Journeys: SEND IT - July 28th - Yosemite National Park, CA

We got a great start this morning and Beth Ann and I were the first climbers to the base of Lembert Dome. We were looking for a two pitch moderate called the Northwest Books. The climb was easy to find and we were soon on it, but I was worried about an intersection a short way up where the leader can either go straight up through a 5.9 lie back or right up easy 5.6. Matt had told me two days before the I would have no trouble finding the 5.6 traverse and I was hoping he was right. After squeezing through a chimney that I thought was a 5.6 ledge I was soon scraping through the hardest moves I had encountered in Tuolumne. If this was 5.6, it was the hardest 5.6 I had ever climbed. It had to be the 5.9 lie back. I had to have gone the wrong way. I did go the wrong way. I was over exerted, shaking. I kept looking for the bomber 5.6 jug handle. It never came. In danger of a ledge fall, I plugged in a cam to protect me when I peeled off. I was sure that I was going to peel off. I was near the top of the 5.9 section. So close I could reach way up and touch it with my left hand, but I was pumped. Then my right hand did the strangest thing. It seized in a closed position. Dull shocks coursed through my right arm like someone was holding a cattle prod to it. Everything was going south fast. I was pumped, scared, off route, and getting ready to puke. I stepped right and found a ledge that I could stand on with both feet to take the pressure off of my arms. I called down to Beth Ann, who was well out of sight, that I needed to rest for a while. I needed my right hand to open so that I could continue climbing. 15 minutes later it finally opened and I could use it again, but the weird shocking sensations continued. I found a thin seam and some nubs for my feet and in two moves made it to the top. Still breathing hard and ready to puke, I had skipped the last move or two of the 5.9 section, but I really did not care. I just wanted to sit down on the ledge and belay Beth Ann up as quickly as possible. I did. Beth Ann hated the 5.9 section. I consulted the book and found the route of the final pitch. It was short and easy. Mostly scrambling. At the top we took a very long break and decided what we would do next. Either call it an early day or find another climb. We found another climb called West Country on the Stately Pleasure Dome. We descended Lembert Dome by walking off the slabby, but mellow face then drove to Tenaya Lake and the Stately Pleasure Dome. Westy Country looked to be a great climb. Three pitches tall with two pitches of high quality lie back smearing finger crack separated by a pitch of sparsely bolted 5.5 dishes looked much better than the Northwest Books. It was a great climb. We scrambled up to the base and roped up. After a short, but hairy friction traverse, we were cruising the first finger crack.

Beth Ann following the first pitch of West Country.
Photograph by Chuck Bolte.

Our rhythm was good and it did not take us long to get to the top. It was a really great climb deserving of the four stars it got in the guide book. Hot and tired after the walk off descent we drove a short distance to the Tenaya Lake beach and plunged into the freezing mountain water. A great way to cap the day. We headed back down to Lee Vining where we ate and sent out post cards, then back to the Mobil where there was live music, food, and sleep. Tomorrow we may link up with Matt or we may just leave for Salt Lake City.