"We topped out and the Citadel of the summit of Conness came into view"
Prelude: Summer has been trying to get me to meet her in the Valley for many years, and I have always resisted because I believe that my fist pilgrimmage to the cradle of hardman granite-land should be a weeks long trip where I can not only savor the climbs, but capitalize on the experience and achieve something significant. But the years are ticking away, and there is no better time than now. So with that I bought the plane ticket, and we planned the followig itinerary: we would climb West Ridge of Conness on day 1, Matthes Crest on day 2, and something else on day 3.
For those of you familiar with these climbs, that might sound ambitious. Certainly for late September, when the days grow shorter. That was the plan, but the story unfolded differently.
We only pulled into the park around 2am, and slept in the car in a pullout on the road to Tuolumne. We had gotten lost driving to Yosemite and had somehow ended up in Merced. So we entered the park through El Portal, but I digress. Day 1 was supposed to be the West Ridge of Conness. Summer had seen it from Cathedral, tried to approach it once unsuccessfully, but had never gotten to it. We wanted to do it in a day, car-to-car, and avoid carrying overnight gear. So we drove through to Tioga Pass and parked near the Carnegie Institute, and prepared to approach via Alpine Lake.
We left the car at 9:30, and Summer marvelled that there were no bugs! Alpine Lake, aptly named, is not where you think it will be, if you have never been there before. There was no trail to follow, after we left the trees, and though we had a map, it didnt help and we traversed into the wrong basin. Examining the map further when there was no doubt we were at a dead end, it became obvious that the lake was back that-a-way. Contouring at the 10,800 ft level to the North, we reached the lake in about 30 minutes. Still, the detour had cost us an hour or hour and a half!
Alpine Lake, in evening light
We traversed around the lake to low angled slabs and scree, heading uphill. There was no trail at all to follow, so we made it up as we went along. The map showed we needed to get to "that ridge up there", then descend back down to the base of the West Ridge of Conness. Halfway up, at around 11,000 feet, Summer started having a serious issue with the altitude we were at. 0 to 11,000 overnight is enough to make most people feel a bit woozy, and Summer started moving slower. By the time we reached "that ridge up there", where I thought we would hit the plateau near the summit, we instead found ourselves looking out over Conness Glacier, on the North side of the mountain. We were still lower than we thought! The plateau was actually higher, up an improbable looking hillside.
"We topped out and the Citadel of the summit of Conness came into view"
It was already too late in the day to seriously consider the climb now. Our asses were officially kicked. Summer was done, and wanted to sleep. I didn't and got frustrated and antsy. I wanted to get moving, either go up and summit via the Surveyors Route or down and climb something else. Summer wasnt convinced we were even in the right place; we had not seen a trail in a long time...wasnt this supposed to be a popular route?
The slopes leading to Alpine Lake, which is nestled in a basin just left of the small summit you see here. There is no trail to speak of; instead, the main trail continues to the false basin.
Just about then we saw a party of three coming over the summit plateau, down the improbable hillside. We went and talked to them. They, like us, had wanted to do the West Ridge. They, like us, had gotten lost and traversed into that amphitheater instead of finding Alpine Lake. When had they left the car? 6am. They ditched their climbing gear here by this large boulder, and had just gone up to do the Surveyors Route when it became obvious it wasnt going to work out for the West Ridge.
With that motivation, Summer agreed to ditch the gear and try to climb up the last 800 feet to the regular summit. We found an obvious trail up the improbable hillside of boulders. It was hard going, even without a pack. I felt fine until the last few hundred feet, when I got a bit dizzy. We were working very hard, but moving slowly.
Finally, we topped out and the Citadel of the summit of Conness came into view. We traversed over to it easily, and spent some time on the summit before slowly heading down.
The North Face of Conness, looking back towards the approach from Alpine Lake
Summer leads the long first pitch
We had eaten good food at the Tioga Pass Resort after Conness, and made a nice little camping spot, and had gotten plenty of sleep. Still, after the complete butt-kicking approach trying Conness, I was unwilling to commit to an attempt on Matthes Crest, which (on the map anyway) had a longer approach and was a longer climb.
So we decided on Cathedral Peak as a nice day. Summer had climbed it before many years ago with two guys she had met in the Valley, and reported it was a casual outing, but one of the better ones in Tuolumne Medows. Cathedral is noteworthy as an exposed but short climb in the heart of the Cathedral Range, in the heart of Tuolumne Medows high country, with none other than John Muir as the first ascensionist. I was a little gunshy now, expecting not only a terrible trail, or no trail, but a sandbagged approach and climb.
