Sierras 2019

This summer when Matt and I were driving across Arizona we weren’t driving through smoke and didn’t turn north and go to Wyoming instead of California as we had in 2018. This summer Matt and I drove straight to Lone Pine, CA and got permits for the next day. We hoped to climb at the Whitney Portal that afternoon but it was so hot we just napped in the shade instead. Matt had hiked up Whitney when he was younger but hadn’t technically rock climbed in the eastern Sierra before.  I’d climbed in the eastern Sierra but had never been in the Whitney zone.

Making some coffee while we wait for the Ranger Station to open.

We woke early, shouldered our heavy packs, and headed for Iceberg Lake. We set up our tent, where we’d sleep for the next 3 nights and started toward the Keeler Needle.  Already at 8am we were down to t-shirts and sweating.  We expected cool temps/wind/weather since we were in the high country so we brought our puffy coats. Puffy coat that would never get put on because the temps would never drop, the winds would never come in, the clouds would never come, we cooked all day.

Matt following a pitch on Fishhook Arete.

The next day we headed over to Mt. Russell and climbed the ‘Fishhook Arete’ in the morning.  In the afternoon we climbed ‘Western Front’. In addition to both routes being awesome there was a slight wind that kept the heat down and made for a great day. The plan initially was to do a route on Whitney our last day up there before hiking out.  We decided because of the temps and mediocre rock on Keelers Needle to head out early and go check out another area.

Matt following a pitch on Western Front.

We hiked out and ironically headed to Temple Crag which is lower elevation and generally worse rock. We decided to do something car to car in a day so we didn’t have to deal with permitting.  The plan was to climb ‘Dark Star’ then continue to Mt. Gayley and Mt. Sill but after topping out Temple Crag and looking at the loose ridge that separated us from Gayley we decided to head back to the car.  And to be honest I probably didn’t bring enough food with me to actually be able to continue onto Sill without bonking and probably dying.  Although ‘Dark Star’ doesn’t seem to have the best reputation in terms of loose rock, we found the rock climbing to be fun and all the 4th and easy 5th class to be solid enough. All in all it was a great day.

Matt leading the crux of Dark Star in approach shoes.

After Temple Crag we figured we head to Toulumne for a bit. After a morning ascent of the awesome ‘Aqua Knobby’ the high temps made climbing out of the question so we just chilled at Tenya Lake for the afternoon.  Since long days in Tuolumne were out of the question we figured we’d try out Mt. Conness.

Our home on the side of the road for multiple nights.

The SW Face offered pretty fun climbing with amazing views of Tuolumne.  Unfortunately on the hike out my ankle started hurting which was weird since I didn’t twist it and don’t remember any trauma.

Approaching the SW Face on Mt. Conness

Either way the next day I taped it for a morning climb of ‘Crying Time Again’.  We’d planned on going to the Hulk but decided to bust over to Maple Canyon instead since hiking with another heavy pack sounded less than ideal.

Aqua Knobby

The next morning we were blown away with how fun the climbing was in Maple. We went from crag to crag only climbing the 4 star routes.  Turns out having a couple knee pads in the vehicle would have been more beneficial than the crampons we had in the trunk.

Pipe Dream Cave in Maple Canyon

The Open

Matt's full of ideas.  For awhile now he's been saying we need to do an 18 pitch day at Golf Wall.  18 obviously like 18 holes of golf.  The only rules were that they had to be 18 different routes and they all had to be lead clean.  A few days before we discussed the order that we thought would work and wrote it down on a piece of paper that we conveniently forgot to bring to the crag.  We both warmed up on a couple easier routes before hopping on the hardest pitch of the day, Pink Taco.  I had the route wired but Matt hadn't been on the route in a while and messed up his foot beta near the top and fell on his first go, then crushed it second go.  We both had a big sigh of relief having completed the crux of the day for our 5th route.  We hoped it would be an easy coast to the finish for the next 13 routes.

The next 6 routes went smoothly until I fell on Putt Putt.  I'd done the route a hundred times over the years but just couldn't hold on.  I decided I needed to start taking longer rests between routes, eat more food, and stop trying to do doubles(2 routes back to back).  Matt motored up Bert and Ernie's even though it had some wet holds and I moved onto Cinderella.  I got 3/4 of the way up and melted off the holds.  This isn't good.  Matt proceeded to try Cinderella and fell on two attempts.  It seemed like we had both hit a wall.  More rest and more food is what we needed, I hit Cinderella on my second go by skipping a clip and Matt hit it on his 3rd.  Ok, back on track!

