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.
Norbert and I met you both in Tuolumne a couple weeks ago. Glad you two had fun on Cathedral Peak! It looked like you had some pretty nice weather while you were there. Good luck with the rest of your climbing/traveling adventures! I’m very jealous as I look at all these adventurous pictures as I sit in front of my computer at work 🙂