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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Topic Author's Original Post - Apr 24, 2010 - 01:19am PT
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Attempt on Ahwiyah Point - Northeast Gully
Ed Hartouni
April 18, 2010
This is a class 3 route put up by David Brower and Morgan Harris in August 1937. It is a part of my recovery plan to first scramble, then climb my way back into shape, allowing time for the back to heal and for me to get strong, both physically and mentally. It is a way of exploring seldom visited places in the park, and to work through some of the history of climbing.
Any of you that have looked at the NW Face of Half Dome has seen this point, you just didn't know what you were looking at... It's name is thought to be a reference to Mirror Lakes, the Southern Sierra Miwok word awaaya meaning "lake, deep" so maybe the point was the landmark for the lake?
I followed the short description in Roper, but on the way over was becoming skeptical of the late spring snow and rather wet condition of the rock. It was a lovely day, and warm.
From the south loop of the Mirror Lakes trail I could spy the route, with some snow choked gullies, wet vegetation, and general "too early to climb" look. But I persisted... how hard could class 3 be, I'd just wander up and see how high I could get...
The route looks something like this, I suppose:
and right were the arrowhead on the route line is the route goes behind the ridge of the point to the saddle, which is then climbed to the point.
Getting to the snow cone at the base of the gully, I determined that it wouldn't go, as I was wearing approach shoes, and not proper boots, nor did I have an ice axe. It also seemed to have the appearance of avalanche debris, and was very packed. Not to be turned away so quickly, I started to follow the diagonal line of vegetation just to the right (west) of the snow, thinking I could work those ramps up and connect in higher.
Wet, rotten rock and bushwacking are almost never a good combination. I stopped at some point, ate some lunch, drank some water, shot some images, and then descended. Having spied Snow Creek from this position, I decided to head over that and scramble up to the amazing cataract jetting out from the slabs.
Snow Creek from across the Valley
Snow Creek
I shot a lot of images of flowers, on both sides of the valley, which I posted in the flower thread
http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=1119920&msg=1149049#msg1149049
and on my descent from Snow Creek, I was reminded of the fact that this is still an alpine environment. Some of you may have heard this from your climbs and wondered what it was...
The snow field at the right of the avalanche runout is where I had been 2 hours earlier. Perhaps I figured it out and got out of there without being conscious about the thought process, or perhaps I was just lucky...
...but you all best pay attention to where you are this time of year, that was not a fluffy avalanche, but heavy, blocky snow crashing down bad thing to be underneath avalanche. Several other avalanches crashed down after that, but I was already on the trail back to the car.
Ahwiyah Point - Northeast Gully is probably a climb for late May.
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enjoimx
Big Wall climber
SLO Cal
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Apr 24, 2010 - 01:22am PT
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You are a brave man. That area scares me.
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Minerals
Social climber
The Deli
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Apr 24, 2010 - 02:07am PT
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Nice sequence, Ed!!! Glad you weren’t underneath it!
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elcap-pics
Big Wall climber
Crestline CA
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Apr 24, 2010 - 02:10am PT
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The 4 mile trail Ed... that is the ticket for recovering old men... stay away from snow slopes in late April.... see you soon...
tom
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Wayno
Big Wall climber
Seattle, WA
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Apr 24, 2010 - 02:20am PT
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Nice pics, Ed. A little synchronicity at play there?
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mucci
Trad climber
The pitch of Bagalaar above you
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Apr 24, 2010 - 02:26am PT
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Nice ED!
Thanks for the glimpse
Mucci
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seth kovar
climber
Bay Area
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Apr 24, 2010 - 02:29am PT
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WOW!!!
Awesome!!!
Thank Ed
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ß Î Ø T Ç H
climber
. . . not !
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Apr 24, 2010 - 03:18am PT
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My sister did that route in the early 80s . Pretty straightforward she said 'cept for a very imposing headwall at the top of the gulley . She had already done Gunsight (without the now fixed rope) so I knew she wasn't B.S.ing about the severity . Here's a (not mine) vid of a slide coming right down the gulley . I hope you'll try it again when it drys out . Thanks for posting . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEVQosbutdQ
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cleo
Social climber
Berkeley, CA
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Apr 24, 2010 - 03:23am PT
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That is RAD Ed, thanks for sharing!
-V
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Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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Apr 24, 2010 - 10:43am PT
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Wow. Nice photos and TR. What's up next?
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survival
Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
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Apr 24, 2010 - 10:53am PT
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Super-cool Ed!
Beautiful pix and a good day out.
Will you go back when it dries out?
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goatboy smellz
climber
Nederland
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Apr 24, 2010 - 11:00am PT
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Great photos Ed and nice to see you taking a positive approach for healing those ills.
FWIW no avalanche has ever been fluffy, they usually all come down hard.
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bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, Ca.
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Apr 24, 2010 - 11:07am PT
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Nice!!!
Heal up, Ed!
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Melissa
Gym climber
berkeley, ca
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Apr 24, 2010 - 11:26am PT
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Glad you're still w/ us, Ed!
We looked across the way and figured that you had revised your plans to scramble to put you on the sunny side.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 24, 2010 - 12:04pm PT
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thanks all,
I'll certainly go back, Ahwiyah Point is a photo vantage point for some little projects I have in mind... I was carrying 4 cameras with me that day, hoping to get up on top... I knew that Melissa's top out might have been in view (albeit a long one).