The second attempt on Mail Slot...

I went back to Putt Putt and it felt casual.  I thought I'd caught a second wind until I fell off the top of Mail Slot.  Matt ticked a few hold up top for me after he'd sent Greenskeeper and I sent next go.  We'd thought we'd coast to the finish after Pink Taco but as we got more and more tired there were no gimme pitches.  My last route was Hole in One and to be expected I almost came off right before the no hands rest.  We're surely not the first to climb 18 different pitches in a day at Golf Wall but that's not what it's about.

My order with approximate grades...
1:Greenskeeper .10+
2:Eagle .12b
3:Bushwood .12a
4:Par Six .11b
5:Pink Taco .12d
6:Divitator .12c
7:Masters .12a
8:Bogey Man .12a
9:Birdie(aka Pumpy ten) .10+
10:Shooter McGavin .10+
11:Gator Pond .12a
Putt Putt (fail)
Cinderella (fail)
12:Cinderella .12a
13:Putt Putt .11d
14:Three Roofs .12a
15:Pebble Beach .11
Mail Slot (fail)
16:Ping .11b
17:Mail Slot .11c
18:Hole in One .11a

Harts Draw

Had a great 4 days discovering Harts Draw and Bobbys Hole Canyon in late March.  I accessed Harts Draw from 211 on the first day and walked 4 miles up the canyon to get to Bobbys Hole.  

Hartworm Tower

I got two towers done that day but then had to head back home to go to work.  I knew I'd be back in a couple days so I left my climbing gear hidden behind a boulder so I wouldn't have to carry it back and forth. While at work I looked some more at Google maps and discovered what looked like an easier way into the towers.  

The Infarction

So a few days later when I returned, I accessed the area from 133.  The short section of dirt road was rough in a few spots but was a much shorter drive.  I parked next to two cairns on the side of the road and was pleasantly surprised to find a trail leading down into the canyon.   Luckily no one at taken my pack of gear and I climbed one more tower and hiked out with everything.  The plan was to meet Trevor and Cam to climb some other towers but back on the rim with good service I learned that the area was inaccessible because of the snow melt.  Cam bailed completely because he was sick but Trevor decided to come meet me.  Trevor arrived later that night and we looked at photos and made plans for the next two days.

Harts and Minds Tower

In the morning we carried the climbing gear back into the canyon and set our sights on the proudest looking tower in the area, The Infarction.  Things went smoothly and we were soon back on the ground planning the next day.  We walked over to Harts Draw Rincon Butte with no plans of  climbing it but found a easy route up.  We soloed up and down, happy to get another summit. 

Trevor leading the last pitch on The Infarction

On the last day we woke up to some flurries and weren't sure if we were going to get any climbing in.  However, our packs of climbing gear were in the canyon so we had to do the hike either way.   Luckily the weather cleared up and we were able to put up 3 more short routes.

Trevor and I on the summit of The Infarction

Cody Ice

In the beginning of March we took a trip up to Cody to ice climb.  I hadn't ice climbed since the year before when we were in Cody, but luckily ice climbing is like riding a bike.  Once again we got a cabin in the valley which made the drive to and from the ice nice and short.  Unfortunately it didn't shorten the approach hikes!  On the first day, 5 of us climbed a great route called "View to a Thrill".   

Pitch 2 of View to a Thrill

 Day 2: We all climbed Too Cold to Fire.

Last pitch of Too Cold to Fire

Day 3: Unfortunately, John and Jaaron had to head home, but Brooke, Tim, Smokey Joe and I climbed Mean Green. 

Mean Green Pitch 1

 Day 4: Tim, Smokey Joe and I got a late start and climbed Broken Heart's first 4 pitches.  We walked up to My Only Valentine and were pleasantly surprised to find it in.  We climbed that and then saw that we made a big mistake of starting late because the rarely in 6th pitch was fat.  Unfortunately we had to rappel since Tim and I had left our headlamps at the packs.

Tim following a pitch on Broken Hearts

 Day 5: Brooke, Tim, Smokey Joe and I climbed High on Boulder to Save it for Later and Moonrise.

Smokey Joe following My Only Valentine

Can't wait till next winter! 

