Words cannot possibly describe what it’s like to come around the corner on Hwy 120 and see El Cap for the first time. Massive does not even begin to describe it. And then, if you’re a climber, you notice that from the viewpoint you can’t see anything below the Great Roof pitch on the nose, and you realize that what you’re seeing is only the upper third of the face. I got to experience this sensation of feeling very small in a place filled with massive formations for the first time a couple years ago, and the sensation has not diminished since then. It’s just… big. Big and beautiful.
Jen and I rolled into the Valley on a Sunday afternoon, got our camping sorted, and headed straight to the rock. We climbed 1200 feet in the few hours of daylight that we had left. After taking a quick run up the super-classic Nutcracker, we ran down the trail, flopped the rope back down, and ran up the also-classic, and much easier, After Seven. We watched the sunset bathe the Cathedral Spires in a glowing orange punctuated by their fresh snow, and headed down to the van happy to be exactly where we were.
We kicked off day two with a bit of cragging, and then spent some time searching for shade. Despite the little bit of snow the week before we came, it was unseasonably warm, and climbing in the direct sun was pretty much out of the question without bringing along a lot of water and going through a bag of chalk on every pitch. In the afternoon, we headed over to the Five Open Books area and picked the one climb that does not follow a dihedral from bottom to top. The Surprise starts out with two dirty pitches, but the two above them more than made up for what was below. The arching finger crack on the fourth pitch would be a classic at any crag.
As our hunt for moderate classics continued, we ended up in the Royal Arches Area. We planned to get on Serenity Sons at some point, but it was too late in the morning for that, so we opted for Super Slide, it’s overshadowed neighbor, instead. This thing was just pure joy. Mostly easy climbing on amazingly clean rock. It was littered with the kind of super-secure moderate pitches that make you forget to stop and place gear. But, it was also very hot, and by the end of our third day we were ready for a rest. Dehydration probably played a role. It turns out that the body cannot live on dark beer alone.
After a rest day of easy hiking and checking out some new corners of the Valley, we set the alarm for damn early o’clock and went to sleep. We were the first people to cast up the super-classic Serenity Sons, but by the time we were both at the first anchor, there were already two parties behind us. Serenity Sons is a linkup of the three-pitch Serenity Crack (5.10d) and the five-pitch Sons of Yesterday (5.10a) above it. It’s one of the most popular (read: crowded) routes in the Valley, and without a doubt one of the best routes I’ve ever climbed.
The first pitch of Serenity Crack was originally an aid climb, and today it’s a great place to go see just how destructive pitons can be. What was originally a knifeblade seam is now an inch and a half wide, but too flared to take any good gear for the first 30 feet or so. The rest of this 160-foot pitch is excellent. Pitch two is even better, with a crux crack switch between sections of beautiful 5.10 fingers. Then comes the business. After some fun 5.9 off the third pitch anchors, the crack turns left, steepens, and pinches down to a couple body lengths of 5.10d tips crack that ranks as one of the most fun things I’ve ever climbed. You couldn’t have slapped the smile from my face with a 2×4 when I pulled onto Sunset Ledge.
After that it’s pitch after pitch of 5.9 and 5.10 climbing up long pitches of finger and hand cracks on absolutely immaculate granite. It doesn’t take long to figure out why this is such a popular climb. We started the climb with parties a half pitch behind us, and when we topped out they were three pitches behind. We were very happy to be in front. But, we still had to get down, which meant rappelling through all the people who came up behind us.
After two quick raps, I started the third and all hell broke loose. The French climber below me was lowering off a high piece to below his belayer in order to untangle her rope. When I got down to the belay, he had pulled back on and started climbing again, but their tag line got tangled again. She belayed while I hung from my ropes and untangled the giant ball of gnar that had wrapped itself around every branch and nub on the tree at her feet. While I was working on that, the first person in a party of Germain climbers got to the tree, slung it, and began to bring his partner up. At this point, I felt a great sense of urgency to get the hell out of there. When the French leader got to the anchor where Jen was, she rappelled and I pulled the rope, only to have it jam in the crack above. Luckily, the other French climber was kind enough to un-snag it as she went up, and we were able to thread our rap and get the hell out of there. It was a giant clusterfuck, but it didn’t even come close to diminishing how much fun we had on that climb.
The next day, we were unable to get any camping, so we weighed our options, hit a couple pitches on the way out of the Valley, and started the drive home. We drove toward Tahoe, slept at the top of a pass after an epic search for gas, did some climbing at Lover’s Leap, and got to catch up with an old friend that I had not seen in years. All in all, this is one of the best trips I’ve had in years, and I’ve had some pretty good ones.
