Yosemite National Park

Ever since my acceptance into the Mazamas Advanced Rock class, I had been looking forward to their trip down to Yosemite National Park. While I had no plans of big wall climbing in this cathedral of rock climbing, I relished the chance to practice my newly learned trad lead climbing skills on the world famous granite.

Then in July I stumbled and landed on my left thumb. The injury was not serious, but damaging enough to curtail my climbing plans. So instead I planned to climb with my feet and explore by hiking and backpacking.

Our class set up base camp at a campground overlooking Saddlebag Lake on a pass at an elevation of 10000 feet. For you Oregonians out there, that is like camping at the base of Mt. Hood's crater. Even though it was just outside of Yosemite's Tioga Pass entrance, it offered more peace than the car camping options inside the national park in a beautiful alpine setting.

While my colleagues were out climbing, I took a handful of hikes. My first was was to the top of Mount Hoffman, near the geographic center of the park. I also took a short hike amongst the Giant Sequoias in the Tuolumne Grove. Then went down to Yosemite Valley and braved the crowds and explored some of the meadows. On the way out of the valley I stopped at Tunnel View and understood why this place is known as the 'Incomprehensible Valley'.

The highlight of the trip was three day backpacking trip from Tuolumne Meadows down to Yosemite Valley. Monday morning I was dropped off near the Tuolumne Meadows Lodge, elevation 8600 feet. With my wilderness permit and bear canister loaded in my backpack, I headed down the Muir trail and then headed south along Rafferty Creek. After gradually gaining altitude I found myself at the Vogelsang High Serria Camp. As I ate lunch at Fletcher Lake I soaked in this glorious high alpine setting. It got even better as I hiked past Vogelsang Lake and then up to Vogelsang Pass (elevation 10600 feet). My breath was taken away as I rounded the corner and saw the water tumbling down the from Gallson Lake. Below me was the Lewis Creek Valley. As I descended down this valley the creek would slide down slabs of granite. In the distance grand granite domes rose above me. My final mile was a pleasant walk through the shaded forest to the backpacker's campground at Merced Lake. Here I found a flush toilet (such a luxury) and friendly companions that invited me to join their campfire.

Tuesday morning I broke camp and followed the Merced River to Echo Valley. At the trail junction I was startled when a cinnamon colored bear crossed my path. It was not that big, so I paused a looked for mama bear. After awhile it appear that this bear was out solo so I pressed onward. Above me I heard the woodpeckers pecking out insects from the bark, a reminder of home. I gained some altitude and soon found myself above the Merced River valley. Here I was looking down into the Lost Valley, dominated by the impressive granite dome of Bunnell Point. I rejoined the John Muir trail and set up camp at a trail jucntion with good water access. I loaded up my fanny pack and started up the trail to Clouds Rest. The view of Half Dome and the Yosemite Valley got better as I rounded each switchback. Then the big surprise of the day, a hiker that was descending the trail recognized my voice. It was Chris Bibro, a fellow Mazama, who was backpacking with his girlfriend. Chris told me the view from Clouds Rest was spectacular and he was not kidding. At 9926 feet elevation, I was looking down on Half Dome and the Yosemite Valley. Not far away I could see Mount Hoffman plus I could make out the route that had brought me here. After lingering at the summit for some time I descended down to my campsite to rest for my day three.

Tuesday morning I broke camp and headed down the John Muir trail to the Half Dome trail junction. I read that bears were active in this area, so I left my backpack behind, separating my stove and bear canister. Gradually the trees thinned out and I found myself at the base of Half Dome's Cable Route. This is the famous final 400 feet via two cables strung between poles that rest in holes drilled in the steep granite face. As I ascended I got into a rhythm with my arms doing most of the work pulling myself up. The time I spent climbing on granite at City of Rocks gave me the confidence to trust that my feet would hold. The view was worth every step of the way. My efforts to get up here early paid off as I did not have to deal with too large of a crowd as I descended. Downclimbing involved communicating with those who were ascending as the space between the cables is too narrow for two people.

Back down at the trail junction I discovered that chipmunks had gotten into my backpack. I found one of my chemical hand warmers 20 feet from the backpack. Better them than bears. I descended down into Yosemite Valley, enjoying the view of Nevada Falls. During this trip I had seen some incredible sights, but none were as welcome as my car waiting for me at the trailhead.

But this was not the last chapter of this backpacking adventure. The Big Meadows fire had broken out in the National Park, closing a critical road for my return to Saddlebag Lake. A drive that should have taken 2 hours lasted 4.5 hours. When I finally made it back to home base all had retired for the night and the last of the campfire embers were fading.

