| Activity | Time (Duration) | Mileage | Elevation Gain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basin Mountain (turned at Horton Lake) | 8:55 am - 1:25 pm (4:30) | 8.5 mi | 2,140’ |
| Grouse Mountain (4th class this time) | 2:15 pm - 5:45 pm (3:30) | 3.3 mi | 1,425’ |
| Clouds Rest from Tenaya Lake (the far side) | 10:35 am - 5:20 pm (6:45) | 15.6 mi | 3,280’ |
( Read More )I’d like to think I’ve finally learned my lesson about using Tinder to find climbing partners, but I’ll probably do it again at some point. After asking multiple times to make sure he really didn’t have any other partners he could possibly employ for the task, I agreed to attempt Royal Arches and Crest Jewel Direct in a day with Austin - 30 pitches for his 30th birthday. The thing about CJD is it’s 10d slab. I wasn’t sure if he climbed 10d slab, but having failed to get past the crux of a 10a slab (outside of the Valley) on a toprope last summer, I was sure I didn’t.
( Read More )
Last year in order to avoid going on a solo night hike in a completely unfamiliar area I started hiking at midnight and summited Clouds Rest in time for sunrise. With substantially more snow in the Sierras this year than last winter (no snow from the Valley to the summit), I wasn’t feeling exceptionally more adventurous. Ian was in southern California and wanted to join me for a new year’s hike on his way back to Seattle, so it seemed like it was going to be even less of an adventure with 2 people on a trail I’ve done in the dark - at least parts of - half a dozen times now. I’ve realized that while solo outdoor trips are enjoyable, trips with other people are in some ways more meaningful. Having shared experiences is something I want to try to do more of in the coming year.
( Read More )January 1, 2018
The original plan was to use the Christmas to New Year’s break in a low snow year to go hike the 3 Southern California peaks I’ve been trying to combine into a feasible weekend trip all year. That plan would have necessitated leaving on the 29th, ideally, and the 30th at the very latest. It turned out that disassembling and reassembling my car to replace a catalytic converter behind the engine took several times longer than my dad anticipated. My hope of completing that trip dwindled, and eventually I was forced to come up with a new plan when it still wasn’t fixed by Friday evening. My main intention was a hike that I could start at midnight on January 1st, for which the Cactus to Clouds trail up San Jacinto would have been perfect. That didn’t seem worth the 7-hour drive alone, and by the time the car was fixed on Sunday (the 31st), it was afternoon already. I’d have had to jump straight in the car and drive with minimal stops just to arrive at the trailhead by midnight.
It occurred to me to try a hike I’d done before, so I knew the trails and wouldn’t have trouble alone in the dark. Watching a sunrise from a good vantage point seemed like a great goal given my love of sunrise watching in the mountains. I decided on Clouds Rest, with none of the detours I’d taken on previous hikes and instead an attempt to head toward Tenaya Lake on the other side. Hiking trips always take so little time to pack for compared to climbing trips. Within a couple hours I’d decided on a plan, thrown clothes, snacks, water, and basic supplies in a daypack and was on my way to Yosemite Valley at 5:30.
( --- More --- )Half Dome: Full Dome Consequences
November 5, 2017
After the complete failure I had in July at using my Half Dome permit – I must really have no friends if I can’t find people who want to use a supposedly in-demand cables permit – I wanted to go back before the end of the year and make an attempt at the Liberty Cap-Half Dome-Clouds Rest linkup I’d concocted in order to earn the Fitbit 1000 floors badge. Or so I thought. I’m not sure if they removed some badges, or if I’d just mistaken the 1000 lifetime floors badge for a daily one, but there isn’t currently such a thing. Nor is there the 100,000 steps in a day badge I also could have sworn there used to be, although I was nowhere close to earning that one.
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