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Author : Peter Adamson
We are currently in Tuolumne, getting ready to move down to yosemite valley. We have been staying at yosemite creek campground. Tomorrow we will go to camp 4.
Today we climbed and chilled in the valley. We woke up early, in order to ensure that we would get a spot in camp 4.
We met a great group of people while in line for our site. One couple was 6 weeks into an 8 week road trip. They started in Massachusetts and had driven to Yosemite. Another father and son team were up from Southern California, and were going to hike up half dome.
Then it was time to climb. I found an area in the guidebook known as Knobby wall. It was described as very steep and very hard. Perfect.
It turned out to be a bit difficult to find. we drove up and down highway 140 trying to find it, to no avail. By pure chance we stumbled upon a traveling hermit climber named Joey.
Joey was indeed a character. A very odd, but very nice guy, he showed us the way to knobby wall. It was everything i had hoped for. Ridiculously overhanging and hard.
I decided to warm up on one of the easier routes there, a 5.12a known as Shaft of the Penetrator. After 3 tries, I pulled off the redpoint. Dad also tried it, and could redpoint it with a little work.
I then moved one route to the right, an unnamed 5.12a. A few hard moves led to a huge rest jug. I then moved up and back down to the jug a few times finally committing to the moves. Another series of hard moves followed, but I pulled through, and got my second 5.12 onsight. Once again, Dad could get the route with a little work.
The next climb we tried was supposedly a 5.12b, but it was harder than Access Denied, 5.13a. That route didn't go so well for us. I think it was called something like Hastings hole.
After that, we tried another, slightly easier 5.12b, although I didn't get this one either, due to an unnerving runout at the end. I think it was named Chongos Cabrones.
We said goodbye to Joey, and went to do some laundry. Armed with an arsenal of clean clothes, it was off to Church bowl for more climbing.
Dad recalled a very nice "5.8" crack, known as Bishop's Terrace that he had climbed 20 years previous. After a rock, Paper, Scissors war, I won the right to lead. I would later wish I had lost.
The first bit was tame enough. 5.6 jugs and crack led to a slightly harder, but still not bad 5.7 corner. At the end of this corner lay a gorgeous 5.7 finger crack for 60 feet, which took bomber pro the whole way. Naturally, I chose to step right at the top of the corner instead, into a 5.8/9 offwidth variation, rather than take the beautiful finger crack.
Unfortunately the crack was at least 7'" wide, and my biggest piece of protection was 3" wide. I stuffed a tipped out #3 camalot in at the bottom, and that was all I would get for the next 50 feet.
After groveling up 20 feet, looking down at my last piece a long ways away, I was feeling a little scared. Luckily, the crux was still ahead of me. Oh, joy.
Smearing my right foot on the edge of the offwidth, I tentatively stood up to a small left hand crimp on the face. I smeared my left foot above my right. Very scared now. I reach up and up, waiting for my feet to skate out from under me, sending me for a career-ending 50+ foot fall.
Instead, my hand latched onto a jug. I pulled up and slotted in a #5 black diamond stopper at the first opportunity. Safe, at least for now. Near the top, I started to run low on pro, but no problem because it was easy right? I put in a tipped out #1 camalot, my only piece for a long ways. Also, the last piece of protection I would get until the top, 30 feet away. Luckily, the jams were solid. Not quite so lucky, fate had another twist in store for me.
15 feet above the cam, I put in a jam with my right hand. As I went to weight it, I felt a pop from my fingers, which sent extreme pain throughout my hand. I unweighted the jam, and something popped back into place. The pain was blinding now.
Somehow, I made it to the anchor, and clipped myself in. At this point I had broken into a cold sweat, and all I could see were stars. The pain started to subside, and I belayed dad up using my ATC-guide in auto-blocking mode in case my hand stopped working.
Once down at the bottom, we met another climber. We didn't get his name, but we chatted and swapped stories for a while. We may meet him again in camp 4.
I put 5.8 in quotations, since it was really more like 5.9 or 5.10. However, it was still phenomenal, and I would do it again, but without the offwidth.
Sorry, no pictures from today, but here's a great view of el cap.
Author : Steve Adamson
The campsite that we stayed at the first night in the high sierras was also the trailhead for Charlotte Dome, which was one of the climbs we had on our 'to do' list. Therefore, we decided to head into the backcountry and try this climb rather than go into Whitney.
At the trailhead
The hike into the dome was beautiful. The High Sierras have some magnificent lakes and meadows. The climb to the pass was long and hot, but we reached 11,000+ feet in good time. The rest of the hike was downhill.