Mexican Road Trip

In January Matt, Adam and I headed on a little Mexican road trip.  We left in the morning after Adam and I got off of work.  The vehicle we were taking was a 19 year old Honda Accord.  On the 2,500 mile trip we would break 200,000 miles.  None of us were concerned with whether the car would make the trip, but Matt and Adam were both concerned with the trunk space.  You see I bought the car 6 months before with a subwoofer in the trunk and I didn't want to take it out.  I don't care about bumpin' down the road, but probably irrationally, I was worried that by taking it out we would mess up the rest of the sound system making for a very long, quiet ride.  Either way I made both of them pack very light which caused a lot of shivering later on the trip.  We got a cheap hotel outside of El Paso, food shopped, and filled lots of water bottles that night.  As planned we crossed the boarder early in the morning in hopes of making the 8 hours to Basaseachi before it got dark.  Everyone we'd talked to about traveling in Mexico suggested only driving during the day.  Luckily we remembered to get our Vehicle Import Permit as throughout the trip we were stopped 3 times by cops asking to see it.  A few hours past the border we saw a taco stand and couldn't resist.  We each downed 9 tacos to the surprise of owners.  We pulled into Rancho San Lorenzo in the late evening and met up with Fernando who owned the place.  

He organized a ride to El Gigante the next day for us.  After an good sleep we woke up and packed in preparation for 3 days on the wall.  In the afternoon we got picked up and dropped off at the TH for the wall.  An hour hike put us at the top of the wall where we would spend the night.  The next morning we woke early and rappelled the route leaving food and water along the way to be picked up as we ascended.  We also left some extra draws on the crux pitches which turned out to be nice but often they weren't on the bolts where you wanted them.  After 5-6 hours of rappelling we were on the ground and started back up.  We climbed the first 8 pitches to the Tower of Power where we'd left our sleeping gear and then climbed and fixed the next two pitches.  

Above the Tower of Power is where the climbing got hard.  Pitch after pitch of .12 climbing.  We only brought one lead line and one haul line to minimize weight and help with station management.  Luckily most of the hard pitches were about half a rope length, so the middle guy could just tie into the middle and we'd caterpillar our way up.  When we had a longer pitch we'd have the middle guy climb it on a micro traxion, maybe not the best option but it worked.  Once at the Critter Bivy which is where we spent the second night we once again climbed and fixed the next two pitches.  

 On the third day after waking up we jugged and hauled the two fixed pitches and punched it to the top.  We decided the last .12a pitch near the top was the best pitch on the route.  We joked that we should have just rappelled those top few pitches to climb the pitch instead of rappelling all the way to the ground and spending 3 days on the wall.  As we climbed the last pitch to the top the sun hit us and we started to thaw out.  The route gets zero sun so we'd been in the shade, and shivering for most if not all of the route.  We repacked on top for the hike back to the road.  Luckily our ride was there waiting for us and drove us back to Rancho San Lorenzo. 

Although we probably should of stayed another few days in Basaseachi we decided to get up early the next morning and make the long drive east to El Potrero Chico.  We made it to Mark's place in Hidalgo a little after dark and then spent ten minutes pulling an Austin Powers trying to get into an admittedly pretty big parking spot.  Apparently I forget how to reverse into a parking spot after driving for 12 hours.

The next day Matt and climbed on El Sendero Luminoso.  We'd been wanting to climb the route for years and Adam had already climbed it.  The route had pitch after pitch of good climbing on clean rock. It's definitely a classic for good reason.  We met Adam in the canyon and decided after some dinner to climb Time Wave Zero which is a route we all wanted to climb.  It was dark when we started but thought that was a good thing since it gets a lot of sun and would be hot during the day.  With only a few hard pitches we thought we'd bring a bunch of draws and simul climb as a group of 3 for the majority of the route.  Adam linked the first third,  I took us up the next third, and Matt took us to the base of the crux pitch.  At that point it started raining and only because of Adam did we continue.  Matt and I were ready to call it a day but Adam took over the sharp end and took us to the top.  We'd forgotten Adam's chalk bag and belay device at the car so we ended up lowering him every pitch then Matt and I would simul rap. 

We wanted to go check out El Salto but the region was dealing with a gas shortage and so we stuck around Potrero for a couple days and got a little cragging in.  We drove back though the boarder near Laredo and paralleled the boarder all the way back to El Paso.  Adam got dropped off in Truth or Consequences to climb some more and Matt and I continued home. 

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Gothic Nightmare has been on my to do list for years.  Matt King and I finally made it happen this week.  The weather was less that prime with cold temperatures and a few inches of snow but to be expected I guess since it's December.  We didn't start the hike until 1pm because I got off work that morning.  We fixed about 100' before fixing the rope and calling it a day. 

