Feet first is NOT the way to climb
Where did we leave off? I'm not quite sure, but I fill you in on a few events of the past few days. With computer access limited to business hours (M-F, 8-5), many things can happen in between blog entries. So, going backwards again... (and later you'll see that going backwards is a bit of a theme for me)
Yesterday (Monday, 24 July 2006) RJ and I enjoyed a scenic tour of the south rim of the Valley. We started by get up early. Well, it was early for RJ, anyway. We biked over to Curry for our morning showers, downed some oatmeal, then hit the rode for the Four Mile trailhead, which is, coincidentally, about 4 miles from our campsite. We chained the bikes to the trailhead sign and started huffing up the hill just as the watch flipped from 7:59 to 8:00. The Four Mile trail leads from the Valley floor to Glacier Point, which is perched on the south rim over 3200 feet above the floor. Now you would think that with a name like "Four Mile trail" it would be obvious how long the hike is going to be. Well, forget that idea. The actual distance to Glacier Point is 4.6 miles. Let's have Al Franken expose that lie in his next book.
Four point six miles and 3200 feet elevation gain may sound daunting, but this trail has two major mitigating characteristics that make every strenous step easier to take. First, the trail originally was built as a toll road for horses to convey paying passengers to the Point. Therefore, the trail is very nicely graded. Rather than being a continuous series of granite steps like the Upper Falls or Half Dome trails, most of the track is smooth dirt or old macadam. That makes for easy footwork and a comfortable stride, both of which lessen the perceived effort.
Secondly, the Four Mile trail rewards hikers with an evolving set of stupendous views. Early in the climb, one gets to view the North American wall of El Capitan and the meadows that line the Merced river. As height is gained, the best possible views of Yosemite Falls appears. Then the humble hiker passes right below Sentinel Rock, which towers thousands of feet above the trail. Eventually, Half Dome come into view as the trail rounds Union Point. The last mile of the path wends through sugar pine forest and then Glacier Point pops into sight.
We reached Glacier Point around 11:30. The quiet of our morning hike where we encountered around 6 people was shattered by the hordes at the Point. We fought the crowds at the small store for a pre-melted ice cream cone and a warm Diet Coke for RJ. Haven't I told you that Coke sucks? And it spreads its miserable aura to ice cream held in close proximity. In any case, we huddled in a corner away from the scores of tourists capturing their lovely selves in front of the airy views of Half Dome and Nevada and Vernal Falls for posterity and consumed the junk we purchase along with the snacks we carried with us.
After a hour's break, we headed down Panarama Trail. This path lead us past Illilouette Fall, then around to Nevada Fall after five miles and about 2000 feet of descent and 800 feet of climbing. That left us with about 3 and a half miles of descending trail to Happy Isles. Despite the crowds, we reached the bus stop in good shape by around 5pm. We rode the buses back to the trailhead, collected our bikes, and headed off to dinner. Fourteen plus miles and about 4000 feet of climbing. Good day. The last comment from a fellow YA volunteer: "So they actually served you dinner at the Lodge? Well, I guess some of the climbers are worse." So we bustled off for a shower before we got condemned.
Prior to Monday's hiking, RJ and I did a bit of climbing. Perhaps it should be called a combination of climbing and flailing. On Saturday after work, we headed back to the Church Bowl to climb Uncle Fanny again. I intended to do a better job on it than my first time. However, I placed a few pieces of protection in poor orientation and created a beastly amount of rope drag. By the time I was on the last 15 feet of the climb, I had to do deep knee bends to pull up rope to advance. The meant that every foot of advance felt like pulling a coal train up with me. Eventually, I ended up falling twice in the same spot. Each time I had been pulling so hard with my arms that I popped off and flew head over heals. RJ said that the rope drag was so high that he didn't even feel my fall, although he had a good view of it. In the end, I retreated off the climb, leaving two cams behind, which lead to the next's morning's activity.
After a good night's rest, I woke RJ early (for him) so we could climb up the much easier Aunt Fanny. This allowed us to traverse to the top of Uncle Fanny from which we rappelled to retrieve the abandoned cams. We reached the ground by 9:40, then raced off to clean up a smidge before zooming across the Valley to get to work bare minutes late.
That's all for now. Cheers!
