Squamish to San Diego

A little over week ago Mark and I woke up in Squamish with a lot of rain in the forecast and decided to pack up and head south.  By dinner time we had crossed the border and were eating Chipotle.  Charlotte and Huckleberry graciously hosted us in Seattle and in the morning we were off to see our friends from San Diego, Jen and Caleb.  After attempting to eat an omelette the size of my head we eventually headed to our destination for the night: Lava Beds National Monument, about an hour outside of Klamath Falls.  We rolled in around 11 and got back on the road at 5:30 so I am not actually sure what this place looks like.  The general consensus on Yelp is that it is a very cool place with lots of deer mice that make driving at night more like dodging bullets.  Well, maybe not bullets, but who wants to run over 50 deer mice?

The whole point of this whirlwird trip south was to meet up with our friends Tim and Jess in Tuolumne.  Both of them were originally planning to climb Whitney but the thunderstorms have been dominating the Eastern Sierra this past week.  Because they are leaving for Europe soon, we persuaded them to keep heading north and go to Tuolumne so we could climb and hang out before they leave.

Passing by Mono Lake on our way to TM

Jess' brother Matt also came, which was super fun.  Matt had never been to Tuolumne, and he is a climber, so showing him around was akin to taking a kid to Disneyland for the first time.

Our first day there all of us topped out Lembert Dome in some fashion, finally getting our first look at the smoke from the Rim Fire.  At this point, the skies in Tuolumne were completely clear, and the only effect of the fire was the deserted Tuolumne campground, and some spectacular sunsets.

Mark giving Matt a lay of the land

The next day we cragged at DAFF dome.  Just over 3 years ago, Mark, Tim, and I cragged in the same spot, and climbed what may be the best 5.10 slab I have ever done.  Perfect crimps between slick glacier polish- requiring precision and thoughtfulness.  This time, we toproped a 5.11 slab at the same crag, and I was equally impressed.  After a leisurely lunch/ nap at Tenaya Lake, the boys decided to climb the water cracks on Lembert Dome.

One may think this is an extension cord given the way it is coiled.  But, it is in fact a rope.   I still don't understand.

The water cracks are apparently notorious for stranding tourists- they start as steep walking and before you know it, you are stuck in a water formed groove, that is slick and not too easy to downclimb.  Interestingly enough, an international tourist found herself stranded on the side of Lembert dome (but not in the water cracks) right when the boys were starting up the climb.  Some guy in bare feet walked over to her, trying to coax her from her little perch and eventually she made her way back to the significantly lower angle slabs leading back to the parking lot.  Since she was really in no danger, the whole situation was pretty laughable, especially given the stories we had heard of tourons getting stuck on Lembert dome.  However, I decided that it probably wasn't the most tactful thing to whip out my camera and snap some pictures for the blog.

The boys nearing the base of the water cracks.

A big bird came swooping by while Jess and I were watching the water crack adventure.

After the minor rescue, Matt, Tim, and Mark, began what turned into an hour long search for the bolts that are supposed to exist on the water crack.  Not psyched on questing up into unprotectable territory with no bolts in sight, we all headed back to camp and got ready for the next day- Cathedral Peak!

Cathedral Peak is one of the most classic climbs in Tuolumne- moderate climbing with spectacular views leading to a memorable summit block.  And this just so happened to be Jess' first multi-pitch climb!  The approach was not as bad as I had remembered, well, minus the additional mileage we tacked on by leaving from our campsite.  Just for future reference- the Cathedral trailhead is not close to the Tuolumne campground.

About three pitches up the route, we could see smoke from the Rim Fire creeping in the meadows due to a shift in the winds.  Within a few hours the smoke had completely enveloped us.  Fortunately it didn't affect the climbing at all, but it definitely added some eeriness to the climb.  Getting on the summit and seeing Fairview Dome shrouded in a cloak of smoke was pretty weird, and a little creepy.  By the end of the day we couldn't even make out Lembert Dome from the top of Cathedral.  After negotiating the downclimb and getting off the backside of Cathedral it wasn't long before we were back at camp, calculating, or I may say, exaggerating, the distance we had covered that day.  I think the final calculation came to about 15 miles.  But I also heard 20 thrown out there.

Jess and Matt heading up the 4th pitch of Cathedral 

Party wall!

Looking back at Cathedral and the summit block.

By that time, the smoke was pretty overwhelming and by the morning it was obvious that sticking around was not really an option.  After some car troubles, we finally made it to...the Buttermilks?!  Yep, we ended up at the Buttermilks.  There were some other stops in between, and we got to catch up with some friends that we had not seen in a while.

I love this view!

Now we are back in San Diego, and I have to admit that I have already watch the rest of the Real Housewives of OC season.  Mark and I will be back on the road soon, with a different trajectory than we had planned but that is the beauty of this trip- we can adapt to changes, and go where we want.

xoxo
Lauren and Mark