A Quick Primer to Yosemite!

Tunnel View at night...

I moved out to California because of Yosemite.  Sure there were other reasons (getting accepted to the grad program at UC Berkeley, etc...) but I had other options.  After spending 4 years in St. Louis, I knew I needed mountains near by, and preferred big mountain, like the ones out west.  Growing up in Oregon... especially in a tourist town in S. Oregon (15 miles from the border) you gain a strong dislike of Californians, so I was a bit hesitant to move to California, but I was over that.... plus I knew that the Sierras are where I wanted to be.  But having been to Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, and the Sierras I knew I wanted real mountains (sorry Oregon, but your mountains are "cute"... nothing you can have adventures in year after year...)  So as soon as I got into Cal, I knew I'd be in California for a long time.

While driving through Tuolumne in GoodGirl last weekend after climbing Conness I started thinking about all the adventures, shared memories, torn finger tips, cold King Cobras, and uber stoke I've enjoyed in Yosemite over the last 10 years, and I figured I'd lay out a few of my recommendations, past trips, and future trips to do in Yosemite.

Things to do in Summer/Fall (Climbing Season):
A great time to visit the high meadows and get out into the backcountry.  At least stay out of the valley on the weekends... especially if there are bears... that'll be a 30 min traffic jam.  Or drive in late at night, do some ninja camping and leave early or late so that you won't have to deal with the tourists...

Get married!

The Wash U crew holding up the father of the groom!

Do some hikes/trail runs... get some ideas from lonely planet's hiking sierra nevada (the most organized hiking book of the area IMO).  Backpacking in Yosemite is also recommended, but this isn't my first choice as I can't take Mingus... (no dogs in the backcountry)... and it's crowded... and there are too many rules.

• Past runs:
• Taft Point/Sentinel Dome
• Tuolumne to the Valley via Clouds Rest and Half Dome
• Bike/Hike Half Dome and Clouds Rest
• Glacier Point Trail Run...
• Glacier Point to the valley with Dylan and Kat (10 miles)
• Lyell, Maclure, Florence solo (50k)

• Future run ideas:
• Run the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne (in spring... when it's really flowing)
• Hike up Mt Lyell... and probably add in Mt. Maclure 
• Northern Yosemite Loop (from twin lakes)

• Fun Scrambles
• Sierra Point
• Summit Post
• Taft Point Fissures
• North Dome Gully
• Indian Canyon
• Upper Yosemite Falls
• Anderson Trail - also check out Sierra Point Trail on that map...

• Other areas of interest
• Fern Spring
• Indian Caves
• LINK
• With the kiddos - "Spider Caves"
• LINK
• Chill at Swinging Bridge
• Get pizzas at Curry.
• Watch soccer/football at the mountain room in Yosemite lodge
• Watch a presentation at the Yosemite Theatre
• Go check out Yosemite Fall when it's raging (May)
• And kayak the Merced (June and July typically)...
• 3 mile Class I version - from Stoneman to Sentinel Beach (traditional, pool toy section)
• 7 mile Class II version - http://www.cacreeks.com/merced-y.htm
• put in at Pines Bridge (adds a mile) and takes out at El Cap Bridge.  
• Or down to Pohono - add some class III and IVs.  

Hoeft, Kev, Kimbo and  I on top of Cloud's Rest... maybe the best view of the Valley?

Khalid and Sigman after hiking 20 miles... on our way back down to our car 50 miles away in the Valley...

Top of Half Dome...  

a few years earlier... 

The typical crowds gather on the "cables" pre-permit days... ugh.  

• Go Climbing in Tuolumne (recommendations)
• Cathedral Traverse (includes Matthes Crest, Cathedral Peak, Eichorn)
• Regular Route on Fairview (with Funk)
• N. Ridge and W. Ridge of Conness in a day 
• Ice Climb the N. Couloir of N. Peak.  

Jack Chase leading the way up the N. Coulie...

