Guest post from Mrs. Narc:
As any Narc reader knows, this summer was packed with climbing adventures for the Narc and me. Being that he possesses the vast majority of our combined climbing knowledge, I’m usually content to let him do the trip planning and guiding. Our vistit to Yosemite was no exception.
Planning to climb Cathedral Peak (5.6) in Tuolumne before any afternoon storms materialized, our Midwest crew set out early for what the guidebook called a 45 minute approach hike (Correction: it was 45 minutes to the first landmark in our hike, the hike itself was supposed to be 90 minutes). When that amount of time came and went and when our jaunt along a well-groomed trail turned into bushwhacking, I broke with tradition and questioned the Narc’s know-how – after all, it seemed clear that we were not on the intended trail…correction, we weren’t on any trail. From the back of the pack I asked the others if our bushwhacking might mean we were lost. My comment fell on deaf ears, three sets of them. Thus, I continued on.
About to get really lost
Some 70 minutes into our excursion and well on our way up an incredibly extensive talus-slab-o-death (as it’s commonly referred to in the Narc household), my suggestion to reevaluate was again denied. Somewhere near the two hour mark we reached a plateau and thankfully the other members of the group saw the light…well more like the several hundred feet of talus still ahead of us.
Dejected, we turned toward the car and attempted to retrace our steps, not an easy feat when we had spent the past three hours blazing our own trail. Four hours after having departed and with the knowledge that we had been heading in the wrong direction much of the way, we reached our car.
The talus-slab-o-death (not recommended)
You should never confuse this peak with Cathedral Peak
You should never confuse this pinnacle with Eichhorn’s Pinnacle
Cathedral Peak – waaaaaaaaaaay in the other direction
Figuring our luck could only improve, we planned to try our hand at Munginella (5.6) the next day. After all, the route is supposed to be a classic and the directions seemed fool proof: follow the trail from the Swan Slabs to the marked trail near Lower Yosemite Falls and follow that to the base of the climb. It only took three times up and down the main trail to find the marker for our next trail. This should have been a big red flag for us. It wasn’t. Some time later, we reached the base of our intended climb, or so we thought. I followed the Narc up the route, cursing every bit of the 100 feet of crack climbing and the Narc for thinking this would be a “good route” for me. I reached the first belay and didn’t have to say a word; the combination of terror, frustration and exhaustion on my face said it all — this climb was over.
Having known me for a good long while, the Narc knew the only way to buy back my trust after such an event would have to involve ice cream. To Curry Village we went. While there, we stopped in the gear shop and made our way straight to the guidebooks (our personal copy was in the mail at this point). As I looked over the Narc’s shoulder, my thoughts were confirmed. We had again been lost and actually had climbed the 5.8 first pitch of Commitment.
At that point and with the memory of our Tuolumne experience fresh in my mind, all I could say was: “I am so buying you a compass before our next trip”. Indeed I did…
Full gallery with a few more pictuers here
