Celebration of Life 2013

Big Jeff died of cancer at 43. We honor him and his wishes with our annual Celebration of Life. Here's an explanation of what that means.

Past years

• 2000 St. Helens and Adams
• 2002 "Peak Week", 8 peaks
• 2003 Elephant's Perch
• 2005 Mt. Hood
• 2006 Adams- St. Helens traverse
• 2007 Warbonnet Peak
• 2008 Around Mt. St. Helens
• 2009 Big Basin Peak, Grand Teton, and Huh's Horn
• 2010 Mt. Adams, Mt. Baker, and 60 @ 60
• 2011 Mt. Shuksan and Mt. Rainier
• 2012 Mt. Rainier and Mt. Thielsen

A few words from Brian (youtube)

For this year's Celebration, Brian and I had chosen to enjoy California's Sierra range. I flew over and Brian picked me up at the Portland airport. We overnighted in Redmond and then headed south.

Day 1

We had a long list of possibilities, but the logistics of Forest Service and Wilderness Area and National Parks was a little overwhelming, especially since in many cases they overlapped. So on the way down, we decided to start by heading for Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite. About the time we spied Mono Lake, the daily thunderstorm also arrived. As we drove up the canyon above Lee Vining, it started to absolutely pour.

Naw, not much rock around here.

There are many domes in Tuolumne, and this one (Lembert) sits right across from Tuolumne Meadows campground, where we camped. It's sunny because this was taken the following morning. Stay with me here though, because there is still some Day 1 to report.

We grabbed the last available non-reserved campsite and went for a hike to shake off the long drive. Naturally, we chose to climb Lembert Dome via the slabby face in the previous photo. It's a little steep in places, but by our route basically just a hike.

But a hike with a view. And some gain, thus the setting sun.

The little bunny ears just above and to the right of Brian is Cathedral Peak again.

As we watched the sun setting, we reviewed why Ansel Adams called it the Range of Light (or was that John Muir?-- either way, you get my point.). Gorgeous.

Side note: I by no means am comparing my photos to those of Ansel Adams, but this light sure helps!

Day 2

After a night spent in the crowded confines of Tuolumne Meadows campground, we had to wait at the camp office until 8am to make sure we could stay another night. With a 3.5 mile approach, a six-pitch 5.7 climb with crowds, and possibility of rain, we were a little nervous about our attempt of the SE Buttress of Cathedral Peak. Rusty old men are we.

So we left the car at the wrong spot, adding about a half mile of poofer dust on the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) because there are multiple signed trailheads for Cathedral Lakes. We figured out the short one on our return. sigh

But we easily found the unmarked cutoff to Budd Lake, which in addition takes you (us) to where we were headed.

Did I mention that this area is scenic?

That's the Unicorn to the left, with the Cockscomb to the right.

I had not been on a rope this year, so was a little wound up. Also, we had gotten a late start and there were clouds moving in. So I decided to forego carrying a camera. Brian was relaxed, but decided not to carry, either. So no climbing or summit shots.

We were climbing well, so we started catching others in front of us, who were catching others above them. Soon, we had to slow down (and stop for long periods) as the route above us got backed up. Of course, it then started to sprinkle and thunder, while I freaked out.

To make a long story short, we had no real threat or problem but did get to know some other climbers. Here we are safely back at the bottom with Ryan, an off-duty backcountry climbing ranger, and Cathleen.

But one story....

There are lots of variations to this route, but I had read a report discussing this 'crack' (actually, a chimney into which you crawl- dead center in the photo). After climbing the first few feet, you can slip inside and chimney up inside. We watched others above us do this.

Brian led the whole route, which meant that I was carrying the pack. Which meant that there was no way that fat Me was going to fit through the slot, even after climbing up where it widened up some. So this was the hardest climbing I did all week: I had to undo one packstrap to allow me to reach far enough inside to pull a cam, then climb the outside of what for me was an offwidth crack- too big to jam, yet too small to chimney. Or as a super-steep face climb. All with the pack swinging off only one shoulder because it was too steep for me to let go with my hand long enough to put the pack back on. But I made it.

And here is what happens when you mix that magical combination of thunderclouds and Yosemite afternoon lighting. This is the Cockscomb.

And those threatening clouds? They let us get back to the tent before they let loose. Then they rained and stormed for several hours.

Day 3

When we stayed late at camp yesterday to arrange for a longer stay, we had missed getting the early start needed to do more of the Cathedral Traverse listed in Peter Croft's guidebook, "The Good, the Great, and the Awesome." So today we would go see what Croft includes with Cathedral as a great day of climbing. It turns out: a lot!

So we started out by hiking under clear skies up past Cathedral again, on the same trail. More pictures due north of Cathedral ensued.....

And more of the Echos. If you do all of them, they count 12 1/2.

The highpoint on the right is Echo Ridge, the highpoint of the Cathedrals traverse. That's where we're headed next.

But first we have to get off. You can see Brian if you click for the bigger version.

Note a few clouds moving in again. Keep watching that weather!