• Climbs to do in Tuolumne: 
• Drug/Mariuolumne Dome day: OZ/Gram Traverse to Hobbit Book; 
• Fairview Day: Great Pumpkin to Lucky Streaks on Fairview; 
• Tenaya Peak to Cathedral Traverse: up to 15 summits!  Unicorn Peak, Cockscomb, Matthes Crest, Echo Ridge, the 9 Echo peaks, Cathedral Peak and Eichorn pinnacle
• Daff dome day: Blown Away (do 4th pitch of Bombs over Tokyo) to Cooke Book to Crescent Arch to West Crack?
• Solo Tenaya Peak
• SW Face of Conness...   

Hanging in the abyss... me ascending Leaning Tower

• Go Climbing in the Valley 
• Snake Dike on Half Dome
• Serenity Crack to Sons of Yesterday (this was a real step up in my climbing...)
• Five Open Books (Munginella and Selaginella)
• East Buttress of El Cap

Funk trusts granite

• Big Walls
• Washington Column (first big wall)
• Leaning Tower
• Mt. Watkins
• To Do: The Nose, NE Buttress of Half Dome, Other El Cap routes...

• Climbs To Do:
• East Butt of Middle Cathedral (10c, 11p)
• DNB of Middle Cathedral (11a, 19p)
• My Favorite Things on Clouds Rest (10-, 15p)
• Royal Arches (10b, 16p) - Crest Jewel Direct (10d, 5p) - Crest Jewel (10a, 10p)
• Galactic Hitchhiker (11b, 39 p)
• Moratorium (11b, 4p) - East Butt of El Cap (10b, 13p)
• NW Face of Half Dome
• Steck-Salathe (10b, 16p)
• SXSW on Lower Cathedral (11a, 6p) - Reg Route on Higher Cathedral Spire (9, 5p)
• NE Butt on Higher Cathedral (9, 11p)
• Arrowhead Arete - Arrowhead Spire (9, 6p, 2 hr approach)

• Other things to do in the Climbing Season.  It's also Canyoneering season!
• Canyonneer down Tenaya Canyon.
• http://www.dankat.com/swhikes/tenaya.htm
• http://www.summitpost.org/tenaya-canyon/160152
• Middle Earth?
• http://ropewiki.com/Yosemite_Falls_(Middle_Earth)
• http://www.supertopo.com/tr/Yosemite-Falls-The-Middle-Tier/t10665n.html

Things to do in Spring/Winter (Ski Season): 
an awesome time to visit the valley.  Actually it's a great time anytime... but the traffic between Memorial day and Labor day is no fun.  Spring time, the waterfalls are exploding, and you can do more water sports... like tube, kayak, etc..

The crew at the base of Yosemite Falls in the winter

Go Ice Skate on Ostrander Lake

Howard showing all of us how it's done.  (Courtesy of Bay Area Backroads)

Go ice skating!

Play tackle football on a powdery El Cap Meadow

Smitty throws like a girl!  Also... check our Roger's face. 

• Ski the Dana plateau
• Ski Mt. Dana - Solstice and Dana Couloirs are Sirens calling me everytime I drive past on 395... I usually start blasting music and duct tape myself to the hood, while the car is on cruise control.  
• SLAY (Skiing Lightly Across Yosemite) - via TM Hut and Snow Creek Hut
• Skate Ski to Glacier Point with B-ral
• Ostrander Hut - 3rd time
• Otrander Hut

• Future Winter Trips:
• Ski out to the Tuolumne Meadows Ski Hut -and Snow Creek Hut for a fun ski crossing... check out Bernard's awesome write of his trip with Kevin in 2010.  (Done, see above)
• Ski some of the chutes off of Glacier Pt Rd down into the Valley.  Powder Magazine had a nice write up in their Oct 2011 issue (links JT Holmes, Pow mag)
• Learn to be the honey badger of Skate Skiing and win the Nordic Holiday Race.  Yeah right... these guys do the 21 miles in 1.5 hours!  That's 14 mph.  That's like riding my road bike on that road in the summer... 
• Go check out Horsetail Falls - late February
• Link

Places to Stay:

• Evergreen Lodge - is awesome.  I've had a retreat here, and been to two weddings here.  A fun spot near Hetch Hetchy...
• Yosemite Bug Hostel
• Valley - Camp 4 (for climbers... a must stay... location of many bear encounters here... including one face to face), N. Pines, Upper Pines, Housekeeping (these are like mini-huts)...
• Tuolumne - Anywhere is awesome
• Saddlebag Lake - great sites just outside the park...

