Saturday, March 15th, 2014

Climbing: Serenity Crack and Sons of Yesterday at Yosemite

Late Thursday night, Mr. Mud said Chris was thinking about a possibility (among others) of going to Yosemite for a day trip to do Serenity and Sons, except that he didn’t have a partner yet. Then a light bulb went off in his head and he said me “you can follow him up the climb.” Before I could finish my “oh, no, no, no…” he already sent the text off to Chris. I was anxious what we might hear back from Chris because I was not confident that I could follow the climb successfully. After all, how many years have it been since I last did any crack climbing?! Unbeknownst to me at the time, Mr. Mud sent another text to Chris on Friday morning with a simple “So?”  That little nudge pushed Chris over the edge — he committed, so I was committed too.  Who knew, Chris was feeling a little unsure as well because he also just took a break from climbing. Trying to set the expectation low, he even told me on the drive he would be happy if we just did Serenity Crack that day. A long drive for three pitches, eh? Since I wasn’t planning to lead, I’d just take what I could get.

I got up at 2:30am in order to meet Chris at the gym parking lot at 4am. Taking turns driving, after some leisurely stops here and there, we arrived at the base some time just after 8am. The follower of the 1st party had just left the base. There would have been another party in front of us, but they took a wrong turn on the approach and ended up being behind us. Later, more parties showed up while we were on the wall. It turned out that we made it to be the second party of seven on this climb that day. Not too bad for a Bay Area start!

If Chris was nervous about leading the climb, he didn’t show on the climb, as he showed no difficulty on any of the pitches, and even ran out the crux after warning me he might sew it up. I didn’t feel solid on the climb. My feet really hurt when trying to jam, and my ankles were sore and sometimes even shook uncontrollably due to the unfamiliar strain; however, I followed the nine pitches clean and we even moved at a very good pace — we took a long break at the first belay on Sons to give the 1st party room and also pulled away from the 3rd party when we topped out. Both of us felt very pleased topping out.

The day trip was brutal, but I was able to return to the kitties, and of course, Mr. Mud at night. That could just be the ticket for me to get more climbing in in the future. I can’t wait to get back to the Valley!

 

 

After waiting at the base for the 1st party to leave the 1st belay, Chris started up. There was running water in the crack. The bolt had been pulled (again).

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Chris is a great climbing partner, not to mention a solid rope gun.

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Chris on Sons of Yesterday. Expecting an easy 10a hand crack all the way, I was surprised by the thin crack on its first pitch.

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It was a gorgeous day in the Valley.

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The follower in the 3rd party, Gina, is topping out. She and her partner Adam has been traveling out of their van for a couple of years. Good luck on their Nose endeavor they planned for this year!We teamed up for the rappel, so we waited for them at the top. Everyone we encountered on our way down was extremely accommodating, friendly, and helpful. Love the climbing community! We also learned that one 70 meter rope suffices for the climbs and the rappels.

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Here are all the photos in my album.

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  • IMG 3144
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  • IMG 3154
  • IMG 3155
  • IMG 3158
  • IMG 3159