Yosemite National Park

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Another month, another adventure!

This time, a little more local- I stayed within the same state! But California is a large state, so it was still a solid 8-hour drive from Carlsbad up to Yosemite National Park.

On Friday afternoon, my friend Grant and I loaded up his car with food and gear and set out on a road trip. We made the long haul through all the LA traffic and cruised north until we hit mountains and endless stars. We arrived very late (I guess technically very early the next day), so we parked on the side of the road and created a make shift sleeping space in the trunk. We were up with the sun the next morning, despite only a few hours rest. We cruised into Yosemite National Park and wound our way down Tioga Pass Road to Tenaya Lake. Grant made coffee while we munched breakfast on the lakeside. A large marmot decided he would like some food too and joined our sunrise meal. After some food it was time to get down to business- harness up and climb the Great White Book.



The GWB is an "easy" climb up a crack in a large rock formation called the Stately Pleasure Dome. It has a grade of 5.6 difficulty on the Yosemite Decimal System. Any grade over a 5 means you are climbing with a rope and falling would result in serious injury. Within the park, climbs increase in difficulty all the way up to a 5.12 (which is apparently higher than 5.9, ignoring all math logic). Those of you who have known me a while, may remember that I participated in the Outdoor Club in high school, so I have a little bit of climbing experience. But most of this was indoor and 7 years ago, so Grant refreshed my knowledge on rope handling. Once I was deemed safe to belay, we strapped on some climbing shoes and scrambled up the base of the Stately Pleasure Dome to the start of the climb.



The Great White Book is a 4 pitch climb, meaning it takes 4 rope lengths to reach the top. Grant and I were each tied to one end of the climbing rope, then he would climb first looking for cracks to set big metal clips called camalots. When he reached the end of the rope, or pitch, and anchored himself in, I would climb up after, removing all the camalots until we were level again. I was expected to trust the engineers of said camalots to understand the physics behind falling objects and hope that, should I slip, this metal clip would keep me from falling to ultimate death. No big deal.



The first pitch went well, it was fun to try climbing again, but I was not prepared for the physical exertion I felt after only a quarter of the route. The second pitch involved slamming your side into a very large crack up the face of the dome and pulling out against it with your arms to heave your legs upwards on the rock. At the top of this section, you can finally clip into a "permanent" metal fixture that has been drilled into the rock. On the downside, you are now 200 feet in the air, up on a rock face with full exposure to the elements. The wind whips you around and your hands become useless blocks of ice, but if you can peel your eyes away from the rock the view of Tenaya Lake is quite spectacular. We pushed on, up two more pitches, with my body only getting colder and more worn out. I didn't realize I had a fear of heights until I was tied to a rope, attached to another human being, with only some small metal clips jammed into a crack to keep me alive (I may have shed a few tears of terror). So by the fourth pitch, I was ready to be off the dome, and anyone within earshot could have told you such based on the profane words I was shouting at Grant, the rock, myself, and the universe as a whole. Sailor mouth aside, I pulled my tired body up the last, grip-less stretch and immediately crumpled into a hysterical ball behind the only bit of rock that could suffice as a shelter from the wind. I managed to regain (some) composure and Grant and I walked the last little incline to the top.



The view from 450 ft made it all worth it.





Exhausted, we slowly walked back down the back slope of the dome and drove to the other end of Tenaya Lake to have a well deserved picnic, followed by a nap. In the evening, we headed to the meadow, popped open some beers, and watched the light fade off the prominent slab known as El Capitan. Grant's friend who works for Search and Rescue invited us to the staff bonfire, where we joined the park employees for food, firelight, and a keg. By the end of the night, the back of the car looked like a Tempurpedic bed. We were up with the sun again on Sunday morning, because sadly it was time to return home. The 8 hour road trip back to Carlsbad wasn't quite as exciting as the one to Yosemite, but I did have my first order In-N-Out Burger of "animal style" fries, which is a thing, I guess. Short but sweet, it was an unforgettable trip.





*Written May 15th, published late because I'm lazy. Sorry...

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Photos

Tenaya Lake
I'm about to climb the GWB but first...let me take a selfie

Comments

[Virginia]

Fantastic!
I laughed, I cried! You are an amazing writer! Love you tons! mom

[Grant]

Nailed it!
A wonderful, unforgettable trip! I will cherish these moments! And your sailor's mouth!