The weekend of August 13-16 injected some life zest into four souls without concern as to whether they were in need. Three Climbing House contributors, Andrew, Chris and I, and the lovely Sara decided to hit up the Eastern Sierras for some climbing. Unbeknownst to us, by Sunday we would’ve tackled serious Alpine environs, some more casual single-pitch traditional and sport routes and finally some zero-approach – albeit world-class – bouldering.
(Notice any strategic wardrobe coordination?)
Friday – Red Dihedral
3:00am. Wake-up call for three of us (Sara opted out of this day’s activity weeks ago). Breakfast. Drive to Mono Village trailhead. 4:00am. Begin approach.
The approach to the Incredible Hulk is around 5 miles. Half of that is flat; the other half is ‘tilted up’ about 45 degrees (=fun). The rock formation itself is an absolute beauty. Its pure lines beg for clean ascents.
The Incredible Hulk in afternoon light.
There was a very noticeable change that occurred once we cleared Little Slide Canyon that we hiked up. That was the presence of heinous and cold winds. At points on the approach I was down to a t-shirt; however, we were extremely thankful for the few extra layers we brought up once we hit the talus field (though it would prove to be not enough). Also, worth noting was that the climbing was on the west face, and the sun wouldn’t bless us with its warmth until about noon.
We were ready to climb by about 8:00am. The one party ahead of us started off slow and held us back at first, but managed to escape us after several pitches. After all, we were a party of three and it was pretty vertical and quite sustained climbing. In fact, it turns out we were actually fairly efficient in that regard, having some prior experience with trios. Things really began to deteriorate on the namesake pitch number 4, and it was quickly becoming evident on the third pitch as well. It felt as though we were in a wind tunnel and especially for the two people not climbing it evoked those thoughts of “what the hell are we doing here?”
The RD is a completely clean route. No existing anchors are present and you either finish and walk-off or bail leaving your own gear. So, it was a decision point for us. The wind was slicing through our unprepared garb. At the pace we were going we could finish near or at dark. Then we would have a never-performed gully descent – possibly in the dark, and on top of that a 3-4 hour hike out. Bail time! We safely rappelled slightly less than 600 feet to the ground. Left behind 6 nuts, 3 cordelettes and 6 biners. Not bad at all. We weren’t alone in our decision. Of the half-dozen or so parties on various routes that day, it seems possibly only one (the party ahead of us) decided to summit.
We were back to our packs by mid to late afternoon. Once down, we earned a little rest time and some calorie replenishment. At this point, the stress of pace was out of mind. The hike out is no joke, but at least it could be done more for leisure now.
The only other epic we had was trying to get through the infamous marshes at the bottom of the canyon. We had skirted around this area by “luck” on the way in – actually getting off trail (understandable in the dark). But, as “luck” would have it the trail is generally easier to follow on the way out. Yep, it led us right into the marshes, beaver dams and all. *Some* of us gave up after a while and trudged though with pride beaten down and shoes infused with mucky water.
Robinson Creek. (Dreaded marshes lurking precariously in the background.)
Car-to-Car: 16 hours. Quite tame actually. Though, coming from homes with elevations from sea level to 2000 ft and making it up to over 10,000 ft had its impact. Onto Camp. Food. Sleep.
Considering the sublime environment and quality climbing we got to do, in no way was I disappointed with the turn of events. It’s a reason to go back for another attempt (maybe with a multi-day itinerary). After all, if you never get rejected with your climbing pursuits, then you are treading nowhere near your limits.
(If you’re interested in more photos of the day (courtesy of Andrew), I added some captioned photos to Picasa for some family members here. The slideshow feature works nice.)
Saturday/Sunday
I’m going to keep Saturday and Sunday’s descriptions short, but they are well worth mentioning for the quality granite splendor that continued. Being on the Eastside of the Sierras has its advantages. An hour-and-a-half down the road was Saturday’s destination: Pine Creek. Just tons of potential in this rising area. Hopefully, it’s able to retain its freshness. It was quite enjoyable to have about a 10-minute approach from our campsite. A couple routes we did were worth noting. A tall sport piece with a tenuous vertical section leading up to a juggy, yet quite imposing roof, called Flame Thrower. The other was a classic jamming/stemming dihedral, called Sheila (pictured below). A real beauty.
Chris stemming high on Sheila.
Sunday’s destination: world-class bouldering with a rich history of bold ascents. The Buttermilks. This was my second time here and I eagerly await the next. Time was limited as Chris and Andrew had to get back to Vegas. So, we headed over to the Get Carter Boulder.
The approach. (And the rather spicy descent.)
There was a spectrum of problems on this boulder. It beckons in my mind Eli’s discussion of the Sphere of Relevance – there were some untouchables. A few fun ones are pictured below.
Sara on a V1 highball.
Anyone wishing to partake in the thrills the Eastside has to offer should speak up. I’ll surely be present this fall/winter/spring.
Sounds like a great trip, thanks for the story. I'm gonna try to come out in October. FYI, my last day of gainfull employment is October 2nd.
Thanks for the trip report Kris! That weekend was amazing. The entire week after that was like trying to run through quicksand. I was so exhausted but every second was worth it!! Thanks for the adventures, guys!!
Great pics! Bummer about the wind though, thats never fun to climb in.
Ahhh. Memories. Such a great weekend! I'm already looking forward to round two with the Hulk. Just say the word and I'll be there.
Eli, good to hear you are sticking it to the man. What's the plan after from OCT on?