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- Cathedral Peak (SE Buttress) - Bear Creek Spire (NE Ridge)
Lucky at Last: The last time Misha and I set out to climb some granite in Tuolumne, a friggin' deer ran into my Volvo and we got shut out by crappy weather. This time we had significantly better luck; the animals kept their distance and the clouds never threatened. The result was a perfect day in the meadows. Misha had grand plans for the next several days -- to traverse Russell, Carillon and the Cleaver out of Whitney Portal. On my schedule was a dayhike of the NE Ridge of Bear Creek Spire -- not as ambitious as Misha's plan, but a fairly lofty goal in light of my summer of excess (let's just say the neighborhood chimichanga joint isn't going out of business anytime soon). Given the recent snowfall, we both questioned the wisdom of our plans but we intended to forge ahead nonetheless. Since we both needed a warmup on Saturday, I suggested the classic SE Buttress of Cathedral Peak. Ordinarily this is an easy sell, but Misha had just climbed it two weeks earlier. After some coaxing, he agreed to the plan and by Friday night we were camped bandit-style out on Evergreen road. Driving up the Tioga road, Misha pulled off past Olmstead and stared up at Tenaya Peak. He half-heartedly tried to sell me on doing something other than Cathedral, which he feared would be crowded by multiple parties on route. I pushed back mildly. "Sweet line dude, but it looks north facing and pretty chilly for October. Let's drive up the road and see how many cars are at the trailhead for Cathedral". Misha agreed. Upon arrival, we were the first and only car. Game on.
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