I got some scrambling on DFU territory going up Snow Creek (the NPS signage is always so cheery!) which was the objective for the outing, and moved well around the 8 mile loop. Getting back in time for the pre-drive-out bacchanal (thanks Linda!).
I'll be doing solos for a while until soloing is slower than roped climbing...
Don't know what's next... but my photofinisher is happy that I'm shooting film again!
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Crimpergirl
Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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Apr 24, 2010 - 12:08pm PT
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I'm happy too!
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pc
climber
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Apr 24, 2010 - 12:34pm PT
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Nice shots Ed. Thanks!
Glad you weren't in its path.
Cheers,
pc
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klk
Trad climber
cali
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Apr 24, 2010 - 12:47pm PT
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nice, ed.
great shots of the avvy.
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10b4me
Boulder climber
Hell A
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Apr 24, 2010 - 03:41pm PT
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awesome shots of the avalanche Ed. Glad you are still with us.
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ß Î Ø T Ç H
climber
. . . not !
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Apr 26, 2010 - 03:39am PT
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QITNL , You can also 3rd class the whole cascade by entering above the lowest waterfall from the east . It's a snug little fit , but easy going after that . Good photography oppertunities for Hartouni (Opp hartouni ties ?) with views of Watkins etc too .
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Bruce Morris
Social climber
Belmont, California
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Apr 26, 2010 - 04:22am PT
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Remember what Sigismund Freud says about the unconscious Will to Death? You must have really wanted to die, Ed, but failed to achieve your repressed unconscious intention. Lucky for you! But those pics are great. Remember seeing that thing avalanche in early July in a good snow year back in 83. Count your blessings!
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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May 12, 2010 - 12:14am PT
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Very cool, very nice shots.
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mike m
Trad climber
black hills
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May 12, 2010 - 12:30am PT
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Great shots. How long did that go on. You are quick with the camera. I just ran into a decent sized mountain lion on a remote section of cliff in Spearfish Canyon. He was only about 10m away and I had my camera, but he was running away when I saw him. I knew I didn't have a chance to get the shot so I just watched till he was gone and turned around and walked the other way... fairly quickly.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - May 12, 2010 - 12:32am PT
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I was shooting the Gully for a recon photo, I noticed the white snow field in the upper left of my view was expanding, then realized it was an avalanche, so the camera was out.
Usually I try to have a camera handy all the time.
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ß Î Ø T Ç H
climber
. . . not !
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May 12, 2010 - 01:36am PT
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Here's C-Mack's brilliant photo and my sister's comment from when I sent her a link to it .
" Probably, everywhere that there is snow there in that gully, we could boulder-hop and climb pretty easily....at the top, where there is no snow, is a sheer wall with tiny foot-and hand-holds. . "
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ß Î Ø T Ç H
climber
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Jul 11, 2010 - 04:56am PT
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Nice snap Clint , but now it's time for Hartouni to go back up !
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Jul 11, 2010 - 10:00am PT
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Nice adventure Ed- the road less traveled by.
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Kalimon
Trad climber
Ridgway, CO
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Jul 11, 2010 - 10:48am PT
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Many years ago some friends and I too witnessed a major spring avalanche in that vicinity while hiking the Snow Creek trail up to North Dome. By the look of those snow plastered slabs, this is a common occurrence when things start melting and warming. It is easy to forget that Yosemite is an alpine environment with all the associated hazards. Here in the San Juan mountains people generally get their spring adventures over early, in part to avoid the wet slab potential. Glad you bailed, thanks for sharing and best wishes to your recovery.
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Dirka
Trad climber
SF
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Jul 11, 2010 - 02:24pm PT
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Be careful!!! Cool pics Ed.
Heal up. Ps. I have a lot more free time if you want to adventure.
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Dr.Sprock
Boulder climber
I'm James Brown, Bi-atch!
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Jul 11, 2010 - 02:42pm PT
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sheesh, rock slides, avalanche in july, mountain lions and bears stalking all unwary humans,
just more respect for the indians who still live up there,
oh, they in there, i know de in dere, i seen um with mi own two eyes,
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 11, 2010 - 05:42pm PT
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stay tuned...
back is getting better, but after a few weeks of climbing it needed a rest this weekend...
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Jingy
Social climber
Nowhere
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Jul 11, 2010 - 06:06pm PT
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cool avalanche shots...
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DM88T
climber
San Juan Bautista, CA
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le_bruce
climber
Oakland, CA
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Thrilling photos there. What a gift to get to see/hear that.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 12, 2014 - 09:24pm PT
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got a chance to shoot the gully from a different perspective last Sunday
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ß Î Ø T Ç H
Boulder climber
extraordinaire
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Jun 12, 2014 - 10:03pm PT
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Great pic. I now see the 'surprise ending' my sister talked about.
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ß Î Ø T Ç H
Boulder climber
extraordinaire
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Mar 12, 2015 - 11:45pm PT
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I was hiking above Hidden Falls (Spring of 1983?) when one of those slides came down.
I instantly sought cover, and feared for my life.
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