Yosemite 2001 page two (Day Four, continued)

Above, R.L. belays me up the spectacular avenue of Snake Dike.  Below, the two of us on the summit of Half Dome.

To the right is a view of Yosemite Valley from the Half Dome summit, with El Capitan prominent in the center.

And here's another look at Half Dome, this time from the walkoff.  Note the unbelievable angle on the main wall, which we did NOT climb.  Snake Dike climbs the southwest shoulder - on the far side from where this pic was taken.

DAY FIVE Day five was a rest day after the long climb and walkoff of the day before.  We slept late and did a couple of one pitch climbs at the Church Bowl area.  It was mobbed and we were lazy (not to mention the fact that I got my butt kicked trying to lead a 5.8 squeeze chimney; a whole other new technique to learn, on top of cracks - geez!).  Two routes and it was time to adjourn for pizza and beer.

DAY SIX Royal Arches Area; Royal Arches (16 pitches; 5.7 A0). A fun, relaxing day's climb, with no significant difficulties.  The Royal Arches route is memorable to me principally for the pendulum (on pitch 9 according to the guidebook, although I don't really remember).  It was my lead and my first pendulum - took me a minute to understand what the fixed rope was for!  In any event, fun stuff.  Regretably, I didn't take many pictures. To the right is a shot of the route, from across the valley. Below right, R.L. holds me on belay at the final anchors, as we wait for the party ahead of us to clear the rap station.  They were a party of four out of San Francisco who just beat us to the base of the route.  We were faster, but try as we might, we couldn't courteously get around all four of them on the way up.  We ultimately passed them on the long rap.  Didn't much matter to us - they were nice guys.  Also below is a shot down the valley with the Cathedral Group in the center distance.  We had originally been thinking about the East Buttress of Middle Cathedral, instead of Royal Arches.  Lingering intimidation from the Regular Route on Fairview caused me to grab R.L.'s suggestion of the Royal Arches instead.  In retrospect, the Arches were just a hair less challenge than I would have liked.  The East Butt would probably have been a better choice.  Next time!

DAY SEVEN Stately Pleasure Dome; West Country (four pitches; 5.7). With weather threatening and a long drive back to Reno ahead of us, we selected a wonderful, quick, roadside route for our finale.  We were able to congratulate ourselves on good judgment as rain began to spatter down just as we reached the bottom of the walkoff slabs. On the right, R.L. follows the glorious corner crack on pitch two. Below is a shot of the route, with the Hermaphrodite Flake, deeply notched on one side and reciprocally protruding on the other, just above center and to the right in the image.  West Country runs left of the flake. Also below, it doesn't get too much more roadside than this - our horrible rent-a-boat (Dodge Intrepid I believe; avoid, avoid!) is the one parked beside the road on the right of the pic, just below the base of the route.  The edge of Tenaya Lake is visible on the other side of the traffic.

All in all, it doesn't get too much better than this.  I owe thanks as always to R.L., who once again combined the best features of partner and mentor into one package.  The question that remains, of course, is - Where next?

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