When my time in Yosemite had ended, I drove north to Truckee to visit my cousin Eric and his family. We had a wonderful picnic dinner at Donner Lake and then later I got to read bedtime stories to his girls. The next morning I packed up one last time and drove home.

You can see more photos at this link.

Moscow on the Crooked River

I was about to lead the third pitch of Spiderman, located on the west side of Smith Rock State Park.  This would be my final Smith Rock climb as a student of the Mazamas Adavanced Rock class.  My first move involved stepping out of the security of the belay ledge toward a narrow crack that ran upwards to a overhung rock ceiling.  Below the crack there was a intimidating drop off to the ground.  I was struggling to commit to the first move.   Not only was I afraid of the exposure, but of swinging too far forward as I moved into the crack.  I told my climbing partner Ron that I could not do it.  He told me that I could and pointed out a foothold that I had not seen.  It took a little while, but the moment that I had been working towards all of these months realized itself.  I made the committing move forward and found a good foothold.  Trusting that my feet would hold I found that the crack offered great handholds, allowing me to place a piece of rock protection.   My confidence kicked in and I knew I could climb this crack.  Another illustration of the first step being the hardest part.

The day before I had returned to Smith's Red Wall and climbed the Moscow route (below).  This time I was followed by coordinator George Cummings.  George is one of the pioneers of Smith Rocks and has made several first ascents in the park  Part of the appeal of the Moscow route is that it was a pure traditional route, meaning that there were not any bolts to build an anchor.  So when I realized that I had climbed past the ledge which is typically the end of the second pitch (whoops), I just started plugging in rock protection into the crack and built an anchor there.

Smith Rock : Part Two

Some of you may recall that I climbed the first pitch of Super Slab on Smith Rock State Park's Red Wall in March 2008.  Well, on Sunday I returned to this route and lead all three pitches.  Thankfully it did not hale on me this time.  Near the top of the third pitch I was able to place my trusty pink Tricam in a little pocket hole, giving me the confidence to make the final effort to complete the route.

On Saturday our coordinator Ryan Christie took us up the Sky Chimney route.  Here I lead the first pitch, while Ryan led the final two as they were too difficult for me to lead.  This was the day that I realized that I climbed more confidently along cracks, as opposed to climb up just the face of the rock.  Sky Chimney has a long double rope rappel, a portion of which is overhung.  That had me rappelling though the air, slowly spinning in circles.  Here is how it started out...

When I returned home I discovered that I was not the only one climbing.  One of my green bean vines had started to climbing up the trellis in my garden.

City of Rocks

One of the things that delishts me about my participation with the Mazamas is that it takes me to such wonderful places that I did not know existed.  Memorial Day weekend was a case in point as our Advanced Rock class went to City of Rocks National Reserve in Southern Idaho.   It certainly was worth the eleven hour drive.  The City is a cluster of granite spires and monoliths that resemble a silent city.

It was amazing to climb on the granite.  The surface of the corse rock really gripped my rock shoes, allowing me to effectivily smear the soles for good footholds.

I spent most of Saturday with James Jula, yet another Mazamas Climb Leader who has given me plenty of feedback and encouragement.  I would lead the pitch and then belay James up, who would evaluate how I did.  I ended leading four pitches that day, enough to finish the second of three evaluations needed to complete the class. At one point we had to put our climbing plans on hold as an afternoon lightning storm broke loose.

Sunday morning started out with rain, so we did a little hiking.  When the skies cleared up I put my climbing harness back on for some top roping.

Smith Rock State Park

I have returned from the first of three field sessions at Smith Rock State Park.  As our lead coordinator said, these are the meat of our Mazamas Advanced Rock class.

The weekend was an excellent opportunity for me to distinguish between things are and are not within my sphere of control.  The last minute cancellation of my carpool, coordinators (who were supposed to shadow me each day) that were no shows, the closure of an area I wanted to to climb in were all outside of my control.  With each of these we simply adapted.

During the weekend I lead pitches at Round River, Flunked Out, Left Side of the Beard, and the Bowling Alley.  I discovered that I was very comfortable placing the passive protection (nuts, tricams, and hexes) while at times I'm not sure how to judge the quality of the Spring Loaded Camming Devices (aka cams) placements.  I am finding that the belay station is a tricky place for me as I'm trying to find a balance of speed/efficiency and safety.  I am also noticing that my efforts to prepare for this class have been paying off.  I felt comfortable clipping in the carabiners thanks to the Leading Clinic that we took at Club Sport.  I had also noticed improvements in my climbing.

Belaying my climbing partner Lief up Left Side of the Beard

Working my way up the crack in the Bowling Alley

Advanced Rock Compentency Test

My Advanced Rock competency test at Horsethief Butte did not start out well.  I just could not place the six pieces of rock protection within the allotted time frame.  At one point I hung my head, discouraged at this bad start.  Then something in me clicked and I rallied.

