The success of last year's Rocky Mountain trip flowed into a winter of research and planning for our next adventure. Yosemite was one of the National Parks neither of us had ever visited. Amazingly, the heart of the Sierra Nevada and site of famous works from Ansel Adams and Galen Rowell evaded my childhood travels. This year's trip began with a Friday evening flight into San Francisco and an early departure the next morning for the mountains (of course, only after a stop at Starbucks).
Lassen Volcanic National Park is one of the least visited National Parks. There is no visitor center and the only "town" within 30 miles is Mineral, Calfornia,and its one gas station is out of business; pretty remote for California. There are geothermal spots throughout LVNP and Mt. Lassen itself is a volcano. We spent the afternoon hiking through Bumpass Hell and enjoyed lunch beside Cold Boiling Lake. Dinner at the Mineral Lodge with live country music by the all-volunteer Chriss and The Travellers was beyond description.
The Lassen Summit trail climbs steeply from the trailhead at 8,500' to the 10,500' summit in just two miles and most of the trail is above the tree line. It was early and the wind blowing out of the San Fernando Valley was very cold on the windward side of the mountain. The summit however was curiously calm. The lower flanks of Mt. Shasta to the north was hazed out by forest fire smoke, but the snow capped summit poked out clearly in the sky. Gee, I wish I had a long telephoto lens.
Our next destination was Lake Tahoe. While the hiking around Lake Tahoe is extensive, there are two can't miss hikes: Rubicon and Mt. Tallac. The Rubicon Trail embodies Lake Tahoe as it meanders 10 miles along high cliffs and deserted coves on its way south to the spectacular Emerald Bay. The day was absolutely perfect: crisp and alpine clear. We enjoyed lunch at the interesting but odd Vikingsholm Castle.
Angie calls Mount Tallac her "favorite climb." The 9,735' summit affords the ultimate view of Lake Tahoe. We chose the Glen Alpine ascent that climbs the back side of Mt. Tallac via the appropriately titled Desolation Wilderness. Despite our climbing the mountain on Labor Day, we were completely alone until reaching the summit. The remoteness of the Desolation Wilderness stands in sharp contrast to the lights and casinos of nearby South Lake Tahoe, Nevada.
We soaked feet and ate Power Bars by Lake Gilmore. The trail climbs quickly after Lake Gilmore and the trees begin to disappear. Above the tree line the trail turns to a worn path through the talus. Lake Tahoe waits to show herself until you have gained the final summit pyramid. Labor Day 1999 was another clear alpine day and the view of the Emerald Bay and the deep blue waters of Lake Tahoe was awesome.
Other than some Germans, we were alone on the summit. The air was crisp, but we were comfortable in shorts. Even though this was our most challenging climb to date, it was much more enjoyable thanks to thorough preparation. We had real boots, not glorified tennis shoes. We had wicking clothing, not cotton that retains sweat and chaffes, we had plenty of water and plenty of food. We were in good shape. We got an early start. It all came together in a successful climb. We celebrated with pizza and microbrew at The Brewery in South Lake Tahoe. Next stop, Yosemite.
We entered Yosemite National Part at the east entrance near Mono Lake over the spectacular Tioga Pass Road. To take advantage of the weather, we would return to Tioga Pass the next day to attempt our altitude goal for the trip. Mt. Dana is the second highest peak in Yosemite at 13,058 feet. Unfortunately, Tioga Pass and Mt. Dana are over an hour from our room in El Portal. The sun was already well up by the time we reached the 9,945' trailhead. Mt. Dana was our first serious experience with Class 2 climbing. The Dana Plateau is gained after about a mile of use trails; from there on its all scrambling and talus.
False summits can be distracting. I remember at one point thinking "I could hit this summit with a seven iron!" It took over two hours of climbing from there. Thin air or not, it wasn't a seven iron. Remembering Reinhold Messner's advice from the Crystal Horizon, I focused only on climbing from boulder to boulder, not on gaining the next ridge or what I thought might be the summit. Finally, there was no next boulder. There I was, at the highest point on the horizon. It was the first time in my life that I couldn't see a higher neighboring peak. What a sensation!
Half Dome is the most photographed feature of Yosemite. The only criticism of the Half Dome climb is that you can't see it from the top! As recently as the 1930s Half Dome was said to be unclimable. Modern technology has made it possible for even me to climb the unclimbable. This would be our longest climb to date at over 17 miles and 4,800 feet of vertical elevation. We left our car in Yosemite Valley at 7:30 am and returned almost 12 hours later. It was tough.
The climb starts out following the steep Merced River. "How bad can it be following a river?" I thougth. Wow. It's steady uphill all the way to Vernal Falls at about 4 miles. There is a sandy flat stretch for about a mile before the climb up to Nevada Falls. From there to the shoulder it's all uphill. It seemed tougher than the climb out of the Grand Canyon. All of that hard work finally puts you at the base of the cables. This is where the soul searching begins. Look closely at this photo; the cables are over my right shoulder. I didn't stop to count, but a lot of people turn around at this point.
Assuming your are not agoraphobic, the cable route is not that bad; exhausting, but not that bad. You pull yourself up the cables from one cross rung to the next. There is a depression in the rock at the foot of the cables full of leather gloves. I remember seeing people on the cables without gloves and hoping for their sake that they would not need to use their hands for the next several days. On a good day, about 400 people make the summit of Half Dome. Climbing Half Dome takes stamina; climbing back down Half Dome takes nerve. The tall thin image captures the feeling of plunging off the edge securred only by those cables. Totally awesome. Unfortunately, the emotional high didn't get us all the way back. We ran out of water about four miles short of the car. If you go, take more than 3 liters each. We were only slightly dehydrated, but completely exhausted. The hot tub felt good that night!
We returned to San Fancisco as the trip drew to a close. The teeming crowds made us recall the vast emptyness of the Desolation Wilderness, but our stomachs made us recall the crab sandwiches, lobster bisque and sourdough bread! The trip was capped off with live music and cold beverages under the night skies at Jack's Bar in Cannery Row. A guy named Damir played requests from the crowd and Jack served cold local beer well into the night. We toasted another great adventure and many more fond memories.
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