Yesterday (Monday, 24 July 2006) RJ and I enjoyed a scenic tour of the south rim of the Valley. We started by get up early. Well, it was early for RJ, anyway. We biked over to Curry for our morning showers, downed some oatmeal, then hit the rode for the Four Mile trailhead, which is, coincidentally, about 4 miles from our campsite. We chained the bikes to the trailhead sign and started huffing up the hill just as the watch flipped from 7:59 to 8:00. The Four Mile trail leads from the Valley floor to Glacier Point, which is perched on the south rim over 3200 feet above the floor. Now you would think that with a name like "Four Mile trail" it would be obvious how long the hike is going to be. Well, forget that idea. The actual distance to Glacier Point is 4.6 miles. Let's have Al Franken expose that lie in his next book.
Four point six miles and 3200 feet elevation gain may sound daunting, but this trail has two major mitigating characteristics that make every strenous step easier to take. First, the trail originally was built as a toll road for horses to convey paying passengers to the Point. Therefore, the trail is very nicely graded. Rather than being a continuous series of granite steps like the Upper Falls or Half Dome trails, most of the track is smooth dirt or old macadam. That makes for easy footwork and a comfortable stride, both of which lessen the perceived effort.
Secondly, the Four Mile trail rewards hikers with an evolving set of stupendous views. Early in the climb, one gets to view the North American wall of El Capitan and the meadows that line the Merced river. As height is gained, the best possible views of Yosemite Falls appears. Then the humble hiker passes right below Sentinel Rock, which towers thousands of feet above the trail. Eventually, Half Dome come into view as the trail rounds Union Point. The last mile of the path wends through sugar pine forest and then Glacier Point pops into sight.
We reached Glacier Point around 11:30. The quiet of our morning hike where we encountered around 6 people was shattered by the hordes at the Point. We fought the crowds at the small store for a pre-melted ice cream cone and a warm Diet Coke for RJ. Haven't I told you that Coke sucks? And it spreads its miserable aura to ice cream held in close proximity. In any case, we huddled in a corner away from the scores of tourists capturing their lovely selves in front of the airy views of Half Dome and Nevada and Vernal Falls for posterity and consumed the junk we purchase along with the snacks we carried with us.
After a hour's break, we headed down Panarama Trail. This path lead us past Illilouette Fall, then around to Nevada Fall after five miles and about 2000 feet of descent and 800 feet of climbing. That left us with about 3 and a half miles of descending trail to Happy Isles. Despite the crowds, we reached the bus stop in good shape by around 5pm. We rode the buses back to the trailhead, collected our bikes, and headed off to dinner. Fourteen plus miles and about 4000 feet of climbing. Good day. The last comment from a fellow YA volunteer: "So they actually served you dinner at the Lodge? Well, I guess some of the climbers are worse." So we bustled off for a shower before we got condemned.
Prior to Monday's hiking, RJ and I did a bit of climbing. Perhaps it should be called a combination of climbing and flailing. On Saturday after work, we headed back to the Church Bowl to climb Uncle Fanny again. I intended to do a better job on it than my first time. However, I placed a few pieces of protection in poor orientation and created a beastly amount of rope drag. By the time I was on the last 15 feet of the climb, I had to do deep knee bends to pull up rope to advance. The meant that every foot of advance felt like pulling a coal train up with me. Eventually, I ended up falling twice in the same spot. Each time I had been pulling so hard with my arms that I popped off and flew head over heals. RJ said that the rope drag was so high that he didn't even feel my fall, although he had a good view of it. In the end, I retreated off the climb, leaving two cams behind, which lead to the next's morning's activity.
After a good night's rest, I woke RJ early (for him) so we could climb up the much easier Aunt Fanny. This allowed us to traverse to the top of Uncle Fanny from which we rappelled to retrieve the abandoned cams. We reached the ground by 9:40, then raced off to clean up a smidge before zooming across the Valley to get to work bare minutes late.
That's all for now. Cheers!
posted by R.J. at 1:37 PM
1 Comments:
RJ & Paula,
Great tales of fun with Mudder nature. Must try some of your climbing techniques getting into the truck for the drudge to work ! pretty much all of the speed limits between home and work have been reduced 10MPH for the city folk that don't pay attention anyway! I must develope a vehicle compatible with the Conrail system so I can get my speed fix mornings.
The Mayor of Machias
Post a Comment
<< Home