San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Powell-Mason Cable Car Line
San Francisco, leaving you can be such a drag. Family vacay in C A ended yesterday.
One morning the ‘rents and I rode cable cars. A charming experience.
Climbing Washington Column: Day 1
Finally the weather cleared and we headed out with our German friends Simon and Lawrence, to climb Washington Column.
I got to lead a pitch of 5.10 to skip a bit of a line that had formed at the second pitch. Definitely felt adventurous. I also did my first ever pitch of aid climbing in a pretty epic setting.
It was awesome to be climbing with Cole, who has quite a bit more big wall experience and the patience to teach the rest of us goobers.
Cold Yosemite
The day after climbing Royal Arches was at a relaxed pace. We hung around Camp 4 and then Cole and I climbed the 2-pitch route Harry Daley (5.8), called “One of Yosemite's best 2 pitch climbs” by some dude.
The first pitch is pretty thin and the second is a handcrack. It was fun to climb on Glacier Point Apron.
The next day was my first day of cruddy weather in Yosemite. Every other day had been sunny, but that day it got about 40 degrees colder (saw snow at times) and was cloudy all day. These pictures are all from the cold day.
No climbing was attempted.
Yosemite- Royal Arches
On the 3rd day in the Valley Floor I had met up with my friend Cole and we climbed Royal Arches with Cole’s friend Pete and Pete’s Dad. Royal Arches is 15 or so pitches of wandering easy climbing (5.7). We did a variation that took us up a pitch of 5.9 and easy 5.10. Probably the tallest route I had ever been on
Climbing in Yosemite – Day 2
The second day we set out to do Nutcracker, a 5-pitch 5.8 on the grandiosely named Manure Pile Buttress. We got to the base of the route and there were multiple parties climbing all over it. They were ‘mobbing’ it as one kid put it. We decided to get on After 6, a more mellow climb of the same length on the same formation.
After 6 was pretty chill to say the least, and despite an extremely relaxed start to the day, we were done with 3 or 4 hours of daylight left. We decided to get back to the bottom and climb Nutcracker too. It turned out to be an excellent route and we did it in the best light of the day with no jabronies mucking up the works.
First Day Ever Climbing in Yosemite
Sunday night I was dropped off after we had hiked 15 or so miles and had no idea what I was doing. After a bit of an adventurous first night spent on the valley floor I acquired a place to camp in Camp 4. I had joined the line to acquire spots in Camp 4 around 5am that morning and ended up being the 3rd person in line.
Dan Carter was the 4th in line. He was looking for someone to climb with, and we ended up shrending for the next 2 days. Dan is the man.
These pictures are from the first day where we climbed at an area called Church Bowl.
Yosemite Backpacking
2 days of hiking. We parked at the Porcupine Creek Trailhead on Tioga Pass Road and hiked to the summits of North Dome, Eagle Peak, and El Capitan.
Day 12- Arrival in San Francisco
For the first 2 hours of our last day, we endured the most torrential rainstorm I had ever biked in.
The previous night our newly-made professional bike-tour-guide friend had assured us you couldn’t get lost going to the city. Earlier I had left my camera and phone in my front bag, and when we stopped at the Safeway in San Rafael ( to ask for directions since we were lost) I found them floating in two inches of water.
A super-amazing police officer who was attending to a purse snatching we witnessed in the previously-mentioned Safeway gave us absurdly detailed directions.
Later, the wrong directions from a well-meaning local sent us through Tiburon on Paradise Dr, a lovely road, with houses worth more than I will make in my lifetime.
The sun arrived and dried up all the rain.
The Golden Gate Bridge reminded me why it deserves every bit of praise sent its way.
My brother Davy met us outside his apartment. We did about 20 bonus M’s that day.
Day 10: California State Parks: Van Damme Beach to Salt Point
Day 10. Another amazing day of riding on the Pacific Coast. Strong tailwinds all day. If you ever want to bike the Pacific Coast, I can’t stress the importance of biking north to south enough. I cringed every time we saw people heading north.