The point of the Competency Test was to see if we were ready to lead climb at Smith Rock in two weeks.  We were tested on placing rock protection, building anchors, and protecting a traverse.  We would also have to do a lead climb, with the coordinators climbing up after us evaluating the protection that we placed.  We also had to set up a multidirectional anchor and prepare ourselves to belay a climber up after us.  Everything was timed.  We would have the chance to retake a portion if need be. 

In the beginning it looked like it was going to be a rainy day out at Horsethief Butte.  But the sun came out and we had a brilliant day.  Perhaps that is best how to describe how my day went.  

Falling!

As part of the Mazamas Advanced Rock class, I have been taking a lead climbing clinic at Club Sport's rock gym.  For our second clinic, we had a mock fall.  Each of us would take turns lead climbing partway up the wall and then falling.  Our lead belayer would then arrest the fall with their belay device.  The belayer would be backed up by a top rope belayer.  The objective of the exercise was twofold as it would give the lead belayer practice in catching a fall and help the climber become more comfortable with falling.  As crazy as the latter point sounds, it actually is helpful as it builds trust the system.

I think I was more nervous about arresting a fall than falling.  When my climbing partner fell, it yanked me upward, but I was able to hold the belay and stop the fall.  When it was my turn to fall, it was tough to let go, but watching someone else do it gave me courage to do so.

For the third and final clinic there was more practice falling.  First we would take falls on a top rope.  As the belayer on this exercise, I was surprised how little effort was necessary to catch the climber's fall.  Then we shifted from a top rope to lead climbing.  This was quite exciting for me, since it was my first lead climb ever.  After one lead climb, we did a couple lead falls.  I once heard that courage is faith plus action.  That certainly described what it took to let go knowing that I would fall twice the distance between myself and the last bolt I had clipped into, plus whatever slack there was in the rope.  But I exhaled, let out a whoop, and raised my arms up.  Sure enough, my belayer caught me.  The systems works! 

Sink the Pink

No, the title is not NOT referring to the AC/DC song.  When I told my friend Eileen that I was in Advanced Rock, she told me to sink the pink.  I was puzzled by the comment, but I think I get it now.  She was referring to the Size 0.5 Tricam from Camp, which has a pink sling.  This is the only rock protection piece that I know of that has inspired a poem, Charles Danforth's Ode to a Pink Tricam.  

I have brought this up because the Pink Tricam played a big role for me this weekend.  I have been getting a taste of lead climbing this week.    Thursday I started a Lead Climbing clinic at the Club Sport rock gym as part of the Advanced Rock class.  We didn't do any climbing, but we practiced on a fundamentals such properly clipping in (important) and lead belaying.  Then on Saturday we had a field session where we did some simulated lead climbing.  Our task was to climb halfway up the vertical wall at Rocky Butte and build a multi-directional anchor.  Using this anchor we would rappel back down.  The climber would be backup by a belay through the top rope anchor that we built up above.  While we climbed up we would periodically place rock protection.  Climbing up rock is hard work, I discovered that placing protection is even harder.  The first time I was attempting to do so I was struggling, but my belayer encourage me to hang in there.  I saw a horizontal crack so pulled out my pink Tricamp, slipped it in snug, and clipped in.  Success!

Rock and Snow Weekend

I am faced with a bit of a challenge this Spring.  The past four years I have used the conditioning hikes that are part of the Mazama's Basic Climbing class (BCEP) to stay hiking trim for the Summer's climbs.  This year I am not helping out with BCEP so I can focus on the Advanced Rock class.  However, there is very little aerobic exercise in rock climbing, hardly enough to prepare me for my upcoming climbs.  

So, with the glorious weather this weekend, I have attempted to kill two birds with one stone.  Sunday I drove out to the Columbia River Gorge and hiked most of the way up the Nesmith Point Trail.  Along the way I came across a Boy Scout troop, with the Scouts galloping down the trail.  They told me that their adult leadership would not let them hike up in the snow.  As I got towards the crest of the gorge I came across the snow.  There were good steps kicked in the snow, but I also would have thought it was too steep for Tommy Tenderfoot.  I picked a spot with a view of Beacon Rock and Mt. Hamilton and ate my lunch.

As I drove back to Portland I stopped at Lewis and Clark State Park and hiked up the crags of Broughton Bluff.  Saturday our Advanced Rock class had a field session focusing on building rock anchors.  So here I pulled out my gear and practiced placing rock protection and built a couple of anchors.  I am discovering the building an timely anchor is a big challenge, so this was an excellent opportunity to practice.

Check out this Equalette Anchor with three TriCams placed in a horizontal crack.