(2592x1944 at 2518.5 kb)

It was all Hamid's fault. Jesse and Jeremy were coming to town for a few days, and planned to meet up with Allen in the Valley for some long routes. The plan was to do something like Astroman on Friday, some light cragging on Saturday, and the Regular Northwest Face of Half Dome on Sunday. Hamid was to pair up with Al for Half Dome, but blew out his shoulder a few weeks ago on East Buttress of El Cap. When Al came around looking for a new partner, he didn't have to twist my arm very far before I said "sure!" I drove out Friday night, and met up with Jesse, Jeremy and Al at Curry around 9. It was hot in the Valley - highs forecast for 102° - and they were pretty pooped from doing Astroman and South by Southwest the previous day, so instead of doing any climbing, we got some ice cream, picked up a permit, and napped by the river. The ranger at the wilderness station was very surprised and very happy that we even came in for a permit - the vast majority of climbers who bivy at the base of Half Dome don't bother it seems. We started hiking out around 6, taking the air conditioned shuttle as far as we could, and headed up past Mirror Lake on the Death Slabs approach. Half Dome looks awfully close, and the slabs deceptively short, and for a while I was wondering why they were called "Death". Perhaps for alliterative reasons? Or maybe to describe the voraciousness of the mosquitoes. But soon their true nature was revealed, with nasty nasty scree, wet slabs, and old, wet ropes to hand over hand up as your feet slid out from under you on the moss and algae covered slabs. The manzanita at the top is also no fun. After about two hours of hell, we eventually reached the base of the route, and were immensely pleased to find that the spring was still running. There are a bunch of flat spots to bivy, and we threw down mats and bags. I chose wisely, and found a small spot a bit away from Al, Jesse and Jeremy - I figured there was a good chance that someone would be snoring loudly in that group! It was still pretty hot, and it was sweltering inside my 0°F bag. I left it open, knowing I was making the mosquitoes very happy, but didn't really have a choice. I did try covering sensitive bits with a hat though.

(1944x2592 at 2834.5 kb)	(1944x2592 at 2790.5 kb)
The Death Slabs approach

The alarm went off the next morning at 4:30. Still groggy from insufficient sleep, we had a quick breakfast, racked up, and were on our way around dawn. Al and I had decided to climb in blocks, and I took the first leg. The first several pitches went by very quickly, as the climbing is mostly moderate. In retrospect, we should have linked P2 and P3 and possibly P4 and P5, with the follower doing a bit of simuling. The 11 on P4 is pretty short, and I broke out the aiders for the short bolt ladder above. You can french free it pretty easily, but I wanted to conserve my strength a bit. I continued on until P10, where I handed the rack over to Al for the next bolt ladder, the first penji and the Robbins Traverse. We had brought some jumars, which made this section much easier for the follower, and soon were up to the chimneys. Al took the 11c variation on P12, but it was a bit wet, so was unable to get it clean. I managed to lieback it clean on follow, but wouldn't have done so on lead. Al linked P13 and P14, and then P15 and P16 which involved a little bit of easy simuling. Easy that is, if your follower doesn't get his foot stuck in the crack just as the leader is making some delicate face moves a few feet away from the anchor....

(2592x1944 at 2138 kb)

(1944x2592 at 2354 kb)	(1944x2592 at 3018.5 kb)
(1944x2592 at 2710.5 kb)	(2592x1944 at 2482 kb)
Scenes from the first half of the route

I took over again after Big Sandy Ledge, on P18, for the Zig Zag pitches. It quickly became "not entirely trivial", and suddenly the pace slowed down. About half way up the first of the Zigs, somewhere in 5.11 territory, I gave up trying to free it and went to aid mode. Mmmm, multiple blue and green alien placements in a row. 11d fingertips is so much fun! Al came close to freeing it on follow, but slipped at the crux. The next couple of pitches were equally slow, and I felt no compunction about pulling on gear when the going got tough. Somewhere on P19 or P20, we managed to airmail a #2 camalot to the ground, but only discovered the loss when I passed the lead back over to Al for Thank God Ledge. At first we though we might have left it in the crack, but Jeremy confirmed hearing it go whistling by. Ooops. Oh well, a good excuse to get a new C4.

