Corduroy Man Posted May 20, 2010 Posted May 20, 2010 Trip: Yosemite Valley - Washington Column - Skull Queen (5.8 C2+) Date: 5/9/2010 Trip Report: Wow! Wow! Is all I can say after my trip to Yosemite! What an incredible place. So I took most everyones advice and set my sights on a smaller wall! Still was an incredible experince, one to never forget! We did Skull Queen on Washington Clolumn, it took us 3 nights total, with a bivy at the base, on dinner ledge, and then on the summit. It was both my partner Mike and my first wall in Yosemite. Mike had done a lot of free climbing in Yosemite before but no big walls. And this was my first real route after Pine Line and La Cosita Left! Now onto the trip report! Day 1: After leaving Portland after work on Thursday Mike and I drove all night to reach Yosemite. We were able to sleep for a couple hours at Mikes "secret bivy" site near Hardin Flat, just outside of the National Park entrance. We woke up and drove into Yosemite since we were not going to get a campsite for the weekend planning to be up on the wall the whole time. We drove straight to El Cap meadow to rack up and stare at our project for the fall Mescalito! It took us for ever to get the rack together, but we finally got it down. Luckily Mike has a double set of Black Diamond C4 Camalots that where very nice to have as well as a set of CCH Alien Off-Set Cams. My rack is mostly older and cheaper stuff, so it was great to have some of the new hi-tech gear! Once we finally racked up (I could tell you exactly what we brough but just look in SuperTopo and add a couple things and you got it!) it was on to the food. We planned on sleeping up there that night (Friday) then climbing to Dinner Ledge and fixing the Kor Roof (Saturday) then climbing to the top and hiking down (Sunday) and driving back that night since Mike had to be at work Monday morning. So we packed 2 nights worth of food, with a little extra just in case! Lots of cans, tuna packs, and jerky your basic wall food! After that we loaded up the packs we only had one haul bag Mikes Fish haul bag and my REI Mercury. The plan was to haul the bag up the route and leave my pack at the base and get it on the way down. Holy crap! We had a lot of stuff, once finally packed with ropes, gear, food, sleeping gear, water and all of our personal gear it looked like we were packing for Mt Everest! Finally at about 2pm we where ready to drive to the Ahwanee Hotel to begin the approach. Luckily Mike had done the approach once before after he bailed from the South Face of Washington Column a couple seasons before when his partner got a little bit freaked out because of the exposure! (after only the second pitch!) So thankfully Mike knew most of the way and about 2.5 hours later we were at the bivy spot ready to set up camp for the night. We figured we would claim our spot in line by getting our gear up the top of the 4th class and to the begining of the 1st 5.8 pitch of the route. After a couple of freaky shuttles up the 4th class we finally had our place in line! The was a party fixing on the Prow but so far we had the rock to ourselves! After a dinner of canned ravioli and canned peaches we settled down to a beautiful veiw of Half Dome. Only to be woken up about two hours later by a ring tail cat going after my left overs! This won't be our only meeting with the ring tail. After I finally clean everything up and bombproof our bivy its off to sleep once again for dreams of climbing high on the granite cliffs of Yosemite! Day 2: We awake with the sun coming over Half Dome at about 6:00am. We quickly pack up our bivy and rush to the base of the route. Luckily just in time as another party arrives. But not to worry they are they to do a push on a route South Central, one I have never heard of. They say it starts far left off Dinner Ledge and has some heinous off-width pitchs. We decide they will be a lot faster than us so we let them pass. After the California boys cruise on ahead its time for Mike to start to take us to Dinner Ledge. The plan is for Mike to lead most of the free pitches and I will lead most of the crux aid pitches. Mike take off on the first 5.8 corner wich he had lead before, its a little slick so right away Mike pulls on a cam of well hell have to settle with 5.7 A0 for this pitch! Mike soon learns the joys of big wall climbing while trying to haul our 70 pound pig up the slab. Luckily as I am about half way up the pitch I am able to jug near the bag and help him out a little. We make it to the ledge about 2 hours later... Not too bad for our first big wall pitch together, though we still have 3 more to go for the day. The next pitch Mike will finally get to put his aid skills to work (his only practice has been in the gym and an ascent of Monkey Face) well another 2 hours later Mike finally calls off belay. Not to bad for his first real aid lead, and the hauling on this pitch wasn't as bad either, so sbout 5 hours into it we are ontop of pitch 2! Mike launches off on another 5.8 pitch to Dinner Ledge, this time dispensing it in a mere 30 minnutes getting the haul bag to the top as well in about 45 min. We made it to Dinner Ledge! Holy crap what a beautiful ledge! And its only about 3:00pm. Soon we hear voices. Another party had come to join us on Dinner Ledge, but they do not plan to fix, and they plan on climbing the South Face the next day. They say they will head to the upper bivy spot to not be in our way, but we invite them back later to eat dinner and exchange climbing storys. A great couple Rick and Julie from Sacremento. Rick had done a bunch of walls before including Mescalito, but this was Julies first big wall as well! Anyways I still had to fix the Kor Roof pitch as well, so Mike put me on belay and I managed to lead the Kor Roof in about 1.5 hours. What a classic pitch! So I rapped down my trail line back to the ledge. It was time for dinner with Rick and Julie, then a perfect nights sleep at one of the best bivys I have ever had! Again though the ring tail cat payed us a visit