Trip Report
Middle Cathedral Rock--1974
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Saturday September 1, 2012 6:57am
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Jim Shirley, Cowboy Larry Moore, Mouse. Late spring, on the East Buttress of Model California Rock.
Both these guys were best men at my weddings!
Larry is in an ashram in the northwest, the last I had word.
Jim is busy with Mars, here lately.
This is such a beautiful climb. I first tried it barefoot in a stupid fit of rock lust with Muskrat Mathis. I finally got it ticked in '71 with Randy Hamm.
I got in a fast ascent with Dick Ellsworth on Memorial Day of '72. I must have climbed this fascinating and satisfying route nine or more times, one for each finger, once before this with Larry, and enjoyed every one of them.
This was Jim's first multi-pitch effort; so the n00b, a graduate of RCS and Cal, learned quickly. We had been to Pinnacles once and did an aid route. Let's raise a glass to UC climbers! He got on jumars and acquitted himself better than Larry or I expected. And he got some good clicks in, too!
Enjoy...
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Edit: What I failed to mention is that we started this at 1:00 p.m. Real alpine start, eh? It's why the shots are so dark and the Captain is so lit up.
mouse from merced
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About the Author
mouse from merced is a trad climber from merced, california. |
Comments
martygarrison
Trad climber
Washington DC
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Love the pic of the brand new EB's! bitd!
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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Great days climbing. The East Buttress is so classic and it has good climbing. Was Larry a Park Ranger?
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Author's Reply
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Sep 1, 2012 - 09:59am PT
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Plumber.
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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So, how come Larry had on a Park Service Shirt? Was he a Park Service plumber?
Brian, when the weather is just right and I am trying to drift off to sleep, I think about climbing on Middle. It is visceral. This is a photo of me climbing the bolt ladder on the East Buttress. Fig took the picture.
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PhilG
Trad climber
The Circuit, Tonasket WA
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Great trip report of a beautiful, beautiful climb.
Gene Foley, an Englishman, and myself did that route back in those days. Caught by darkness on the descent(who carried "headlamps"?), we spent the night huddled around a campfire. The dawn greeted us with inches of fresh spring snow and a white-out.
Your classic pictures bring back the "fun" of those days!
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Author's Reply
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Sep 1, 2012 - 11:30am PT
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Thank you Phil and Rog. Nice figure you cut, Rog. I've always appreciated the write-up you did on the old gal.
We all love Cathy, the middle of a three sisters act. Counter-family to the Three Brothers.
And I always appreciated Phil's description of the top pitches of EB as "funny climbing." It's how he labelled it in the old binder of topos we kept in the Mountain Shop back in '71.
Who has that binder? It's worth oodles.
And yes, Cowboy was a NPS plumber who started out packing out effluvia from the high camps. (Pat Stewart may have done that packing with him.) He stayed in '74 with Chris What's-Her-Name-the- seasonal-rangerette-who-worked-in-the-kiosk-in-Camp-4-when-it-was-at-the-entrance-to-the-old-entrance in a tent in Government Housing.
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Author's Reply
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Sep 1, 2012 - 11:30am PT
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Chis PERRY!
tnx, Ron.
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Roadie
Trad climber
moab UT
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thanks mouse, that makes me sad i missed those days.
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survival
Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
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Supreme Mouse Old Skool Bump!
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rockermike
Trad climber
Berkeley
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great TR. Back in the day things were always more interesting. ha I think I first climbed middle in '78 and have lost count of how many times I've been up there at this point. Best time for me was 3 hours car-to-car, when I was about 24 yrs old and climbing everyday. Now its a full day affair for me, but still love it.
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Author's Reply
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Sep 1, 2012 - 01:37pm PT
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I have some plans for September in the Valley. Oops, it's September. I'll be at FL in one of the Pines CGs. My climbing is limited to stairs at present. I earnestly hope to change that soon.
A supreme? Gosh, dude...you'll give me a swell head. These are JS' pix. I'm only the cabin boy.
I suppose you could then call me the Supreme Unlimited Old School Brian>ala WBr? sheeit...
