Sunday:
We drove the last couple hours from where we stayed last night in Tonopah, NV into Yosemite Natl Park and stopped at the campground in Tuolumne Meadows. We’d heard it was really hot in Yosemite Valley, so we decided to stay here a couple days to start with. We were able to get a nice first-come first-serve campsite with woods on two sides of us.
We setup the tent and then headed right out to climb some rock. We went to Lembert Dome which is across the road from the campground. We walked up to the route Northwest Books. A few parties were ahead of us, so we waited a little while and then started up. I led the first pitch. Sung did the second, including a 5.9 variation. After climbing the route we topped out and enjoyed the view. It was a bit of a sketchy walkoff down some long slabs on the front of the dome. Back at camp, we hit the creek next to the campground to cool off. That evening we enjoyed an entertaining ranger campfire talk by a woman who loved pikas. We also cooked our s’mores at the ranger fire.

Monday:
We got a fairly early start so we could go climb the Southeast Buttress of Cathedral Peak. It’s a 2.5 mile hike to the start of the climb. The mosquitoes were worse at the bottom of the climb than they’d been on the hike in.  I put on my rain jacket and head net so I didn’t get bled dry while Sung was leading the first pitch.
The climb itself was great. I got to lead the chimney pitch (P4) as well as the sixth pitch to the summit, which was only about one meter by two meters wide. There were great views from the summit. We could even see Half Dome to the south.
Getting down took longer than we expected, but eventually we were back at the car. We stopped at the store by the campground for some ice cream and then we hit the creek again to cool off before dinner. We went to the ranger campfire talk again, but it wasn’t as entertaining as the night before.

Tuesday:
We were both pretty tired from yesterday’s long hike and climb so we decided to drive down to Yosemite Valley to check it out. We wanted to sight-see and also see just how hot it was down there. Our first stop was at the Tuolumne Grove of giant sequoias. All the trees in that area were very tall, but the sequoias were especially large in diameter.
Finally we arrived in Yosemite Valley and could see for ourselves the amazing beauty of El Capitan, Half Dome and all the waterfalls in the area. Unfortunately, there were thousands of other tourists also driving around to see the sights. A bicycle would have been a nice way to get around down there. Besides the crowds, it was also very hot. So we decided we’d stay up in Tuolumne Meadows.
Before leaving we stopped for lunch and also paid for a shower. Then we took a quick walk through the Camp 4 campground and looked at the Midnight Lightning boulder problem. It’s a shame it’s too hot to climb here, but I’m sure I’ll be back some other time.
Back at our higher altitude and therefore, much cooler, campsite, we went to bed. Just after we turned out the lights we overheard a neighbor say that a couple bears had just walked though. Then we heard a dog running and people yelling after it. We unzipped our tent and could make out the shape of a bear in the night. Thankfully the dog went back to it’s owners and after some grunting and other noise the bear eventually disappeared. I’ve seen bears in the wild before, but never at night and never a mere twenty yards from my tent. It’s glowing eyes and shadowy shape were exciting to see, but a bit scary as well.

Wednesday:
For today’s climb we decided to do West Crack on Daff Dome. We arrived around ten, but there were already six people ahead of us. Two girls were moving slowly on the second pitch over a roof. A guy started leading the first pitch below them but was too impatient to wait on the girls, so he downclimbed and he and his partner went someplace else. Good for us.
Sung led the odd pitches. The first was pretty easy. The roof on the second pitch was “grunty”, but fun and wasn’t too hard to lead. And the crack after that was great as well, almost offwidth towards the end. The third pitch was a thinner, more vertical crack and painful on the feet. After that it was really low angle, easy stuff. We enjoyed the nice view and had lunch at the top. Then it was a rappel off. We stopped to do a one pitch lieback/crack along the descent trail.
We finished early so we hit the creek to cool off and rinse off some of the dirt and sweat from the climb. I laid in the sun and enjoyed the lack of mosquitoes along the creek. There are nice flat slabs to lay out on. Then it was time for dinner and planning what we’ll climb tomorrow.

