Tuolumne 2018: Part 2 - Cathedral Peak with Kai, Oli, & Sam

We had quite the adventure on our last day in Tuolumne this year.  After cleaning up the site and making amends, I made my way to Cathedral Peak with Sam, Oli, and Kai.  Breakfast, clean up, etc... all took a LONG time, so we didn't hit the trail until 11am or so.  I knew we were in for a long day ahead. 

The morning fire made for some fun pics...

The kiddos love Katie Bell's van

Nikko wishing Oli, "good luck!"

The boys seeing Cathedral up close for the first time!

These two are great hikers!

The boys waiting for me to get to the top of the first pitch.  I think they are still very excited here... Photo: Sam

Some cruxy moves for Kai.  There are a lot of reachy 5.5 moves that become quite hard quickly for shorter beings.

Seeing the boys at the top always brought a smile to my face. 

Ugh oh... starting to see rain everywhere.

And then the thunder started.  And Kai got a bit scared.  But he kept focused and we kept going. 

Hi Sam!  After this experience of belaying 3 people at the same time, I got myself a belay plate.  So I'll be ready next time!

The parties ahead of us were quite slow... so I actually didn't get to do the chimney, but the boys did.  I think they had fun.

After getting some hail, rain, and lightening... we made it to the top.  I was in my T-shirt (I put my jacket on Kai), so I was starting to get cold here... Eichorn would have to wait until next time. 

"The best climber is the one having the most fun" - Alex Lowe. 
Kai wasn't the best climber at this moment.  I don't know if you can tell but he was pretty close to losing it, but he took one deep breath and finished the climb.  This last move isn't the most difficult, but definitely the most exposed of the whole climb.  Way to suck it up and finish!  I was beaming as a proud papa about this point.

Sam was pretty stoked to be done as well. 

Summit shot!

Sam downclimbing... I lowered the boys off the other side.

Eichorn... that would've been a rad pic with me on top of there...

After an hour of hiking down to the bottom... Kai was literally losing his s***

So I had to carry him on my shoulders for the rest of the way.  Mind you... he had pooped his pants a bit on pitch 4... this is something only a father would do. 

Here's the rest of Sam's pics


Climbing links for me:
Map - https://caltopo.com/m/DRNB

• http://www.supertopo.com/routebeta/tuolumne.html?s=ratings&o=ASC&v=0&ftr=&cur=0#list
• http://www.gearlooptopo.com/topos.html?area=tuolumne&list=routes
• Lembert Dome
  
  • https://www.summitpost.org/lembert-dome/151389
  • https://www.mountainproject.com/area/105875159/lembert-dome
  • https://www.mountainproject.com/area/105875159/lembert-dome
  • NW books - 5.6
    
    • https://www.mountainproject.com/route/106032393/northwest-books
    • http://www.supertopo.com/rock-climbing/Tuolumne-Meadows-Lembert-Dome-Northwest-Books
  • Beginner's Route - 5.4
    
    • http://www.supertopo.com/rock-climbing/beta/Tuolumne-Meadows-Lembert-Dome-Beginners-Route
    • http://www.rockclimbing.com/routes/North_America/United_States/California/Yosemite_N..._Park/Tuolumne_Meadows/Lembert_Dome/Northwest_Face/Beginners_Route_59302.html
• Puppy Dome
  
  • https://www.mountainproject.com/area/105926064/puppy-dome
  • https://www.mountainproject.com/area/106520388/pothole-dome
• Pothole Dome
  
  • https://www.mountainproject.com/area/106520388/pothole-dome

Next time in Tuolumne:

• Hike out to Mystery Dome? Strava
• Climb Tenaya Peak?
• Hike to Clouds Rest?

In case you are at work and want to tear up... 👏👏👏