Alpine Lifestyle in the Canadian Rockies: Yosemite, CA

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Yosemite, CA

We arrived in the valley on the night of October 11^th. We were told at the Yosemite Park gates that almost all campsites were full. We wanted to stay at Camp 4 due to the climbing history which is also where most climbers stay. Unlike most camps this one was a drop-in. This meant first-come, first-served. We stopped by to hopefully catch up with some friends who were already there and found Camp 4 to be full as expected. We were told that people had been lining up quite early to get a spot in camp. We drove out of the park that night to sleep in the van and drove up to Camp 4 at 05:30am. By then there were already six people in line! We made ourselves comfortable and tried to stay warm while we waited in line for the camping registration to open at 08:30am. The six people who were already there were smart to bring a sleeping bag and sleeping pad to nap on while they waited. The early start had paid-off. Only 14 out of 25 people were able to get a camping spot that day. We climbed on a nearby busy crag called the “manure pile” that afternoon. On the 12^th we showed up at the base of the East Buttress of Middle Cathedral at 07:00h. During the climb we were slowed down by two parties ahead of us. We also got passed by two guys simul-climbing. The climbing was great although the amount of people on the climb took away from the experience. I guess that’s the price to pay for climbing in “the Valley” during the busy climbing season. On the 13^th we woke up even earlier to climb the East Buttress of El Cap. We showed up at the base at 06:30h to find two climbers already there and about to start the climb. One of them was a well known Japanese alpine climber named Jumbo which I had heard of before from a friend. It was fun to share climbing stories at the belays with him. Today (Oct. 14^th) is a rest day. We’ll spend it bouldering near camp and doing a well needed laundry.