has moved to a foreign country
Before we headed out to the coast and took the ferry to Vancouver Island we spent a week or so in Jasper National Park. We climbed a few peaks, bathed in hot springs and had beer in downtown Jasper. Here are photos from our adventures.
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| Jasper National Park |
After visiting an over crowded Yellowstone it was nice coming to Grand Teton where it was easier to escape the crowds. Although some places were also here very popular, like Inspiration point.
The second day in Grand Teton we decided to do a proper hike. I thought we had decided that anything more than 25 km was a too long day hike. But somehow we ended up hiking a loop that was totally 32 km and with an elevation gain of about 1800 m. Surprisingly it went very well. I was still fresh after 25 km and it was only the last few km that were hard. For some reason it is always the last few km no matter how long the hike was. I am guessing there are two reasons we so easily walked over 30 km. First reason is that the maximum elevation was only 10700 feet and not over 14000 feet that we are used to from Colorado. Second reason is that the views were amazing, this is the kind of hike that just makes you happy. We passed small lakes, high mountains, wild animals and everything was surrounded with an incredible amount of wild flowers. It was just so beautiful everywhere.
Here are images from our Grand Teton stay.
Once we got down I was pretty tired though and it was nice to have some dinner along Jackson Lake in the evening sun.
I do understand why so many visit Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. It is a very beautiful area that features the highest concentration of geysers in the world, many exciting wild animals and incredible views. Everything is also very convenient and you do not have to walk very far from your car to see it all. This makes it a handy place to visit for families and people that might not be very fit for different reasons.
Unfortunately as we were there it was over crowded, it was difficult to find parking spaces and it was hard to move around in your own pace. Since we are not very fond of mass tourism we got a bit stressed and did not stay long in the park.
We did not see any bears or wolves but we did catch a glimpse of bison, elk and deer. Some of our photos you can see below.
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.
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