When we got to Cockscomb, it offered some challenging route finding. We went up what we think was the wrong way and made it to just left of the notch in the center. I did not like where we were- and we still don't know if it was the right place. But from there we could see we had probably come up the wrong way, yet did not feel confident downclimbing new terrain. So we reversed our route.

After a discussion and looking at the clock, we decided we had had a long day and started heading back.

And although you can't see the drop ahead, even the descent down to Budd Lake made us work some stone.

And yes, that is Cathedral Peak again.

And here come the afternoon thundershowers.

Days 4-6

Day 4 would be a 'rest day' of sorts because we only had to climb 1500' and hike 5 miles with full packs, then set up camp under Matthes Crest.

But first we had to hike past Cathedral Peak once again. Instead of another profile shot, here's some climbers (look for the little black ants) on the summit.

Yikes- there's the full Matthes Crest!

The standard route goes from the South (right) end to the North (left) summit. But the whole enchilada, which we were hoping for, finishes on the far left. The standard route is rated 5.7, the same as our route on Cathedral, only with a ton more exposure. But the full route includes some 5.8 downclimbing, which was making me a bit nervous.

After a bit, a group of guys walked by not far from our camp. This was remarkable because up until that point it seemed we were all alone in this valley.

It was also remarkable because it was about 4pm, they were heavily laden, and carrying a huge tripod. What up, bros?

As they marched up toward the peak, we were able lie on our mattresses and pillows and watch the whole scene unfold. Click the movie and try to imagine how much we were blown away.

We had cut the pages out of the guidebook (to save weight!) so thought we had the thing wired. And I thought I could see the route. But on close inspection there were many choices...that all looked harder then the rated 5.3 or 5.4 for the first three pitches.

When a second group arrived, we graciously invited them to go first. But they wanted to wait until it warmed up, and to see our route. I laughed, explaining that was exactly what I was after. Then Brian and I took off. Brian is at the first belay here, about 120' off the ground.

Despite the August date, it really was cold down there in the shade. While climbing, my hands were going numb. Remember, we're at almost 11,000' here.

So it was really, really nice to get up into the sunshine. Even so, I left on all my layers. And it was blowing like crazy!

From this point, the guide book says it's mostly 3rd and 4th class for a while. Looking at the crest, I couldn't believe I would ever climb that without a rope. So we left it on and simul-climbed, me with the mistaken idea that Brian would be putting in protection as we climbed.

He did. Here's one of the three pieces he put in over the next hour of climbing. Note that it's very, very exposed. Here I am on my toes with about a 400' drop right behind me. The rope in the pack wasn't helping.

Then one of the highliners (we named him 'Tigger' because of the way he bounced around) went running, and I mean running, across the rock right above me. As he bounced by in his tiggerific way, he yelled gleefully, "You're off route, it's called Matthes Crest."

Crest, indeed.

We had been making good progress and were getting near the South Summit. But I hadn't been feeling well all morning, and it was developing into feeling rather dizzy. Not a good thing up here.

So somewhere near where Brian was in the picture above, I sadly decided to bail. We downclimbed the west (left) side of the ridge and went back to camp.

The arrow on the right shows the start point, and the arrow on the left shows the place from which you normally rappel. The line shows our approximate descent.

Because we had only brought with us the severed pages of the guidebook for Matthes Crest, we knew nothing about the Finger, not even its name (determined later on SummitPost). But it looked cool and we knew we would get some great views from the ridge. We weren't disappointed.

It looked impossible to climb, but the blocks out the ridge looked fun.

I mantled up onto the summit block, but there was a pothole with about three gallons of water in it, which I am awkwardly straddling as Brian gets the best butt shot (or at least the fullest) of all time.

We got up early the morning of Day 6, planning on getting down to the Meadows and doing a couple more pitches before heading for home. This time we hiked down the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail), a bit of a long cut but new terrain instead of walking the same Cathedral Peak trail.

Note the skim of ice on the water.

I'll skip the details, but our car had been towed to the lower Yosemite Valley. We didn't know much about it, but we DID know that we had left all our stuff inside it, including wallets, my work computer, etc. We were not happy. And we had to get down to the valley without even a penny between us.

Fortunately, we were able to convince the bus driver to take on two smelly climbers on credit. When we got down there, we found out the rest of the story.

Note the paw prints on the driver's door. Also note that in the photo above, the window is open.

We had been warned about bears breaking into the car, and we had rented a bear can to carry our food in the backcountry. We had thought we had all the food out of the car, but the rangers found a small bag of cookies we had overlooked. So the take-away here is don't leave food in your car.

But my theory is slightly different: When we get together, Brian often brings me smoked salmon. And I had sat on the tailgate eating salmon, wiped my hands on my pants after, and in other ways spread salmon smell all over the car. Then, when we parked the car we left a small gap at the top of the windows. I think the bear smelled the salmon, placed his claws on top of the window (which would not have been possible had we rolled them fully up), walked his/her feet up the door, and pulled.

At any rate, it was a cold drive back to Redmond that night without a window. We were both wrapped up in our puffies, hats, and gloves when we finally arrived at 2:30 am.

What a great trip! I highly recommend visiting the backcountry of Yosemite for incomparable solitude and scenery- just be careful about where you put your salmon!

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