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Charles and Amy at the top of American Wet Dream

We headed back to the lake for lunch, and just as we were finishing up, we were joined by Daniel and Isaac. Daniel's forearms were raw from multiple attempts to get over the roof on lead. In the end Isaac had to lead it, and Daniel figured out a way to surmount the roof with a right heel hook. How he managed to use his right foot for a heel hook there just boggles the mind.

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Lunch by Tenaya Lake

The bugs finally drove us away from the lake, so we racked up and and made an assault on Stately Pleasure Dome. We were about to start, when who do we see but Erin Lutrick from Bishop! She was in the Meadows showing her folks her "back yard". Daniel and I raced for Hermaphrodite Flake (5.8), trying to beat another party of 3 that was about ascend, while Amy and Isaac started up Great White Book. In my rush to get climbing, I forgot both my water (which I had just filled up after telling Daniel not to bring any as a liter would be enough for both of us), and a wind breaker in the car. Argh! We had plans to finish the day on Black Angel (5.11a), but neither Isaac nor Amy knew where it was, so we arranged to meet at the top. Daniel and I were moving at high speed, so we got up there a good bit before the other two, and spent some time lying in the sun trying not to get sun burned, but also trying to stay out of the wind. And trying not to think about the liter of water that Amy had on her harness (that was the real reason we were waiting). When they finally made it up, I offered to show them the way down and to Black Angel, in exchange for some water. They accepted, so we all hiked over to the climb, which was thankfully in the shade and out of the wind. Score! I racked up and started off first. Hmmm, seems slightly harder than last time I did it. I have the worst memory for routes. Do I want to put in the yellow alien here, or save it for later? I vaguely remember using a 3/4 piece in the past just before the end, but that's about it. Oh well, with much grunting, and a heel hook I was almost unable to get out of, I finished it off, but then had no pieces for the anchor and had to send down a bight for a few cams. Daniel followed, but slipped off near the end as he got sloppy with his footwork when trying to pass under the rope. Isaac then led it, with much grace and elegance, and few pieces. He made the last sequence look utterly trivial. Amy chickened out, so Isaac went up again and cleaned. We headed back to the cars, pausing to play with some really fat lizards, then drove off to Lembert Dome for a lovely dinner of olives, brie, indian tasty-bite-esk (they weren't really Tasty-Bites) stuff, and couscous. Yum.

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A shadow play of Charles and Isaac on Black Angel

The next morning we got up really early (6AM!), and found that Rod and Casey had joined us in the night. Certain people, (well, actually it was only a certain person) were hard to shift, but we eventually got everyone moving. The reason for the early start was to head up Eichorn Pinnacle (5.10b), which takes a bit of time to get to. We had packed everything the night before to minimize startup time, but I discovered that my camelback had leaked during the night, soaking my climbing shoes and everything else that was in my pack. A good start! After a quick breakfast, we started the hike at about 7AM, only to stop a few minutes later when everybody took off a few layers of clothes. The mosquitoes were out in force so we hiked quickly, well as quickly as the altitude and our lethargic bodies permitted. We left the trail a little too early (again), and so hike across country toward the base of the climb for a good bit. You save losing a little elevation this way, but probably end up taking a bit longer as you weave around trees and other obstacles. We reached the base a little before 9, racked up and started off.

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Approaching Eichorn

I took the first pitch with Daniel following, then Isaac and Amy formed the second party. It was a little chilly, and the rock was cold, but I warmed up when I started moving. Amy was not so fortunate, as she was the last to start, and complained of numb, blue fingers. Ouch! P1 was as physical as I last remembered it. Actually it was more so, as I had tunnel vision and did the 5.9 off-width finish of the pitch instead of 5.6 arete. D'oh! Daniel took P2 without issue, then I got the fun 10b section in P3. We unroped and soloed to the base of P5, and waited in the sun (finally!) for Isaac and Amy to join us. I took the last pitch, and had much fun doing the 5.9 stem - and in much better style than my attempt two years ago. At the top I ran into some communication problems - Daniel couldn't hear me, and there was so much rope drag in the system that he couldn't really feel the "three tugs, you're on" code. Eventually he figured out that I must be done, and started up. He quickly joined me on the summit, and we sat down to some very tasty bread and cheese at about 2PM - it's amazing how much better food tastes at 11k feet! We perused the summit register, and found my last entry and a bunch of familiar names. Also found some choice entries: - Fourth all nude ascent. Boy is my ass burnt! - several pages signed in blood - a badly defaced picture of a couple, with childish comments left by other climbers, held in place with duct tape

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Various summit shots

We were soon joined by Isaac and Amy, and we relaxed at the top for a while before rapping down, and doing the slab/scree descent back to the trail. Certain compromises had to be made - Daniel was not particularly fond of scree, and Amy loathed slab. We eventually made it back to the trail, and finished the hike out, being pestered by mosquitoes once again.

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We tried to hit the Meadows Store when we got back to the car for some ice cream, but it had just closed. So we packed up and tried for the Crane Flats store, but also just missed that one. We ran into Jack, Matt and Susan at the Taqueria in Oakdale, who had also just returned from the Meadows. Jack and Matt had made an attempt on the DNB on Saturday, only to be denied by route finding difficulties around P12. What a beautiful weekend. And once again, tapeless, though the backs of my hands are a little worse for wear. It was great climbing with Amy again, and the Meadows were about as nice as they get.