Tuolumne, August 2000 (climbing)
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Cry in Time Again, Dike Route

Back in the Bay Area--well, I could hardly say home without a trip to
Tuolumne could I? Mark responded to my call for a climbing partner at
Wed's Chaos meeting, and 7pm Friday it was off! on familiar roads towards
Yosemite. Alas the voyage across the Central Valley is longer and less
scenic than the drive up the coast from Vancouver to Squamish...but it does
have fruit stands, and bearing peaches, plums and nectarines we arrived
at the usual Chaos crashing spot outside the park. Up at 6 and onwards--hey,
what's up with those clouds? And the road has no business being wet! That
doesn't bode well for a weekend of friction climbs...First stop, Pywiack
Dome, looked a little damp and after breakfast in the sun at Lembert Dome
carpark we settled on the left water crack (5.7 R), a great grove running
up the face of the dome. At least it was in the sun and seemed dry enough...
I led--awkward! slick! runout!--and Mark followed. Now what? Hmmm...what
about Cry in Time Again (5.9, PG, ***)...? Let's take a look...Okay, let's
do it! 4 pitches of great climbing later I gained the escape ledge and 
foolishly decided to follow a line of bolts up the final headwall to top out.
A few moves later--clip!--I was feeling committed and unhappy about it. 
Resorting to pulling on the quickdraws--shame on me!--I made it to the
top and a fantastic view of the meadows, the church and steeple of Cathedral
Peak, and various domes. Tourists peered down on Mark as I belayed him up 
to join me, when I had to confess my misdeed...it's not clear from the book
but it may have been 10c, so I may have some excuse...To finish the day we
each led the Alimony Cracks, a short 5.8 crack on the flank of Daff (=Dome
Across from Fairview). Feeling the richer rather than the poorer for the 
experience it was dinner in the Lembert carpark then bed--a good day! Up at 
6:30--what to climb? Any short 5.7s we can use as a warm up? How does West 
Country (5.7, **) sound? It'll be in the sun. A little while later we were 
moving rapidly to the base of the climb in case any of the climbers in 
the cars that arrived after us had the same route in mind. Friction 
wasn't Mark's forte and I ended up leading most of the climb, but we 
figured that made us a great team--I'd lead all the friction, and he'd 
lead all the steep or overhanging stuff! In our rush I'd forgotten 
to block up before leaving the car but I appear to have got away with 
it...Bagels and peanut butter, then...now what? I had my sights for the 
weekend set on Dike Route (5.9, R, ***) on Pywiack, but now we were both 
feeling a little unsure. Being friction it would fall entirely to me to 
lead it...We gazed at the the dike snaking its way up the face, and 
then--"Shall we do it?" "Yeah!"--sounding more sure than I felt we were 
off to the base. The 5.7 pitch...the 5.8 pitch...then the 5.9. A 
mantle--clip!--then dicey moves followed by dicey moves until at last I was 
through to easier terrain (phew!) and then at last the anchor (PHEW!). Mark
took us up the 5.7 flaring crack on the final headwall, and we were on top!
Another great view of Cathedral, from a different angle, a short rap and
a short hike back to the car. To finish the day we took on March of Dimes 
(10a) on the Western Front, ending the day's friction fest on thin! thin!
tiny edges. What a great view of Fairview! What a great day! Then home.