Starting up pitch 1.

Matt had been having knee issues. He told me that night that it was aching and that he could probably only do the hike one more time.  So the last 4.5 pitches would have to get busted out day 2.  We left at 7am on day two.  

Snowy approach.

He belayed from the ground as I finished leading pitch 1.  

Jugging the fixed line

Next up was a dirty crack pitch that required a fair bit of mining to find solid placements.  Luckily I'd borrowed a bunch of wide cams from friends or else I definitely wouldn't have made it.  Pitch 3 and 4 followed a line of mostly hangerless bolts that stuck out of the rock 1-2 inches.  When I pulled on to the top of Pitch 4 the route was less steep and slightly on the NW side of the tower, this meant that we now had to deal with some snow and ice.  

Pitch 4 anchor.

I lead the last pitch and rappelled back down to Matt.  What a cool summit!  

Summit!

Selfie on top of Pitch 4.

 Luckily all the rappels went smoothly and we were back at the base before dark. 

Back to Wyoming

A week after Amanda and I got back from Wyoming, Matt picked me up in Farmington.  I was just getting off of work and he does like to waste time having me drive home to Durango.  We made it nearly to Kayenta before we noticed all the smoke from the California wildfires.  Matt called the ranger station in the Eastern Sierra that is responsible for the Incredible Hulk.  They informed us that the smoke was horrid.  We changed plans on the spot and headed North to the Wind River Range in Wyoming.  After stopping to shop for food we pulled over on the dirt road to the TH to sleep for the night.  It was a long day, Matt left Colorado and drove south to New Mexico.  Then we headed west to Arizona, then north through Utah and the corner of Colorado into Wyoming.

Matt following on Black Elk.

The next morning we finished the drive and packed our bags.  We headed over Jackass Pass and climbed the NE Face of Warrior 1 in the afternoon.  A fun route but mostly chosen because it was right above camp and we could rappel the route.
We had heard a lot about Black Elk so that was next on the list.  The topo suggested a #5 and a bunch of #4's for the OW pitch but Matt decided all we needed was one #4.  Obviously that was his lead.  Luckily he was right and he floated the pitch.  Black Elk was indeed and great route and we were stoked for more.  Once back at camp we packed up and moved into the Monolith Cirque a couple hours away.

The Monolith and out camp below.

Our buddy Sam had put up a route called Discovery and it was calling our names.  The next morning we climbed all but the last two pitches of Discovery before bailing because of a thunderstorm.    Although we never saw him Sam was on top of the route the whole time. He was rappelling in to free the crux pitches.  He said the storm that scared us away dropped 1.5" of hail on them!  We rappelled to the base and packed up camp again and headed back to the Cirque of the Climbables.  The next morning we climbed the uber classic Pingora via the NE ridge.

Top of Pingora

Then sticking to our schedule of moving camp in the afternoon we packed up and moved to Deep Lake.  En route we ran into Trevor and Emily who had just gotten married in Ten Sleep a few weeks before.  Deep Lake is probably the coolest/most beautiful alpine lake I've ever seen.  The next morning we got up really early and hiked up to Lost Temple Spire.  We started the SW arete as it was misting on us and we topped out in a light snow flurry.  Then per usual we packed up camp and walked back to the TH.

Deep Lake...

Next up was the Grand Traverse in the Tetons.  I hadn't been to the Tetons in 20 years since I was guided up the Exam Ridge.  Matt had never been to the Tetons.  We had some good beta and figured it couldn't be all that hard if someone had done it in 6.5 hours.  Luckily the route finding went pretty well.  Matt's guts weren't feeling good which lead to him not eating and moving slow near the end but we still managed to squeak it out in 17 hours.  We stayed at the AAC climber ranch that night, which is a super cool spot.  I'll definitely be staying there again in the future.

On Owen with the Grand behind.

We then drove to Lander for some sport climbing and to visit Sam and Liz.  Great to see those two.  It's a bummer that they live so far away and we see them so rarely.  Sam directed us to a couple crags where we could stretch our legs on our drive from Lander to Estes Park.  First stop was Cranner Rock then on to Freemont Canyon, then on to Estes to see the Brandewie's.

On Birds of Fire

A couple days cragging around Estes and one big day into the Chief's Head to climb Birds of Fire.  What a cool alpine route! Every time I thought the route was going to follow a crack it would bust out onto the face.  Very fun thought provoking climbing.  What a great way to finish a great trip!

Owen need some work on his mean mug.