(2592x1944 at 2914.5 kb)

(2592x1944 at 3275 kb)

(2592x1944 at 2938.5 kb)
Jeremy on the first of the Zig Zag pitches, while Jesse belays on Big Sandy Ledge

Though the morning had been calm and clear, as the afternoon progressed the clouds started to build. On Saturday, as we were lounging by the river, there had been some nasty clouds and thunder over half dome, and we were a mite concerned as the weather was supposed to be the same all weekend long. The one advantage of the increasing cloud cover, was that when the sun finally did breach the top of the dome, it was hidden behind the clouds, and so we were spared the effect of its full force. The thunderheads continued to build, and we were on P22 when we heard the first rumble. Half Dome is NOT a good place to get caught in an electrical storm! At least by then we were under the visor, which would offer some protection from the rain if it ever decided to really open up, or so I told myself. We did feel a few drops on the last pitch, but they were blowing in from a formation to the north. Luckily, the thunderheads directly overhead had cleared, and we summitted without incident. After doing the recommended variation for the last pitch (Jeremy - note the word recommended in the topo!), we topped out a little past 5 to a summit devoid of tourists, which put us at about 11 and a half hours for the route. Not too bad! Looking at the time stamps on the pics, we reached Big Sandy Ledge in about seven hours, so about 25 minutes per pitch, then took another four and a half to finish the route from the Zig Zags on, slowing the pace down to 45 minutes a pitch. Al and I sat on the summit, looking down over the edge of the visor at Jesse and Jeremy, and shouted down insulting comments to them, as tourons are wont to do. Well, I shouldn't really ascribe any such behaviour to Al... At least I didn't throw anything down on them.

(2592x1944 at 2138 kb)	(2592x1944 at 3187 kb)
Al shuffles along Thank God Ledge, and on the last pitch
(2592x1944 at 2310 kb)	(2592x1944 at 2922.5 kb)
Al and Charles at the summit, with Jeremy on the last pitch
(2592x1944 at 3107 kb)	(2592x1944 at 2746.5 kb)
Jeremy and Jesse on the last pitch

When Jesse and Jeremy came up to join us, we sat around for a while, admiring the beauty of the valley and points north, then took the obligatory summit shot before descending the cables to the notch. We stashed our gear near the head of the climbers' trail, then dropped down around the shoulder back to the base of the route to eat a bite and collect our gear. Jesse, Jeremy and Al were going to spend one more night on Half Dome, but I decided to hike out. It was a really tough decision - the short death slabs in the dark, or 9 miles of trail. Decisions, decisions, decision....

(2592x1944 at 2786.5 kb)	(2592x1944 at 2794.5 kb)
Back at the base

In the end the choice was made for me, as I had left all the gear stashed at the notch, so I packed up and headed back up and out. The hike took about two and a half hours, and I was pretty exhausted by the time I got back to the car. That last mile on the road just adds insult to injury. I did see a whole lot more wildlife in the dusk and at night than I normally see on the valley trails during the day, including lots of deer, a bear, and even a large cat of some sort - couldn't tell if it was a mountain lion, or a bob cat, or what - loads of rodents, and such a plethora of moths drawn to my headlamp that it made seeing difficult at times. The drive back to Berkeley was equally tiring, but luckily free of any traffic, and cops too, which was most fortunate. I got home around 3, which made for a very long day, but ohh, so worth it! So, while I am very sorry that Hamid hurt his shoulder, I'm also a little grateful for him doing so, otherwise I probably wouldn't have gotten on this route this summer. The route itself is a lot of fun, but perhaps not quite as aesthetic as say Astroman. There's a lot of everything on it, from slab to face, fingers to chimneys, and the rock is very good in quality. The setting though, is spectacular. It's so impressive to be half way up the wall, and looking down on Washington Column and El Cap, thinking they look rather small in the distance. You also get an amazing look at the high country, with views of Mt. Conness, the Echo summits, and all of Tuolumne, not to mention the spectacular waterfalls down Tenaya canyon. Truly breathtaking. The approach is a bit of a slog though, which will probably keep me from doing more than once a season, as it'll take a bit of time for the painful memories to fade!

(2592x1944 at 2606.5 kb)

Future gear beta: doubles from blue aliens to 3/4", singles to #3, possible #3.5, a few small nuts. Lots of draws for fixed gear, a handful of longer runners. A 70m rope might be useful, but it's easy to link a number of the pitches with a little simuling, so probably not worth the extra weight.