Thus, we chose to climb shorter routes, preferably pretty chill ones that take you up above the trees a bit.
First up was After Six, a 5-6 pitch or whatever route on Manure Pile Buttress. I don't care much for pitch 1, so I usually head up pitch 1 of CS Concerto instead. This is the crack at the start of pitch 1.
Had a good time. Did it in 4 pitches or so.
Next, we climbed Munginella. I guess some folks don't dig it, but it's a rad route for the freesolo circuit. Laps on this, most of the routes at Swan Slab, and Sunnyside Bench's Regular route can be done in an easy afternoon with a good pair of approach shoes.
Here, Amanda is sitting on the belay ledge halfway up the climb. Belaying here lets you climb the route in 2 simple pitches.
Our fearless Machete Brother with a positive attitude, as always.
A really rad view.
Amanda rappels back to the trail on the descent. I'm on the 3rd class walkoff, which is easy if dry and sometimes tricky when wet.
The next day, we climbed The Caverns. A stout 5.8 fist crack traversing roof dealy on pitch one showed me what I need to work on. The rest of the route was fun, but I was suffering from cramping in my muscles, mainly my hands. This continued during the trip and made climbing difficult.
A rest.
Amanda coming up.
The caverns. Deep as heck. I climbed the 5.7 lieback up above a tree. I didn't want to play in the deep.
Aaron and his friend whose name I can't remember (sorry!) coming up Hanging Teeth, a wide 5.8 with some sand on it. They took the knot out of one of our rope ends after I forgot to unknot it while pulling the rope on rappel. I don't often make stupid mistakes, so I was very grateful to have them above us so we didn't have to do any coolguy stuff. Thanks guys!
The next day, we headed up to Tuolumne Meadows to simulclimb the NE Buttress of Tenaya Peak and one of the 5.6 lines on Cathedral Peak. Upon arrival, there was too much snow on Tenaya for that, and Cathedral wasn't likely in good conditions considering what we brought.
Headed back into the valley, looking into Cascade Creek for canyoneering possibilities, and then back to camp.
We got our stuff together and climbed pitch 1 of After Seven and pitch 2 of CS Concerto on Manure Pile Buttress. I decided to freesolo pitch 1 once after doing other stuff on the crag, and stopped where the crack ran out and turned into face climbing. I tried some moves, went back to the crack, and decided after what felt like 5-10min (probably less) to head back down. My arms were pumped when I got back down, and I was thankful I was alive and healthy.
With a rope and a friend.
No rope, no friends.
Went up pitch 2 of CS Concerto. I was experiencing cramping in my hands and legs this trip, and it made this pitch more interesting. I've done this pitch before, but I went right along a traversing crack and up past a tree, as the usual way was wet. This time I went up the normal way, just cause I wanted to check that box. The 5.8 mantle was difficult for me, and I nearly fell. My right shoulder completely seized up before I could complete the mantle move pushup deal, so I had to lower myself down and rest on the piton. I pulled up on my draw and finished the pitch (all of 10ft left), which ends on a long ledge.
I brought Amanda up (who had much less trouble with the mantle than I), and we decided to head down one of the escape routes that run along the west side of the crag. My muscle issue was getting worse, and the weather was coming in. We headed back to Camp 4 and cleaned up. We left a few days early.
Overall, we had a good time and covered some new ground. Amanda is getting pretty strong as a climbing partner, and I heard a rumor that another Ginger Machete Brother founding member is returning to SoCal for more adventures... things shall get interesting.
