Regular Route 5.9

At 8 am on Sunday April 26, 2009, Bill McConachie & I embarked on the 0.8 mile/1,500 foot elevation gain, 2 hour hike to the start of the regular route on Higher Cathedral Spire in Yosemite Valley. The approach was a bit tiring but pleasant and uneventful in the warm morning sun, with the exception that we passed a bear that was headed downhill and didn't seem to have any interest in us. After some boulder hopping and bushwacking, we arrived at the base of the route which is marked on the granite by a shield with a cross in it. We dumped our packs and began preparing for our ascent. Bill took the 1st pitch, a 5.5 mixed crack and lie back up to a ledge with a tree. I followed the 1st pitch and then took the sharp end on the 2nd. The crux of pitch 2 is the so-called 5.9 "powerful bulge." You do a hand traverse along a horizontal crack that leads over to the bulge after clipping a couple of pins in the crack on the right with very long runners to minimize rope drag. Although the valley below was enjoying 70+ degree weather, at our elevation there was a cold wind blowing and my fingertips were almost completely numb by the time I arrived at the hand traverse after clipping the rope to the 2 pins. I began looking for a pin scar in the horizontal crack to place a TCU to prevent a pendulum into the corner in the event that the coefficient of friction on the C4 rubber of my newly resoled MadRock slippers is exceeded during the traverse. I opted for the upper of two parallel horizontal cracks leading left to the bulge as a Pat Metheney riff kept playing in the background of my mind. My eyes scanned the rock for any micro-edges or smearing opportunities for my feet. As I smeared and shifted my center-of-gravity left and reached for the next available pin scar finger jam, the laws of physics took over and I began to pendulum, sweeping a counter-clockwise arc from 9 to 6 o'clock as a blur of granite passed before my eyes. Fortunately the strategically-placed TCU prevented me from swinging past 6 o'clock and slamming into the corner. I shook myself off mentally and physically and decided to try the lower of the horizontal cracks. This seemed to work nicely because I was lower than the TCU now and it was practically a tension traverse. Again I shifted my center-of-gravity left and stepped across to a decent mini-stance beneath the bulge, where I clipped a pin right below the bulge with another long runner. As I contemplated the move over the bulge and sensed the vertical relief behind me, my inner voice started asking "How long has that pin been there?" "How many falls has it caught?" "Was it capable of stopping me, if I fell?" I reached for some backup insurance and placed a TCU next to the decades-old pin, dipped my numb fingertips into the powder, and began looking for foot holds on the featureless granite below the bulge. I inched my feet up on questionable smears after reaching left and placing 3 numb 1/2 fingertips on a brittle, flaky edge. I elongated up and right reaching for a solid arc-shaped hold with my right hand but, damn it, I was still 10 inches short. An adrenaline spike surged through my body and I quickly backed my feet off the smears and lowered back down to the mini-stance. Again my inner voice queried "At 57, is it possible that you're too old for this?" So I recalled my survival credo "When in doubt, chicken out." I donated a couple of carabiners to the route as Bill lowered me back down to the ledge. We both rapped down. When I arrived at the base and looked over at my my pack, I could see that the outside pocket was unzipped and a sandwich wrapper was on the ground next to the pack. Apparently a marmot had paid us a visit, unzipped my pack, and made off with my sandwich for lunch.

Looking up at HCS
Start of the traverse on p2 (photo Bill McConachie)
This is where I bailed. (photo Bill McConachie)