A week spent exploring the eclectic world of my friend Valerie. From the beaches of Malibu, to east LA suburbia, to desert weirdness in Joshua Tree, this trip was the last time things felt normal. I came home and for my 40th birthday present the world transformed into a mass of uncertainty and isolation.
This took place last May. The original plan was to do the Muir Wall. We ended up spending 4 days climbing the lower part of the Muir Wall and then swung over to the Nose under the Great Roof. “The Triple Indirect”. We had some excellent weather and didn’t have to deal with any other climbers basically the whole time. A grand occasion.
Halfway between Las Vegas and Joshua Tree National Park is the Mojave National Preserve. A surreal landscape of jagged mountains and endless desert valleys. There are some giant sand dunes in there, we camped a couple nights and checked them out.
A few days in a otherworldly part of southern California last November. Thank you Valerie for arranging the accommodations and to your sister for allowing us to stay at her Airbnb spot.
By Davy’s last day we were getting a bit slab-crazy and decided to do a 6-pitch route up Glacier Point Apron. The Supertopo description for this route makes it sound a bit easier than I found it to be.
We made it to the top without any major complications though.
Some cragging, an evening hike, and multi-pitch climbing on Middle Cathedral Rock.
My brother Davy came up to Yosemite during my last couple of weeks there, and discovered that he is pretty into climbing. We went just about every day he was here. Usually pushing the daylight. These aren’t totally in chronological order.
The pictures that are on the wide and smooth chunk of granite (called Glacier Point Apron) were from some of his last days here.
Davy has had a pretty old-school introduction to the world of climbing. We climbed outside for his first time ever years ago in Gallatin Canyon, MT. I don’t think he’s ever climbed indoors and most of the climbing we did this trip involved cracks.
Crack climbing was all they used to do back in the day, but the advent of sport climbing and climbing gyms has made face climbing more the norm now. I would venture by the time he left that Davy had gained more crack-climbing experience than the majority of climbers.
This was the first time I’ve experienced snow in the valley since moving to El Portal last May. I am leaving soon and I’d been hoping to see some winter before then, so this was a nice bit of closure.
The route is 1200′ tall and summits due to its starting location and El Cap’s tapering shape on its east side.
This all happened yesterday. A warm and sunny Saturday in Yosemite Valley. We didn’t see any other climbers.
Yosemite Falls, the Merced River, and the Yosemite Valley area in the middle of November.
Got to get outside for work last Friday.
As rare these days as it is appreciated.
