Ya Dirk, I keep reading good things about such places as Devil's Tower, the Grand Teton, a bunch of other great climbs ... Congrats on the SE Face of Clyde Minaret -- that thing looked
beautiful
Gonna have to do the Rock Route in the meantime .. imagine, that volcanic Ritter range rock is more ancient than the Sierra Nevada itself ..
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So a couple of weeks ago I took my friend Laura up
The Grack. I tend to think of it as a classic, and a fun romp .. one of those must-do's for new climbers in the Valley.
At the top while waiting our turn for the rap station, she was discussing with the other party about which of the three pitches was the most
fun, and which was the most
satisfying. Intriguing, because up until then I would have considered the two equivalent (certainly for this climb anyway
) The consensus seemed to be that the 2nd pitch was the most fun (joyous jamming), and the 3rd the most satisfying (finger crack, smearing, kinda delicate footwork).
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I'm still bathing in the warm glow of last weekend .. I managed to do my first bona-fide Valley 5.8 lead --
Bishop's Terrace. I guess a good bit of it is 5.7 with super secure jamming, which I consider fun to the 10th power. The 5.8 sections were pretty heady for me and a bit tenuous, but so satisfying
I have wanted to do that climb for years. Two years ago while learning how to walk again I would never have dreamed I'd be leading it ..
Later on we went and did most of
Super Slide, in the Royal Arches area. It's hard to describe the feeling of being several pitches up above the valley floor and being surrounded by all that majestic scenery. At a belay I watched clouds come into the west end of the valley, an amazing sight. Well, it was a little scary because those clouds would soon start drizzling on us
The day before while slab climbing on the Cookie Sheet I watched a hawk circling on a thermal. Words fail me, really ..