High Sierra

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High Sierra

 North America » United States » California By Rachel and Philippe
June 30th 2007
Rachel Mueller and Philippe WheelockMore random photos from California and before, sort of a trip in review as I sit around Boulder waiting for da' plane!! Had requests for more pics so here you go and remember the desert comes into season in just a few months....
peace
Philippe

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Photos

Rachel in the Mithril
Rachel follows the 300ft dihedral pitch at 14000ft in elevation...

Gurkha
This 7a+ route goes through two short roofs with purple camalots for pro, short powerful but superb problem.

Gurkha Crux
Shaking out with a no-hands rest just before the crux roof, thick carhartt pants reduce the difficulty by a full letter grade.

Pente
A fine splitter to left facing corner, this tight hand crack is just slightly overhanging. Rachel sent the crux before bailing due to rain...

3rd Pillar from the approach
An improbable piece of rock invisible until you reach the edge of the Dana plateau 5000ft above Mono Lake and the Owen River Basin, beautiful position on clean rock with sustained jamming for five pitches.

3rd Pillar
The final pitch looms ahead with an overhanging finish on good holds, amazing position...

Racking up for Half Dome
When not climbing, free time was spent thinking about climbing, handling climbing gear and approaching climbs...this photo is at the base of half dome, racking up for the first pitch of the regular route after a punishing approach up the death slabs, no rest for the weary...below just out of sight is Washington Column home of our next objective, the Prow

Incredible Hulk
Probably the best piece of granite in the Sierra, the 'Hulk' is about 1500 ft tall and not easy to get to. Spectacular climbing in a wilderness area, the Hulk is a world class Patagonia-like summit in a remote part of California, even the winds were reminiscent of Patagonia with steady 40-50 mph winds our first day. The only real injury of the trip occurred on the gully descent as I jumped out of the way of a large tumbling block, cutting and bruising both legs on loose talus, a small price for the best climb of the trip...

Bryce Filtered?
With Polarized amber lens this is what it all looked like, pretty cool...