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Another gorgeous weekend in the Valley. Or so it seems to the casual observer. The casual observer, however, is sitting in a car with the windows rolled up and the AC going, or maybe surfing SuperTopo on the web. What the casual observer fails to notice, are the tiny, flying, venomous, spawn of satan, that come straight from the deepest pits of hell, to torment our very existence, and suck our precious blood from our veins. Namely, the evil mosquito. It didn't start out that way of course - it never does, but creeps up on you when you're not expecting it, or say trying to get around a mother bear and her cubs, which are standing between you and your car. But I'll get back to that later. Erin and I rolled into Hardin flat late Friday night, and got up not so early on Sat morning. It was already hot, so we decided to stay on the south side of the valley. I figured a good place to hang out would be middle cathedral - lots of choices, and possibly shade from the sun. The little flying terror were around, so we slathered on the deet before hiking up, and were reasonably well protected. We started off on DNB (5.11), and went up a bunch of pitches. It was nice and windy, which kept the heat down and bugs away. Unfortunately, on P3 I fucked up my knee half way through the 1st mantle, but had to keep going as I couldn't reverse the move. And then had to pull the second mantle before I could get to a place where I could fix my knee. Ouch. Not good. But what the hell, I've never been one to let pain or injury stop me from climbing. BTW, P3 is significantly more challenging if you're shorter than 5'4".... When we came down, we left the rope up over P1, and then TRed the "5.7" chimney a bunch of times. It felt much easier by the end of the exercise, but I think it's still f*cking hard for a 5.7!

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El Cap meadows from the DNB, and Erin enjoying the 5.7 chimney

As more of the blood sucking vermin emerged, we moved over to Pee Pee Pillar (5.10a), and had our way with it as the mosquitoes had their way with us. We called it a day as it got dark, and meandered over to Curry for pizza. To our surprise, we didn't find any of the usual gang there. On returning to Hardin Flat, we discovered that Jack and Rod had stolen our camping spot, the slimy weasels! The next morning we got up rather late again. My knee was still pretty damn sore. Today we decided to make for Sentinel Creek. Unfortunately, due to an error in navigation, we missed it. By a lot. I turned right at the 4 mile trail, instead of left, and headed up the wrong wash. Which turned into an epic battle of man and woman against beast and brush as we forged our way uphill through the jungle. The beast being the small flying variety that lives on haemoglobin. Despite liberal application of DEET, they still found their way to our succulent flesh, and feasted. Not the sort of activity for someone with a messed up knee, despite the wonders of vitamin I. We eventually reached the base of the cliffs, and by traversing along it, found what I presume is the start of the creek, where we collapsed and spent a long time recovering. It was gorgeous up there, with a fantastic view, light wind, and trickling water, so we didn't mind it so much. Also, no rapacious minions of hell.

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Views from the start of Sentinel Creek

We finally got our nerve up to face the jungle again, and walked down the wash and around the buttress where I had been promising Erin that the climbing area lay. Whew! I was right! I don't think I would have survived the trip back if I hadn't found it. We went up Hari Kiri (5.10a), and the Ying part of Ying-Yang (5.10d), before calling it a day. A huge fire broke out in the valley, somewhere near Manure Pile, and between the time I noticed the smoke, and the time we first hear the sirens, at least half an hour passed. Not exactly quick responders! Eventually a chopper came in and dropped buckets of water on the fire to control it.

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Erin on Ying(-Yang), and a chopper surveying the fire in the Valley

No matter how back the mosquitoes had been up till now, it hadn't prepared us for the sheer hell of the return to the car. The further we dropped down the hill, the worse it got. The DEET did not deter them at all. By the time we reached the flats the swarms were so thick that we couldn't help inhaling them. And then, just as the road and Erin's truck became visible through the trees, a mama bear and her two cubs appeared in the meadows, directly between us and salvation. Yes, they were cute, but we couldn't stop and appreciate them, not if we wished to prevent even further anaemia and anaphylactic shock. We ran in a big circle around them before finally hitting the road, and jumping into the car. Holy flying hellbeasts batman! After killing the persistent few that had followed us into the car, we drove off into the sunset, calling in our order to the Taqueria to speed the recovery process along.