Perhaps no place on earth is more fun or better suited to climbing than the Sierra Nevada. Looking back, the large chunks of my life I have spent hiking and climbing in the Sierra comprise some of the happiest moments of my life. And I keep coming back for more. This particular trip with Jeff McCarthy was geared toward climbing the Red Dihedral on the Incredible Hulk and then get after as much climbing as possible in Tuolumne Meadows. That's about as much fun as you can have in one week, I think.
Jeff lacing up at the bottom of the Red Dihedral. He had some heinous blisters on his feet but laughed it off. Definitely the type of partner you want to have.
Nearing the end of the second pitch on the RD
Starting up the namesake of the route. At 5.10c, no gimme.
Higher up. More incredible rock on the Incredible Hulk.
Once we were done with the Hulk, we went to Tuolumne. First off was the Matthes Crest traverse. It's makes for a long day, with about a 3 hour hike to the base, but once you start, it rocks. Super fun climbing in a fantastic setting. We did the entire traverse for full value.
We took a rest day to move our campsite and stock up. At the end of each day we would jump in to Tanaya Lake to cool off...a great swim in a spectacular setting.
The last day we slept in, drove to Fairview Dome and hopped on the Regular Route at about 10 AM. Such fantastic climbing. We were at the top by 2 PM. Along the way, I pickup up a cigarette butt at a belay station and put it in my mouth. Jeff took this picture:
Anyway, we finished the climb, hopped in the car, and drove back to SLC that night, arriving around 2 AM. Crazy....wake up in Tuolumne and go to bed in Salt Lake. But that's the way it goes out west....