But I should not have worried, Cathedral lived up to its reputation as a relaxed outing. We left the car at 7:45 and hiked quickly along the well-worn trail to Budd Lake. The fast hiking part was because there were SO MANY people at the trailhead, I was scared we would be waiting in line for the climb! We passed one party on the way in, and reached the base of the route in a few easy hours from the car. One party had just finished the first pitch and was starting the second, so we wasted no time in getting on the rock.
Summer boldly contemplated running the first two pitches together in one long lead, with simulclimbing if needed. We had a 70m 9.4 lead line, so it seemed that this would be a completely reasonable approach to some easy climbing. Off she went, taking a harder line to the right with a nice mid-5th lieback to an easier corner system. About 20m from the belay, I started simulclimbing, and she reached the belay a short time later. It was quite interesting climbing, stuff I am not used to, this solid, but flakey granite! Liebacking and stemming seemed wierd on low 5th terrain. Still, I climbed up the the belay and Summer reeled me in.
Tuolumne Medows from the top of the first "pitch" of Cathedral
The second pitch worked up a short crack, to a thin slab move above no pro and into a corner, to a ledge below and left of the obvious 5.6 chimney pitch. A solo dude went up right ahead of me and went on up the chimney, while I climbed fast but not as fast up the corner to the next belay, where I finally caught the party ahead of us. Summer came up the easy pitch and took a look at the 5.7 variation. We didnt like the idea of climbing the 5.6 chimney, as the second was lugging a pack with shoes and water and camera. So she set off up the 5.7, which was more of the stemming, liebacking granite climbing that she excels at. Before long Summer was bringing me up; I found the pitch easy but awkward. At one point I was tweaked out, but it all worked out in the end.
Alex leading the small broken pillar, pitch 4 on Cathedral peak
The next pitch went up the right side of a small broken pillar, on easy but fun climbing. This led to a small face where one can traverse left on face holds after protecting a crack. With plenty of rope to spare, I landed on the large ledge 10m below the summit. I could have easily led to the top, making it a 4 pitch climb, but I had caught the party ahead of us again, and decided it would be nicer to wait. So Summer came up and led the final pitch to the summit.
Summer leading the final pitch on Cathedral peak
From the summit, Tuolumne Medows stretches out before you. It is amazing how much granite in within view, more than I ever thought I would see in my lifetime.
Eichhorn Pinnacle and the Sierra high country from Cathedral Peak.
We descended after a short while. Summer is patient with me, but I hate spending much time on summits. The descent trail was fairly easy to follow, and we went down into the valley near Cathedral Lakes to pick up the Cathedral Lakes trail. It was a dusty and dry, but downhill, trudge back to the car.
Mt Conness and its spectacular West Ridge are easily seen to the North from the summit.
Day three dawned after another peaceful night at a campground (and even a nice campfire). I was still gunshy, unwilling to go get on 5.9s as I had heard lots of horror stories about how sandbagged Yos ratings are. I had never been to the valley, never stood in the shadow of the Captain, and I was dreading that I would discover I was really only a 5.8 climber. So Summer suggested an easy 3 pitch route in the Five Open Books are, near Yosemite Falls. It sounded like a great option!
We ate breakfast in Yosemite Lodge and by the by made our way out to the climb. There were several parties already there, one that had shown up a minute or two before us, and one already most of the way up the climb. We asked the other party at the base if they were fast, and then we promised to be if they let us go first. They did!
Summer Locke leads the second pitch on Munginella.
I led up the easy climbing to a tree belay at 60m. It was easy and fun, I placed 4 pieces on the lead and felt good about it. Summer came up and it was already hot, but in the shade of the tree things were quite tolerable. Summer organized her gear and then lead to the top, where she struggled a little with some gear placeements but made it work in the end. Her pitch was less than 60m, making the entire climb not more than 100m, hardly 3 pitches. But it was for the best, it was getting hot!
"I had never been to the valley, never stood in the shadow of the Captain, and I was dreading that I would discover I was really only a 5.8 climber."
At the top, we sat in the shade of a tree and oriented ourselves with the area some more. It was only 11am, but it was far too hot to climb! The rock was scorching hot to the touch, and I had no motivation to get fried in the sun after 2 days of doing that nonstop in Tuolumne. Plus, I just didnt know the area and what else we could climb that was in the shade.
Summer reads Yosemite Free Climbs in the shade at the top of the route
So we went down after a while, and hung out in El Cap medow, orienting ourselves with the Nose and Salathe routes, and watched climbers climb around the big stone like fleas. I didnt understand how they could even be up there, the sun was so hot they must have been roasting!
The Captain really needs no introduction
A Party on the Great Roof working out more than 20 pitches off the deck
A Parting look at tranquil Yosemite Valley - we'll be back!