Places to see on the way to Yosemite...

• Swimming holes
• The first obvious one that comes to mind is Rainbow Pools (on 120 past Groveland)
• But there are plenty of other swimming holes along the way... 
• Like God's Bath in Sonora

• Hot Springs - tons of info online... I'll let you find these on your own... all on the E. Side along 395.  

First visit to the hot springs of the E. Sierra... and far from last... oh Red... how I miss thee...

Travertine Hot Springs at Magic Hour...

• Mo Mart (on the Eastern Entrance) - a place every Tuolumne and E. Side climber/skier/dirtbag has been to and dropped 20$ on their fish tacos and cowboy burgers...

• Iron Door Saloon - the oldest saloon in CA. Good for a beer... 

If this isn't enough to entice ya... here are some other links that will make visiting Yosemite irresistible for you:

• Yosemite Nature Notes - These short videos are all amazing.  I recommend all of them... 
• Yosemite Conservancy - These guys do a lot to preserve the park... donate, become a member, and go on a trip.  
• SuperTopo Forum - Good amount of climbing stoke can be found here... some from Yosemite, mostly other spots.
• And other vids
• Yosemite HD - by project Yosemite
• Yosemite Range of Light - by Sean Reeder
• Yosemite's Super Climbers - by Jimmy Chin, Camp 4 Collective, National Geographic
• Yosemite Timelapse - by Henry Jun Wah Lee - one of my favorite Timelapse Ninjas...
• Winter in Yosemite - by Henry Jun Wah Lee
• Secret Yosemite - by National Geo - 45 min documentary...
• Park Life - a 25 min short on bouldering in Yosemite

Panos from Mt. Conness

To check out these pics in detail, click on them.

Sunrise!  Got a 5:30 am start after snoozing our 4:20 am alarm...

North Peak in the morning alpenglow... Conness is to the left.  At Greenstone Lake. 

Start of the North Ridge.  Lots of 3rd class in the beginning... we didn't rope up until the 5.6 (optional) down climb at the second tower.  

The summit plateau of Conness from the summit.  Conness is quite a confusing mountain with multiple ridges shooting out from it... the approach to the SW Face and West Ridge are quite arduous because of this.  

From the plateau.  The summit of Conness is to the left with the N. Ridge flowing to the middle of the frame toward N. Peak.  Conness Lakes, Greenstone Lake, and Saddlebag Lake appear below.  

The SW face of Conness... I think the famous line is on the right side of the pic.  The exposed side of the West Ridge...

Looking up the West Ridge of Conness with the SW face to the right... check out those clouds... 

Summit #2.  

From the summit. Looking down to Conness Lakes.

The crux of the 2nd class approach/descent trail off of Mt. Conness... quite exposed!  Just ask Smitty about it.

On the way down towards the defunct Carnegie Institute.

TR: Doubling Down on Mt. Conness (N. Ridge & W. Ridge)

The night before... after a fun mtn bike ride in the morning, we headed down to Travertine to loosen our muscles and get mentally prepared for our day ahead...

Nick... mentally preppin' 

The time-lapse set up... and the resulting time-lapse below...

\

The route for our adventure the next morning... 

Still dark in the mornin'... 5 am.  On the trail at 5:30 am... split a nice Beef Stew for brekky

North Peak reflection

Miley with Greenstone Lake and Saddlebag Lake in the background

The highest one of the Conness Lakes and the bluest.  

Approaching the ridge... starts out 2nd class, then 3rd class, then 4th class...

and the ridge to the summit.  We roped up after the second tower (this pic is from the first tower).  

Looking towards the Valley from the second tower.  Fairview Dome, Tenaya Peak, Tioga Lake, Half Dome and Clouds Rest.

Looking down the bowling alley to Roosevelt Lake from the North Ridge.

