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North Peak 17-18 Sept 2005 Map 1 2 Thumbnails Stately Pleasure Dome (Hermaphrodite to Boltway and West Country)
The weather was turning colder, and it took some convincing to get Chari to go this time. I suckered her in by promising the first night at temperate Hardin Flat, a mere 4,000 ft. To think we were climbing 4000 fters back east last weekend. We got up at 6, packed up camp and headed to Tuolumne General Store for some breakfast. Nippy up there in the morning! It was in the 30s as we got our eggs and muffins for the day. Sated, we continued over Tioga Pass and took the sideroad up to Saddlebag Lake. There is a boat that ferries folk across the lake every 30 minutes, and it looked like we weren’t quite on the same schedule. No problem by me, since the morning felt so nice to be out in. Still cool, dry, clear blue above us. The trail around the west side of the lake is a little over a mile, well-trodden, but crosses enough talus to slow you down just a little. The ferry passed us, but only beat us by a few minutes. We headed left, following the use trail the Conness North Ridge climbers use. Of course, the North Ridge is absolutely on top of you as you head up toward the Conness Glacier. To the north of us loomed the towers of North Peak. There are many ways up North Peak, and we were taking the easiest, sloggiest one. Hmmm. I understand there are some serious couloirs on the north side that keeps the ice climbers busy, but that’s a level of silliness I haven’t crossed yet.
Another use path bore north from the one we were on. I concluded this was our trail, so we started to switchback up through the scree. It wasn’t much fun, but we made progress up to the saddle just south of the peak. At least the North Ridge gave us something to look at! We took lots of mental notes for next year. Once on the plateau, North Peak was a mere 400 ft above us or so, and we made quick work of it due to the wind at our back. We shared the summit with two others, but there were views to satisfy plenty. For the first time I was able to identify Whorl and Matterhorn, and also Virgina, Tower, and Sonora to the north. We could see Ritter, Banner, Lyell, and Maclure to the south. Such a nice day, even if the breeze was a little strong. On our way down, I treated my mild case of Burditis by scrambling up Pt. 11,862 and then taking a straight decent in an effort to find the North Ridge trail. I found it, but lost it when it descended in a different direction than I expected. The reason became evident when I started to downclimb some mild but sand slabs in a gully. I came back across to where Chari had descended and together we trudged through the scree to the next lake. Several lakes later we were back at Saddlebag. Not seeing the ferry, we chose to hike back, beating the ferry to the south shore by just a few minutes.
We drove back through Tuolumne, not quite sure of our next move. We were expecting to meet up with Ian, Jen, and the Hazels after their climb of Cathedral, but their car was still at the trailhead. I cooked dinner while we waited, and by 9 no one was around. As I was writing the note, Mike and Tanja drove by and stopped when they spotted my car behind the Hazels’. They had climbed the Regular Route of Fairview and were trying to figure out their evening plans as well. In the end, we settled on a drive to Deadman Summit and free lodging out in the pumice sands.
Sunday brought breakfast in Lee Vining and the thankful discovery that the Hazels’ car was no longer at the trailhead. Mike and Tanja had thoughts of Daff Dome, while Chari and I headed to Stately Pleasure Dome to check out the wait on all the popular routes there. All the parties except one early bird set were still on the ground when we drove in, so we decided to give Hermaphrodite Flake a shot. The flake has exposed edges all the way around it, apparently (hopefully!) attached somewhere behind it. It gets its interesting name because it goes three ways; you can climb it to the left, right, or up the middle! True story.
Once at the base of the climb, there were climbers ahead of us, but it didn’t look like the wait would be bad. There was one team at the top of the first pitch, and the leader was already heading out to the right of the flake. Two teams were on parallel paths on the first pitch, with one heading to West Country and another to the left side of the flake. The leader of the team on our eventual line reached the belay, and suddenly I saw three people there: the team that was heading right of the flake and flaked, and were attempting to descend by some means. They talked the other climber into lowering them, and then the story became a little clearer. They had a single 50m rope and had realized their rappels from the top of the flake were going to be troublesome. They didn’t have a map, having left it in the car below. With a map they would have been able to see the sets of rappel anchors, but . . . Chari and I agitated while the minutes ran by as we tried to decide between staying the course and getting home late or bailing. We decided to go to the top of the flake (2 pitches) and then decide about the remaining 2 pitches to finish (and then the descent).
Chari led the first pitch quickly and smoothly, and I lead the second which included the left side of the Hermaphrodite Flake. As I belayed Chari up I was staring at the first 3 bolts of the Boltway, a well-bolted (you think?) 5.7 slab. It looked appealing. Once Chari was back with me, she saw the bolts and knew what I wanted to do. Go up! The first few moves on the slab were rather precise as I started to redefine what a foothold was (that crystal will do fine, thank you) and what a handhold was (none for me, thanks again). After that was set it was joy the rest of the way. In no time I was moving quickly from bolt to bolt, arriving at the chains on top of pitch 3. Wonderful! It’s been some time since I climbed in Tuolumne, and this was just what I wanted. A 5.fun route in gorgeous conditions, looking back on Tenaya Lake and Peak. The fourth pitch was a hodgepodge because of some missing and some extra bolts. Our map showed one bolt before a short traverse to a crack, but there was no way I was going to try that until the third bolt. Even then, Chari had me tight as I moved across. As I climbed up the crack, I discovered that we had no gear small enough to place any protection. Grea-a-a-t. Up you go, and don’t even think about it. It’s easy, right?!? The map showed our route in the lower of two cracks, the upper being West Country. Our route then crossed West Country before finishing at a bolted anchor. Well, the bolt between the cracks is gone, but I switched over and jammed a #3 Black Diamond in there as soon as I could. I only found one bolt that led to the supposed bolted anchor. I never saw the anchor, even looking down from the West Country finish. Ah well, we were at the top, so what did it matter? We teamed up with another climbing pair from Massachusetts for the descent. One 60m rappel later we switched to climbing down the slabs.
It was probably my last weekend in the High Sierra this year, and I couldn’t have asked for better conditions. We don’t get an autumn in the Bay Area, so I really enjoy the cold, crisp mornings and evening in the mountains. Just like being back home!
--msw
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