At the kearsarge pass
After about 1 hour the storm passed and it cleared up again. We kept on trekking and trekking.
We reached charlotte lake; A beautiful deep blue lake that was too far from the climb to stay at.
According to the guide book there was a perfect campsite near the dome. We followed the directions, and we know we were close. However, the directions were not very specific, and we were sore and tired. We found our own spot and set up camp. We were in bear country so we had to take precautions to save our food.
That evening our shoulders were in agony. Carrying heavy packs without any training was not a good idea. We had also seriously miscalculated how far it was to the climb. We had originally planned on climbing and hiking out the next day. However, we realized that was not realistic. We changed our plans to climbing the next day, and hiking out the day after. Unfortunately, we did not bring food for 3 days.
Big packs
We woke at 6 a.m. and had a quick breakfast before heading to the climb. It was another 1 hour hike to the climb with some scrambling over slabs to find the start. We located the start of the climb, roped up and started at 8 a.m. The climb is 12 pitches at 5.8
approach
Charlotte Dome
The first rappel was from a single nut jammed in a crack. It was a solid piece, but rappeling off a single piece, 500' above the ground is quite exciting. We finished the rappels only losing 3 slings and 2 nuts. We made our way back to camp for a cup of tea and a granola bar.
Sicne it was still early in the day, Peter wanted to start the hike out and possibly get over the pass before night fall. This would make the next day all downhill. We packed up camp and started off. The hike was a constant game to try and minimize the pain on the shoulders and back from carrying the packs. We again encountered a thunderstorm just before the pass, but we decided it was not too bad so continued on. We pushed on until 7:30 p.m when we arrived at a small lake. Again, our shoulders and back were in agony.
The next morning we slept in til 7 a.m. It was a great location for breakfast; A package of oatmeal each. That was the end of our food with the exception of a few gummy worms found in the bottom of the pack.
Even though it was downhill back to the car, it was a tough trek. We finally reach the trailhead at noon. Sore, tired, but we had a good adventure. We did not reach the top of the cimb, however we had retreated in good style. After a quick change of clothes, we drove down to 100 degree heat in Lone Pine where there was a subway.
Author : Steve Adamson
How many times have I been in this situation, sitting at an airport waiting for a plane to arrive? Peter (my son) and I are waiting to see if our plane will be able to land given that it is very foggy.
We are hoping to fly to Toronto and then onto Los Angeles. We plan to climb in the High Sierras for a week and then onto Yosemite for a week.
Back to my first question, I think the number of times I have been sitting, waiting at an airport hundreds of times. This is tough part of any trip. We have the apprehension of starting a new trip; Will we lose our baggage, will we make the connection, will the weather be good or bad, so many questions waiting to be answered.
Peter is now 17 years old, and climbing much harder than me. We are hoping to climb long routes in the High Sierras. 1000' 5.8's that top out at 14,000'. We will definitely feel the altitude, but the climbing difficulty should not be a problem. Peter just red pointed a 5.13 the other day, and I have climbed many mountain routes.
We are hoping to try the Nose route on El Cap in Yosemite. This is a 3000' route that will take 4 days to climb. This route should be more of a challenge, especially if the weather is hot. We will be hauling 8 gallons of water up the route, along with sleeping bags and climbing gear.
10 minutes until the plane is scheduled to land. If it can land, then it will be no problem for it to take off again. Here's hoping.
The past year has been a good one for climbing trips. At christmas 2008 Darlene, Jon, PJ, and I went to Las Vegas and climbed at Red Rocks.
Then at March break 2008 we flew to Joshua Tree.
Then in June 2008 PJ and I took my Mum and Dad to Yosemite. We climbed and hiked while Mum and Dad explored.
Then for March break 2009 Jon, Pj, myself, and 18 others went back to Joshua Tree.
-5 mintues till the plane arrives!
These trips were possible because I was working 2 jobs. 1 at Pt. Lepreau nuclear plant, and 1 at the community college. The extra income paid for the trips. However, I am now back to 1 job (at the college) so this may be the last trip for a while, especially considering that Peter is going to UNB in the fall.
For the nose route we have 2 haul bags, 1 large and 1 small.
-The plane landed, so it looks good for getting out to Toronto.
-Toronto Airport. We made it this far. Saw our bags at customs, so hopefully they will make it to L.A. We split the gear between the bags so that we would not be screwed if one of them does not make it.
Starting out
