Picture Album here: Tenaya Canyon, The Grack, Mt. Dana
September 30, 2011
Departed from Chicago at 6 am and via San Francisco arrived in Yosemite by 2:00. My parents picked me up at airport and we stay in Curry Village.
Wickett set up a practice rappel for me in the Devil’s Bathtub behind the Ahwahnee Hotel. I had done my first ever practice rappel on a climbing wall in Chicago a few weeks ago and this was a first time outdoor rappel. We went over some basic safety issues and commands.
Day 1: October 1, 2011 Tenaya Canyon
Three of us (Wickett, Ross and I) attempted Tenaya Canyon. We intend on starting at Sunrise Trailhead near Tenaya Lake, descending Pywiack Cascades and finishing out at Mirror Lake in the Valley. My dad drives us to Sunrise and we start sometime about 8 am.
Somehow we missed the sign warning hikers to stay out but enjoyed the view. My dad actually hiked in with us until the first view of Half Dome and then turned back. We continued and reached the Lone Boulder with some great photo ops. At this point we started our descent much too sharply instead of traversing further left. Soon we realize that it is too steep and Wickett and I shoes are close to slipping. Ross (an 18 year old awesome climber) is wearing approach shoes and has much surer footing.
So we end up setting up three rappels—anchoring on two different trees and a jutted out rock. Ross down climbs to us after each rappel and sets up the anchors for us as we go. Took us about 6 hours to reach the
bottom of the slabs and hike a short way in to the Inner Gorge. Ross free soloed the entire Slab! We do a time check, it is 2 pm and Wickett realizes he is usually at this point by 10 am. This projects to a 10 pm finish and includes mandatory wet rappels at or just before dark followed by tough bushwhacking.
So we turned back. No, not up the Pywiack Slabs! We head up Airplane Gully. This ends up being a Class 5 Scramble and was a totally new experience for me. It was quite a climb and involved three or four tough climbing moves requiring exposure that I was not comfortable with. It was mostly just momentum moves without hand holds that if I didn’t catch my balance I could fall 15-20 feet on my back or head. At some point we also ran out of water but were pushing hard to finish by dark. We were each carrying only one liter nalgene bottle. We also ran into a party of 5-6 who were headed down but were going to spend the night. One of the party was ahead of the rest and I had to ask to make sure, “Are you Chick-On?” He gave me a weird look and said no. After that, he mentioned there was a group behind him and they arrived shortly.
We reached the Airplane Engine and not long after that finally reached mostly level ground. We made it to Olmsted Point at 6:50; it was pretty much dark shortly after 7, and my dad arrived to pick us up within 20 minutes.
By the way, it was pretty amazing to see the fire alongside the road. Some flames engulfed trees and were fascinating after dark.
Although we didn’t make it all the way through the Canyon the hike up Airplane Gully was just amazing. I have absolutely no disappointment at all. Gives me a great reason to need to go back and finish the Canyon. I’d also like another try at Pywiack but Wickett said he won’t do Pywiack again. We’ll see if he changes his mind after he gets home next week.
Day 2: October 2, 2011 The Grack
After returning to Curry Village and some initial discussion on the Pizza Deck during dinner we decide to not attempt Tenaya Canyon again. Ross offers to take me to the Grack on Glacier Point Apron. The Grack is a 5.6/5.7, 3-Pitch crack climb. I had not climbed outside in over 20 years and never had done a pitch.
So after a leisurely morning we head over to the Grack about 2 pm and arrive just as a 5 person party is finishing the climb. I spent all morning going over basic climbing stuff with Wickett who answered all my dumb questions. He also told me the standard climbers etiquette, “You drop a cam , you replace it!” I had never so much touched a cam but I was determined not to let it happen. So I made sure I asked a lot of questions and Wickett and Ross gave great advice on the proper procedure such as take the cam out of the rock before you detach it from the rope. At some point someone showed me how to set up a rappel just in case I dropped my ATC. Ross also showed me how to use an anchor removal tool.
The Grack is approximately a 400 foot climb. It overlooks the Mist Trail across the Valley and also just to the right of the trees that were snapped in half by the force of the wind of the rock fall years ago. From the bottom, you can just barely see Half Dome’s top peeking out. I didn’t bring my camera on the climb but took several pictures of the party before us and Ross setting up the first pitch anchor.
