has moved to a foreign country
A bit unexpected The Great Sand Dunes National Park is found in Colorado. Since it is just next to Blanca Peak and Ellingwood Point which we were planning to climb we made a short stop and did some different type of hiking. Honestly I prefer hiking on rock rather than sand… But it does look pretty cool and it was nice with the views of the surrounding mountains.
After a couple of days driving through Nevada and Utah we finally reached Colorado. Here the plan is to hike some 14ers. We drove into one of our favourite places from our trip last year, Ouray. It is called the Switzerland of America, which could be discussed, but ok, close enough. We spent one lazy day in the village. It featured hot springs, beer, coffee/tea and chocolate. At this point we were fairly bored and were looking forward to go hiking.
As the sun rose the next day we headed off towards Mt Sneffels. It was a short hike and not even 3000 feet elevation gain because we were able to drive up to the trailhead with our 4×4. Some would claim this can not be counted as a 14ers since it was less than 3000 feet elevation gain. But we don’t care. We just like the view from the peak and are willing to use our car in any way we can to make it easier. If we were only doing one peak then maybe I would go by the “rules” but right now we have 12 peaks on our list to do in a week so I think we will be doing enough exercise.
We decided to climb Mt Sneffels on the 3rd class rated southwest ridge. This was a good decision since the standard trail was basically just scrambling up a stone field. We took this way down and it did not look like a lot of fun coming up. It took us only 20 min or so to reach the ridge. The climb was easy to find and lots of fun. There was some exposure occasionally which always makes it more interesting.
The view from the ridge as the sun is rising.
We reached the peak already 7.30 am and stayed there for about 2 hours. After 1.5 hours another guy joined us and after 2 hours the masses started to reach the top which meant it was time to leave. From the peak we could see people coming up and there were lots of them. After we left the top they were probably about 30 people up there. This is one reason to start very early, you get the peak for yourselves.
The view from the peak looking down the ridge we came up.
The weather was perfect, warm enough to hang around for a long time and sunny. As we reached the car again some clouds were coming in and we made it back to town just in time for lunch. 🙂
One of our goals in Tuolumne was to climb the Cathedral Peak. It is rated a 5.6 which should be an easy climb for us. The theoretical number of pitches were 5-6.
Cathedral Peak as we are approaching. The climb is up the left ridge.
We got up before the sun and started the approach at dawn. It took us almost 1.5 hours to reach the base of the climb. It took us a few minutes to gear up and have a sip of water. The mosquitos were bad so we did not linger at the base.
I started leading the first pitch which featured a hand crack custom made for my size of hand. Andy did not like it as much. Second pitch Andy lead. Third pitch I ended up choosing the wrong way and made a belay station before I was supposed to due to the rope drag being heavy and the crack much more difficult than I thought. Andy had to come to the rescue. After this point we did shorter pitches than was described in the topo and ended up with 8 pitches instead of 5 or 6. It was a great climb that had some great spots like the hand crack, a chimney and some airy bits close to and on the peak.
Andy having a rest at one belay station.
Me in the chimney.
As always it took us a bit longer than it says in the guide books but we were the first ones on the cliff and the first ones on the top. There were a number of people coming up after us but we only saw them from above and did not actually meet anyone during our climb. We were surprised because it had said that this route is always full of people.
Andy on the peak.
It was a great feeling to sit on the top of Cathedral Peak. There is not a lot of space up there and we were happy we were the only ones. The view was spectacular and is always so much better if you actually made an effort to get there.
Me on one of the rocks forming the peak.
The view from the peak. If you look closely on the image you can see a guy on the top of the spire, the Eichhorn.
The down climb was described as a 4th class (should be easy) and probably was if you found the exact right way. We found a tree and ended up rappelling down to save some time and energy. Once back at the Meadow we went to the store, bought some soda and chips and had a rest at the creek before we jumped in it. The creek is not colder than average summer water temperature in Sweden so it is ok.
Hiking back after a great climb.
In total we spent almost 2 weeks in Tuolumne Meadows. We climbed, hiked and had a few lazy days as well. After our retreat in Mammoth Lakes we mainly went back for some climbing but did one day hike as well.
We climbed Tenaya Peak, Cathedral Peak, Pothole Dome, Dozier Dome and Stately Pleasure Dome. The one hike we did was on a rest day from climbing and took us to the top of Clouds Rest which has a spectacular view of Yosemite Valley and Tuolumne (image below).