that night! I can't belive these guys are every where! Finally thought the vast expanses of granite above lulled me to sleep. Day 3: The summit day! Again we awoke early to get climbing as soon as possible. After a quick pop-tart Mike jugged up first as he was going to take the first pitch lead. A couple of easy moves to a bolt/rivet ladder. C1 at its best. And finally the hauling was really easy. Mike cruised this pitch in less than an hour it seemed as we where at the top of pitch 5 by 8:30am. Pitch 6 appeared on the topo to be one of the cruxes, with some C2 and a 5.7 mantle in the middle. I was nervous, but felt ready. I launched into the C2, thank god for the blue/green Off-Set Alien this peice saved my butt on this section. Then the 5.7 mantle. I didn't find this to be all that bad, then some more easy C1 and you get to do a few moves on a tree, than your at an anchore below the off width! One of Mikes pitches, thank god. Mike said he read online you could use a bat-hook to bypass the off width move and sure enough he was right. Mike quickly led trhough this section and was at the belay in no time. Finally the real climbing started. Pitch 8 was a long C2 pitch that took me for ever. Many tricky moves, again thank god for the Off-Set Aliens! I don't know how long this pitch took me but it was a while, and I was finally starting to get tired. Eventually I made it to the belay. Mike arrived and could tell I was on my last legs. He said if I led the next pitch with the pendulem he would lead the rest to the top. I figured fair enough. So I chugged some water while I racked up and had a little snack wich helped. The pitch was mostly fixed heads, so I was super nervous if one blew I'd have to place one, wich I never have before. Luckily they all held and I reached the pendi point. It was an easy pendy on low angled rock led to the "Clance Stance" a small ledge, but it was very welcoming. After teaching Mike how to clean a pendy he finally made it to the belay. By this time it was getting late. It appeared Rick and Julie had already topped out. So we felt quite alone up there, high up on the wall. This was to be the hardest aid pitch Mike had ever led, but I could tell he was psyched and eager to get on it. He cruised up the initial bit and then started to slow down a little. He reached a tricky section where he kept saying it was all loose, and sure enough PING! Mike blew the cam he was standing on but got caught by the one below him for a short 8ft fall. Mike got right back up cruised through the moves and fineshed the pitch just as the light was starting to fade. I cleaned the pitch on got the the belay just as Mike dug out our headlamps and it was time to put them on. Neither of us had ever rock climbed in the dark before, just mountaineering so this was to be a new experince. I was getting pretty scarred but luckily Mike kept his cool. He got re-racked and immediatle was out on lead starting with a little off width then a beautiful C1 crack lead to easier climbing and the summit. I had never seen Mike climb so fast, as soon as the conditions got ticky Mike put it into high gear! As Mike hauled the final pitch I made sure to stay near the haul bag so we didnt knock any loose rock down. Sorry parties below, we did knock some gravel off, but nothing major! It was pretty obvious Mike was not going to make it to work on Monday, so we decided to just relax set up a bivy and eat the rest of our food. And that we would deal with the feared North Dome Gully descent in the light. We were so stoaked we statyed up for ever talking and eating. Finally we talked ourselves to sleep. Day 4: Wow the summit! We really made it!!!!!! We woke up even more stoked than the night before. Quickly we packed up and got ready for the descent. Mike had done Royal Arches and the North Dome Gulley descent about 5 year before and assured me it probably wouldnt be that bad. Well he was wrong it was that bad. We probably got lost 20 times, climbed up and down and up and down, all of this with our huge loads. Probably like five hours later we arrived at my pack at the base of the route. Then another hour or two after that we rolled into the Awhanee parking lot and our car. Mike called his work and luckily was not introuble. So we decided to reward ourselves with a beer at the Awhanee Bar! Never has a beer tasted so good! With our frist big wall together under our belts, I can't wait for future adventures to come! Finally we had an uneventful drive home and Mike even made it to work on Tuesday. Thanks to everyone who gave me support on this website! Look for a Mescalito trip report in the fall! PS: Mike took some pictures on his digital camera and is giving me a disc when he does I will try to post some. Sorry I have not gotten a digital camera yet! Rock On! Gear Notes: Wall Rack (Read SuperTopo) Food (Basic wall food, jerky, tuna, etc...) Sleeping Bag and Pad Bivy Sack Haul Bag Topo Lots of H20 Rain Gear Extra Clothes Headlamp Helmet Jolly Ranchers! mmm! Approach Notes: lots of driving! Quote
JosephH Posted May 21, 2010 Posted May 21, 2010 Well, well, well - good job. Glad to hear you eased back into something a bit more manageable, but no doubt just as exciting. You're launched... Quote
powderhound Posted May 21, 2010 Posted May 21, 2010 Was always curious if you would actually pull it off? Nice work buddy! Next time that you drive south hit me up, I am always looking for partners! Quote
Corduroy Man Posted May 21, 2010 Author Posted May 21, 2010 Thanks guys! Can't wait to be back. I will definatly look you up powderhound, I should have a full week in Yosemite in the fall where I'll be looking for partners. Rock on! Quote
LostCamKenny Posted May 21, 2010 Posted May 21, 2010 Gear Notes: Sleeping Bag and Pad Bivy Sack just wear yer extra clothes and use yer bivy sack next time... it'll save some weight. Quote
alexbaker Posted May 24, 2010 Posted May 24, 2010 (edited) Nice work Cordman ! Edited May 24, 2010 by alexbaker Quote
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