I can’t express how fun this climb was for me. I had no trouble at all and zipped right up. I successfully removed each anchor cam and didn’t drop anything! My trouble came when rappelling down. On the second rappel I kept on twisting my ropes. The issue was the weight of the ropes was making it difficult to thread the ropes through the ATC so I would attempt to do them one at a time and then get it backwards, twisted or somehow messed up. I knew enough, and Ross and Wickett had taught me well enough, to know it wasn’t right, so after 3 times starting over I finally got it right. Simple things like staying anchored in while you do all this in order are so very important.
The entire climb and rappel I believe took just under 3 hours. We finished with headlamps on and hiked out for more pizza at the Curry Village Deck. So that was my first experience with” Big Wall Climbing” in Yosemite. Ross was just incredible and is already working to be a Certified Climbing Instructor. My next goal is Snake Dike.
Day 3: October 2, 2011 Mt. Dana
On my last day in Yosemite for the year I am attempting a hike up Mt. Dana with my parents. Mt. Dana is a six mile hike starting at about 10,000 feet and ascending to just over 13,000 feet. Dana is the second tallest peak in Yosemite. The reason for this particular hike is important. My dad and I hope to hike Mt. Whitney next summer and this is a test for both of us. Neither of us has ever hiked above 10,000 feet and we wanted to test our bodies for elevation sickness symptoms. Mt. Dana really is the perfect hike for this kind of test. It is right off the road and as we find out later the Rangers can watch you the entire hike.
We leave Curry Village early Monday morning. My flight out of San Francisco is at 11:00 pm so we set a target finish time of 4:00 pm. When we arrive at the Tioga Pass Ranger Station the ranger was just setting up in the booth. He asks if we are hiking Dana and says, “The conditions are terrible”. It is very windy and he later tells us it was 30-35 degrees with 30-35 mph winds. All of us put on more clothes, layers that is, and we are well-prepared for the conditions. I’m also carrying 5 liters of water and even more clothes. I couldn’t figure out how much water to bring so I filled up every container I had (my three liter Osprey that goes in my Gregory Z40 Pack and two Nalgenes.)
At over 11,000 feet I convince my mom to turn back. We can watch her for quite a while and she was doing great but we knew we had some tough work to do. My dad and I continued on and eventually one other hiker caught us. A 64 year-old. By the way, my dad is 66! The air in thinner but my dad is doing great. I understand that they have done quite a bit of work on the trail but at times it is still difficult to follow. But we made it through the Small Boulder fields without turning any ankles! I pushed forward to the top as my dad slowed down a bit and made the summit. There is a “false” summit that you view for quite a ways before the real summit appears. But the trail from the false summit improves significantly. I head back down to find my dad approaching the end of the false summit. I had timed myself up and down this section and started doing the math. And dad said, “My turn-around time is here!”
At this point I broke a hiker’s rule: stick with your turn around time. It is supposed to be non-negotiable. However, in fairness, my dad’s turn around time was based on my flight and not on darkness or safety issues. I did some math in my head and came up with a 6 pm go no go to attempt to catch the flight at SFO. So I convinced him to summit. We dropped our packs on the spot and went to the top.
It is cold and windy on top and to the West a storm is brewing. The clouds coming in were amazing. I was slightly worried about thunderclouds so we “raced” down the mountain. While there were no symptoms of elevation sickness, my dad’s legs were soon becoming a little wobbly. In fairness, we only planned this hike for a few weeks because this entire 3 day Yosemite trip was all started because of Wickett! (Thanks Wickett!) When he asked for partners on the Tenaya Canyon trip shortly after my Clouds Rest/Half Dome trip, I jumped on the opportunity. And then my dad came up with the Mt. Dana elevation acclimation test.
My mom had headed off to Lee Vining for a couple hours but became concerned after we passed our agreed upon finishing time. The Rangers ended up spotting us for her a couple times and around 4 or so told her we would finish at 5:20. Shortly after finishing off the boulder bed the storm clouds reached us—and it snowed! We were so excited. At this point, we knew we were going to finish and now we get to do it in light snow! At 5:20 we are next to the Lakes near the trailhead and I hear a calling whistle. I give an answering loud whistle and moments later my Mom is there waiting.
We quickly load up, put my suitcase and gear in the back seat and head to the airport. I had hoped for a shower but it wasn’t going to happen. My mom had made sandwiches for us to eat so we did that. I changed in the back seat of the car and packed all gear while we travelled. Finally, we reached San Francisco Airport at about 9:45 for my 10:57 flight.
I arrived in Chicago at 5:00 am. I came home, took a shower, and was off to my desk job at work.