish north from Gold Bluff

The open road has magic that can't be compared with anything.

All photos - Monica Heiken

Yosemite

What a busy week! Traffic is picking up, the people are arriving. Summer is right around the corner. I've been bummin' about not having enough time to sit down and write a blog on Yosemite. Man, what a trip. I can't even come close to capturing it for you, but I'll do my best.


I'd like to make some key points before I go any further:

-First off. It's not that bad, driving to Yosemite. It's about a hundred bucks roundtrip for the weekend, and I was able to keep myself stoked as all heck the entire way. Takes about 8 hours one way.

-Second, the rock is absolutely phenomenal. It's the mecca. I mean it - I've gotta live in Yosemite for a couple years at some point in my life. Sooner rather than later. I don't care if I have to scoop Ice Cream for tourists and sleep on the ground without a pad. It'll be worth it.

-Third, climbing in Yosemite is hard. How hard? Really hard. Really, really hard. I met climbers who routinely climb 5.13 sport, and they were talking about how the fifteen pitches of the Steck-Salathe (5.9) on the Sentinel were some of the scariest and most challenging climbing they'd ever done..

I quickly found that climbing cracks was where it was at. Lying back a little finger crack and working your feet up the slab, alternating feet, finding those super solid small jams - it's possibly one of the most amazing feelings in the world. Akin to floating, or flying. Something airy.

The fabulous first pitch of After Seven (5.8)

Face climbing is scary in Yosemite. I love face climbing, small crimps, technical stuff - but the intense friction component required for Yosemite face is really an art form. Granite is amazing rock, but face climbing will probably always be scary. Like. . .5.9 face climbs were terrifying. Not to mention runout, exposed, and all-together adventuresome.

Some random .10d on top-rope. What a wimp. . .

I stayed with my sister in Mountain View, but left super early (4:30am) to drive east to Highway 120. My sister, myself and my brother-in-law were all climbing in the park by 10:30 am. We started off with a perfect two-pitch crack - Jam Crack. Absolutely spectacular, and I definitely recommend it to people out after their first vertical day in the park. Fresh rappel anchors, perfect rock. You can find Jam Crack on the Sunnyside Bench crag, right next to lower Yosemite falls.

Second pitch of Jam Crack, absolutely superb.

We were beat after our first day - it was hot, the mosquitoes were plenty, and the crowds were definitely huge.



I passed out soon after dinner.

You'd be surprised how many unlikely Yosemite travelers you find - tourists who look as if they've never ventured outside of anything air conditioned, and flocks of girls in heels and mini-skirts. Definitely similar to culture-shock. Imagine sweaty, dirty, dirt-baggish looking folks trekking through packed crowds of pristine polo shirts, laden with gear, and you get the idea. It's very funny. There are definitely ways to escape it, however. . .



Our second day we were up at six thirty, headed to Manure Pile buttress, which is right to the east side of El Cap. A group had already claimed the Nutcracker, a Royal Robbins classic, and two bears were wandering around close by, so the three of us opted to jump on the first pitch of After Seven, and then finish the last five pitches of After Six. The climbs went straight up to the top of the buttress, slightly to the left side. The first pitch of After Seven was one of the best pitches of rock i've ever climbed, and the next five pitches were all incredibly exciting, with unique anchor opportunities and some really fun moves. It was a bit funny to have dudes in approach shoes and chalk bags freesolo'n right on by, while I was laden with pounds of gear, but I was humbled, and had a great time in the sunshine. You can access all three of the above-mentioned climbs from the El Cap picnic area. The buttress is maybe a minute walk from the parking area. Pick your passion!

Topping out on Manure Pile

It was still light, and after a brief dip in the Merced, we headed over to the more casual Swan Slab area, where I climbed a really fun flake and set up a top rope for a couple climbs. We wrapped up the evening in Camp Four with some of my sister's friends from Stanford, checkin' out the moves on Midnight Lightning, enjoying a brew or two. It was a really fun atmosphere - packed with climbers of all skill levels and disciplines, everyone lovin' it and stoked for the early morning call.

Lena's Lieback

Yosemite is a blast. Though I will probably wait to head back til late season (less mosquitoes, less heat, less people), it was the perfect long-weekend destination. I came back inspired, daunted, humbled, and with increased respect for the spirit present in those rocks. Yosemite is a very spiritual and magical place, and only off the often-ventured path do you discover this.

Several notes to keep in mind - Bring water. A lot of it. and lastly, camping is hard to find. Get in touch with the Park and see what's going on in this regard. If you want to stay in Camp Four, get there 60 minutes before they open (really early in the morning), and line up. You might get lucky. The other campsites are packed with RVs and generators and screaming children - climb hard, it helps you get to sleep quickly.

Climbs I definitely recommend with three stars:

Jam Crack (two fabulous pitches, crux in the second, 5.9)
After Six (Six pitches, 5.8)
The Nutcracker (Six-seven pitches, 5.8+)
After Seven (First pitch is the best, 5.8) Belay off the tree in the middle, or become inventive :)
Lena's Lieback, Swan Slab (5.6 or 5.8, I can't remember. Look out for the free-soloing kids)
Reed's Direct (5.10a, exposed and scary! Bring two #4 cams for the top, and save them!)
Reed's Regular Route (5.9, totally classic, one of the best in the valley)

I miss it already. It was unbelievably awesome. The sunset on El Cap and Half Dome is so magical.. glacial polished granite glistening like jewels.

Looking toward Half Dome from the top of Sunnyside Bench

I hope everyone is gonna have a fabulous weekend. Check out our fabulous Father's Day deal we have running through the whole weekend on the Patagonia Nano Puff. Only $99.99! Also, don't miss Steel Pulse at Britt tonight! Starts at 6:30pm. One of the U.K.'s most classic and talented Reggae bands - one of the most influential and successful.

See you in the hills.