Thursday:
I wanted to climb The Regular Route on Fairview Dome, but climbers in the next campsite said it was still wet and muddy in spots. We decided to climb West Country on Stately Pleasure Dome instead. Sung led odds again. The second pitch was a small lieback crack almost the entire way, but thankfully it was pretty low angle so I could use my feet a lot. Third pitch was runout bolts on a blank slab. Easy to follow, scary for Sung to lead. Fourth pitch was a low angle cake walk. One rappel then a sketchy walkoff. We were surprised they don’t have more rappels to descend these slippery slabs.
After the climb it was barely noon so we drove east outside of the park for lunch at Whoa Nellie’s and to see Mono Lake. The lake is sorta scenic with some cool limestone formations, but it is not pleasant to the nose. We then paid for a shower at the RV campground and bought some tasty milkshakes before heading back to camp.

Friday:
“I can’t get up this 5.8, let me try that 5.10.” I actually said that today, and for you non-climbers, yes a 5.10 is a couple levels harder than a 5.8. But more on that shortly.
The climbers in the next campsite had recommended a route called On the Lamb which was on Lamb Dome and included a long traverse covering at least three pitches. Such a long traverse is rare on the climbs I usually encounter and we were both looking forward to this interesting climb. However, as soon as he woke up, Sung’s right elbow was hurting and making a slight popping noise, so he thought it best not to climb on it. He did offer to belay me though, so I checked the guidebook for possible single pitch climbs.
I found an area called Olmstead Canyon which had a few crack climbs that might be within my ability. I’m still working on my crack climbing technique, so I was eager for one more day of practice before leaving Yosemite. We arrived at the crag after a short drive and walk in. The guidebook warned it could be hot there and it was. We found the easiest couple climbs and I geared up to climb them.
The first one I attempted was a 5.8 offwidth. Now you climbers understand why I couldn’t get up it. For you non-climbers, an offwidth is a crack that is too wide to jam your hands in, but too narrow to get your entire body inside. Therefore, they require special techniques to climb. Techniques I am sorely lacking. So I tried a few times to get more than a few feet off the ground, but this crack had few hand holds and no feet holds, so I simply couldn’t get my left foot off the ground.
I finally gave up and decided to try the 5.10a hand crack one route over from the offwidth. This one at least I could jam my hands in the crack and wedge my feet. I started up and actually made pretty good progress before the crack started to narrow down. About two-thirds of the way up I was pretty pumped out and my right hand especially was fatigued. And this route was only 30 feet high! I had to hang on the rope a couple of times, but eventually I made it to the top. Even though it wasn’t clean, that was the hardest lead I’ve finished, so it felt good to top out. Then, after a bit of a rest in the shade I top roped it, climbing at a full-on sprint to get to the top before I was pumped out. I did manage to finish without hanging that time. It’s so much easier when you don’t have to place gear as you climb.
So, after that we were ready to cool off. We took a quick dip in Tenaya Lake and went back to camp. Sung had some lunch and went to read by the creek while I went for a walk up the road.
I won’t waste much time trying to convey how enjoyable this short walk was, because you just had to be there. But I definitely had a great time that afternoon. I walked up to Puppy Dome a half mile east of the campground. I came across a couple bouldering problems and tried to climb them. One I got up, the other only halfway. Then I scrambled up the dome to enjoy the view while having a snack.
I continued walking around Puppy Dome and ran into the Dana Fork of Tuolumne Creek. This water wasn’t nearly as frigid as Tuolumne Creek, so I took a dip in some deeper pools. Then I walked through the shallow creek back towards camp. There were a few small meadows along the way, the flowers were in full bloom and in short, it was a lovely day.
I eventually met a ranger out for a walk and talked with her about her job on the way back to camp. When I was a little kid I wanted to grow up to be a forest ranger so that profession has always interested me. She said she manages to work six months of the year and is off the other six months. Hmmm, maybe that could be my next career.
That night we went to our last campfire ranger talk and learned about the history of the name “Yosemite” and of the park itself. It’s great to see these rangers who are so passionate about their role in conserving these national parks. Hopefully it will be here for generations to come and for millions more visitors to enjoy. I know I’ve certainly had a great week here and can’t wait to come back.