Mt Whitney Webcam
Mt Williamson Webcam
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 155 guests, and 16 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Feeling Royal on the Arches
#4417 05/18/10 04:58 PM
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 29
AxeMan Offline OP
OP Offline
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 29
Well, while Laura was putting in a show on Cardinal, a few of us had a grand day on Royal Arches.

It seems that it's been kind of a wet spring so far, and Yosemite hasn't been spared. After less than a minute's debate, we decided to fire up the route, even though every other pitch was either slimy or had a racing fall of water on the cracks that would've kept us on route.

Not one for alpine starts when there's no approach, we started at 9:00am to a slippery and cramped chimney with the only holds akin to grabbing dead mackerels and standing on sloping bars of soap. (Oh, how I much prefer dry rock sometimes...) Regardless, we were off the deck and just decided we'd go as far as we could.

We got into our usual flow and with simul-climbing a few of the pitches, we were making really good time---which enabled us to take some of the steeper lines for fun (I recommend running the 5.8 lieback on pitch 6 and bypassing the 5.6; along with doing the 5.7 finger crack off left on pitch 7---which places you on the big rounded flake with a couple of big exposure friction mantles, bypassing the class 4 crack---which was flowing with water anyway).

Other than a couple of pitches done in soft rain, and having to go barefoot after the pendulum pitch, it was a fairly tame and leisurely---but by no means less-than-spectacular---day. We hit the rappel route at about 6pm and started the long descent (11 raps for a group of four, most of them double rope with some 3rd class down-climbs thrown in). It's truly wonderful to be high up on a moonless night, watching the stars come out, seeing the campfires, joking, taking pictures and listening to the murmur of a Valley getting ready for bed.

We touched down just before 11pm to a silent Ahwahnee then drove back to camp for a tasty dinner and a celebratory bottle of wine---and the anticipation of another great day of climbing within a few short hours...

...and it all pretty much looked like this.


Re: Feeling Royal on the Arches
AxeMan #4421 05/18/10 06:07 PM
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 582
Offline
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 582
Must be the getting older thing... you forgot that you don't write TRs... wink

I still wish I could've been there, especially to see the barefoot traverse in person. You're my hero! shocked

Happy Birthday, Jeff. smile


Facebook

Flickr Pics

Think outside the Zone.
Re: Feeling Royal on the Arches
MooseTracks #4427 05/18/10 10:53 PM
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 8,505
Likes: 103
S
Offline
S
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 8,505
Likes: 103
That's a good enough Trip Report for me! (now if he'd only write in English) wink

I'd like to do that -- (Well ...maybe in another lifetime.)


Beautiful picture: Cool shot with Half Dome and the Diving Board in the background!


Thanks for the report, Jeff! Enjoyed all the pictures.

Re: Feeling Royal on the Arches
AxeMan #4430 05/19/10 07:24 AM
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 695
CaT Offline
Offline
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 695
Great TR Axe.
Really enjoyed the pics too.
Looked like a wonderful climb.

CaT


If future generations are to remember us with gratitude rather than contempt, we must leave them more than the miracle of technology. We must leave them a glimpse of the world as it was in the beginning, not just after we got through with it.
- Lyndon Johnson, on signing the Wilderness Act into law (1964)
Re: Feeling Royal on the Arches
Steve C #4463 05/20/10 10:58 PM
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 1,261
Bee Offline
Offline
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 1,261
There once was an Axe with a Man,

who defeated the moss with "I can!"

With nothing to lose,

but a pair of old shoes,

he took to the Arches and ran.


The body betrays and the weather conspires, hopefully, not on the same day.
Re: Feeling Royal on the Arches
Bee #4467 05/21/10 09:20 AM
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 29
AxeMan Offline OP
OP Offline
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 29
Haha! Good one, Bee.

Yes, as you can tell it was a great trip. And considering that most trip reports have a Whitney training element to them, I would highly recommend Royal Arches as a practice for the East Face o' Whitney route (or vice versa).


Link Copied to Clipboard
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.4
(Release build 20200307)
Responsive Width:

PHP: 7.4.33 Page Time: 0.038s Queries: 26 (0.033s) Memory: 0.5972 MB (Peak: 0.6647 MB) Data Comp: Off Server Time: 2024-03-28 20:56:23 UTC
Valid HTML 5 and Valid CSS