October 2005 

 

Day One -- Cathedral Peak, SE Buttress   ...continued The climb itself was awesome.  I mean really awesome.  Tons of knobs, cracks, flakes, you-name-it all over perfect granite with drop dead views over the Yosemite High Country.  Since I'm a climbing noob, Misha led the entire climb and I cleaned each pitch.  Since I was the cleaner, I also carried the backpack.  At the fabled chimney that lies halfway up the route, my plan was to try to climb around it since the pack wouldn't fit.  But Misha placed a cam right inside the chimney, so I had no choice.  I clipped the backpack to the back of my harness and wrestled my way up through the narrow gap.  I felt very strong on the route and was stoked for the opportunity to test myself.  I cruised up each pitch and never felt nervous until the very last move, not because of difficulty but due to the exposure.  After the climb, we ran down the mountaineer's route to our cached gear, then an easy hike back down to the car.  We blazed down Tioga Pass to the gas mart, where Filet Mignon, Buffalo Meatloaf and a few glasses of wine were consumed with gusto.  A perfect end to a perfect day.
Note:  clicking on any photograph will present a full screen version.
	Halfway up.  Misha at the big belay ledge below the famous chimney pitch.
	Nice Scenery.  Since we were lolligagging around, it wasn't surprising that a strong group of climbers caught us.  These three Alaskans simulclimbed up the route and caught us below the chimney.  They climbed around us via a crack to the right.
	Above Tuolumne.  One of the Alaskans cruises up the face.  Mount Conness, Lembert Dome and the Meadows in the background.
	Dude, I made it!  Topping out on the last little flake before the summit.  I'm feeling AWESOME right about now.   (photo: M.Logvinov).
	Not quite.  The last move is easy, but here you really feel the exposure for the first time since it drops off on all sides.  I nervously scaled the flake, then stepped across the narrow gap to the summit.  (photo: M.Logvinov).    Right after me, Sarah Felchlin from Supertopo makes it look easy (below).
	Chilling on the Summit.  Misha enjoying the sunshine and rare solitude on the summit.
	Eichorn Pinnacle.  Lone climber atop the very cool Eichorn Pinnacle.  We debated adding this one to the day's list of summits, but decided to just take it easy.  This being Misha's fourth time up here, and my second, without either of us bagging Eichorn, we made a pact to hit it next time.

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