Tenaya Peak was the first peak we climbed and a good exercise for us. Since we are still quite new to traditional climbing where you have to place your own gear this long climb was excellent. It was easy, only grade 5.5, and 14 pitches. It gave us both the training we needed for building belays and placing protection. It did take us a while to reach the top because of its length but worth it in the end. Many solo climb this peak or simul climb (both people are climbing at the same time and if one falls it could be a long fall) it. We were tempted to try it again and simul climb since we have never tried that. It was easy enough for us both to feel very safe. But we decided we wanted to move on instead. Next time…
 Us on the top of Tenaya Peak
We also took a rest day after doing three peaks in three days. We started the day with pancakes at the creek, had lunch on Lembert Dome and celebrated 4th of July with left over glögg (!?).
 Luxury breakfast on a lazy day
 Lunch view from Lembert Dome
 4th of July glögg
Mammoth Lakes is a small town not far from the eastern entrance to Yosemite National Park. It is mostly known for being a large ski resort but there are activities here for everybody and every season. There is skiing, fishing, hiking, climbing, kayaking, golf, mountain biking, spas, etc… Basically anything you want to do. There is even a smallish outlet for the shoppers. And because of the amount of tourists the number of restaurants and nice cafĂ©s are high.
We drove into town by chance, did not really know what to expect. We stumbled upon Alpenhof Lodge and realized that is the place for us considering its Swiss theme. The hotel also featured free wifi, laundry room and a nice restaurant and wine bar. Everything we needed. Another good thing was the sushi place a few walking minutes away.
We spent two nights in this place recovering. We did some shopping for more climbing equipment and sun glasses for Andy (the ones that he had taped to not completely fall apart could finally be replaced). A lot of time was also passed at the wine bar, Petra’s, planning for new climbing adventures. 🙂
If you are in the area do not miss passing by Mammoth Lakes, it is really nice. The Black Velvet café at the Outlet is also a great place to catch up on emails and blogging while drinking good coffee and tea.
Now we only need to stock up on some food and drive back to Tuolumne for more climbing. 🙂
We had both been looking forward to going to Yosemite. I had been there before about 10 years ago and could remember the guided climb we did in Tuolumne and the long and strenuous hike up Half Dome. All were good memories which had made me want to go back for a long time.
As we drove into the Yosemite Valley a Thursday afternoon it was packed with tourists, bicycles and more noticeably cars with drivers who were looking more at the views than the road. There are a number of camp sites in the Valley which were all fully booked since months. If you travel like we do, not reserving anything in advance, you can basically forget about Yosemite Valley. Unless you want to spend half of every day checking the waiting lists for last minute cancellations. If you do get a spot you have it for one night and the next day you have to do the same thing again. Hence you will never have time to actually do anything during the day because you have to be at the campground reservation office early afternoon.
Disappointed we ended up at a campground almost an hour away towards Tuolumne Meadows. We decided anyway to go back the next day to the Valley, do one hike, look at some sights and then head on to Tuolumne for hiking and climbing.
We had also been hoping to be able to hike the Half Dome but gave that up pretty quickly as well. To get a last minute permit for that you have to call (and you can guess how well cell phones work in the National Park) and get on a waiting list two days in advance of the day you actually want to do the hike. There is then a lottery and if you are lucky you get a permit. Otherwise, better luck next time. But since camping was so difficult to find and we want to get a very early start for that hike we decided to put our energy on other things instead. There are other peaks to climb and hikes to do. We can always come back some other time when we are willing to plan ahead. This kind of thing really throws me off. One peak is not important enough to go through that much trouble. We had just come from Mt Whitney where we had to go through a similar thing and were not ready to do it again.
The day we did spend in the valley we hiked up to Yosemite Point which is just passed the Upper Yosemite Falls. As we started in the morning there were not too many people on the trail but it filled up later in the day as we were heading down again. It was quite interesting to see the variety of clothing and equipment for the hikers on this trail. The shoes people were wearing was anything from alpine mountaineering boots to hiking shoes, sneakers, toe shoes and leather sneakers (definitely not made for hiking).
Yosemite Falls from the valley floor.
Just above Yosemite Falls.
We thought is was a nice half day hike with pretty views from the top, well worth the effort. A bit too crowded for our taste but that is what you get here. It is really a spectacular valley and I understand why so many come here. It is a brilliant place if you want to see a lot in a small area. The rock faces and water falls are very dramatic and situated in the best possible way.
View of the valley and Half Dome from Yosemite Point.