Typical climbing on the N. Ridge... the "crux" of the N. Ridge is the downclimb, which many folks choose to rappel.  The downclimb is pretty easy, and much faster... don't rap folks.  

Summit Pic #1: 9 am.  

Remnants of an old research station at the summit plateau

Pink Flowers... dicot... 4 petals... not sure what it is. EDIT: Rock Fringe (Epilobium obcordatum) Heart Willowweed,  in the Evening Primrose family.  

Clouds looking darker at the start of the west ridge.  Around 10:30 am... I felt a few drop on the ridge, but nothing significant fell on us...

Looking down the west ridge.  I led the first half, and when I ran out of gear (here) we swapped leads.  

Nick working his way up to the summit... the West Ridge is supposed to be more classic... and it is a bit more technical & longer, but as you can see in this pic, the exposure isn't on both sides of the ridge like it is on the North Ridge for the whole length.  Yeah the down climbing isn't as aesthetic... but I'd say both ridges are equally good.  Do both.  

The further up you get on West Ridge the easier the climbing gets.  This was mostly 4th class and felt like I was just on a StairMaster huffing and puffing... 

Summit Pic #2: 12:30 pm.  

Time to head down.  Cool alien looking rocks on the plateau.  

Looking back at the summit from the plateau.  Conness is a peak that looks quite different from every angle.  

Carnegie Institute... now defunct

Once you reach this bridge you are basically back at Sawmill Campground... time for some beers!  Back at the car at 3 pm, I made it home by 8:30 pm to pick up my folks at the airport.  

Lover's Leap = Fun

Nick cruising up Haystack... 

After feeling a bit under the weather the night before, I decided to sleep in rather than waking up early and trying to beat out the bay area traffic.

So after a late start, we decided to meet up at Lover's Leap at 1 pm.  We started climbing at 2 pm, and decided to climb as many routes as possible.  I won the roshambo and started leading up Haystack (5.8)... after pulling the crux, I set up a belay and the 70 meter rope was long enough to do the route in 2 pitches.

After scrambling down the shoulder we saw that no one was on The Line (5.9), so we decided to cruise up that classic.  I think I've probably climbed the Line everytime I've been to the Leap and might be my most climbed route... who knows... but it's such a great line.  Nick led the first pitch, and with the 70 m, we could do this one in 2 pitches as well... so I got to pull the roof at the top.  

Pinedrop (Pterospora) on the decent trail.

This whole time, there were dark clouds looming over the Tahoe basin.  Nick actually drove through rain on the way to the Leap.  And every time we got to the base, we asked ourselves... "should we wait up for 15 min?... see what the storm does?"... and just kept on hopping on routes.  

mean while... Truckee was experiencing a hail storm... (courtesy of KCRA)

Looking back down at Nick after topping out on Hogsback

When we got to the base and looked up we were hoping to hop on Bear's Reach, but there was a party already on it... so we decided to go to Hogsback and simul up Deception Direct (5.9)  

The view of the East Wall of Lover's Leap from the top of Hogsback

The Line, with folks midway up it... as seen from Hogsback

When we got to the base of Bear's Reach it was getting dark-er.  

7:45 pm... starting up Bear's Reach.  Nick & I simul-ed up the whole thing in 40 min.  Just in time to enjoy the sunset.

Solo-ist cruising up Fantasia and his dog looking up worried...

Check out these Dykes!  One of the many reasons why this place is so special.

Summit shot... Awesome clouds... should've just left a camera doing a time-lapse at the top. 

Got down just in time... and didn't need headlamps... good thing as we didn't have any.  

So we did 3 routes on the east wall, and one on Hogsback for a total of 1300 ft or so of climbing.  Not bad for a half a day of climbing.  One of these days I'd love to start in the morning and just climb all day and go for a personal vert record.  

Weekly Pano: Bear's Reach

This is quite hard to see... so you'll have to click on the pic... and even then it may not be big enough.    But in the middle of the pic is Nick starting up Bear's Reach at Lover's Leap.  Off to his left, you can see a solo-ist climbing Fantasia (5.9R).  We started up at 7:30 pm, and simul-climbed all the way and did it in one pitch, topping out at 8:15 pm...