Jim will have more slides to send me. I'm sending a batch back and he'll replace it with another, I hope.
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Radish
Trad climber
SeKi, California
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Always nice to see the old pics. That is a great route too! Cool, Thanks!
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micronut
Trad climber
Fresno/Clovis, ca
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That was a great walk down memory lane. But I was born in 1973.
Thanks for the cool report old skool style.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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you might entice Peter into helping out with the Photoshopping...
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Author's Reply
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Sep 1, 2012 - 03:13pm PT
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First, I did some fooling around in Windows Gallery.
Second, Jim's original attempt at a product shot for the TNF catalog. North Face was our supplier of these ropes, as the USA distribution was in their hands: mine, in fact, running the warehouse in Sparks for six or so months.
And the last one, Jim photoshopped at his place in Simi last June when we acquired the slide scanner, a Hammacher Sclemmer Stand Alone DI Copier.
If you are interested, PH, you have powers beyond mere mortal mice. pm a moi, s'il vous plait. Souris de Merced
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Roger Breedlove
climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
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Those EBs are right out of the box.
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zBrown
Ice climber
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hey mousie
very interesting trip back in time
? What happened ?
I first tried it barefoot
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Ezra Ellis
Trad climber
North wet, and Da souf
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loooove the old Skool, thanks!!!
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Author's Reply
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Sep 2, 2012 - 08:05pm PT
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Sixty-eight
Yelling Cowwabunga! for the sheer joy of expending energy
Muskrat and Mouse take off running
Rounding first at the Sentinel bridge after Leideg
They haul young ass through the south side of the Merced
Second is rounded at the intersection of El Cap bridge
Roounding this to the Southside Street and hanging a right
Heading for Cathedral gully
And a buttress of siren quality
Around third up the gully
Then the dash for home
And dreams for a lifetime.
Doffing tennies
Scoffing at mild steep
They creep
Egging each other
Silent mostly
Awed by the space opening beneath
The trees and holds appear magically
So magically they are now beanstalking
And not eager to progress
So they press the last bit
And it's no.
No one had informed them
That to be able to climb down
From what you climb up
Is a prime requisite for bold climbers
But it was done
And so were they
After an afternoon at play
Following the call
Of the siren.
That's kind of how that happened, a spur-of-the-moment idea to go running. Stupid!
I relinquish Supreme and settle for Joe Blow.
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Very cool Mouse!! East butt of middle is on the tick list for sure!! next time!
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RyanD
climber
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Yes, awesome bump! Stellar report Mouse, I learned a lot right there. Thanks!
I want to do this climb! The historical TRs are soooo cool.
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Borut
Mountain climber
Ljubljana, Slovenia
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TFPU
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Author's Reply
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Nov 3, 2012 - 07:52am PT
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Speak English.
IDKWTM.
:) all who enter here.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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1974, 1974.....EB,s, swamis, painter pants- different era but the same rock.
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Fletcher
Boulder climber
Institute of Better Bouldering-DirtbagDad Division
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Very nice. One of my all time favorite climbs ever (and one of my first). It was a sublime experience that stays with me to this day, many years later.
Not as many later as MfM's though! Ha ha!
Eric
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bmacd
Trad climber
100% Canadian
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You guys need some new gear and modern clothing. Pass on an address I have some hand me downs for you
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Kalimon
Social climber
Ridgway, CO
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Thanks Mouse!
Many great moments on the East Buttress. Many thanks to my old climbing bros, Bob Burke and Chris Mayr.
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Author's Reply
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Nov 4, 2012 - 07:57pm PT
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Big Mike Mover of Mountains, come to Yosemite in the winter. Imagine the flying finger pointing you in the direction of the CPF in wintry-ass conditions, like the face is totally socked in by frozen fog at say, around a hundred feet. There's ice in the cracks low down from a rain/sleet thing, there's slushy sh#t at the base but it was two feet of deep slushy stuff yesterday and it almost froze up, but it's really breakable. It's quarter past ten, the warmest part of the day is before you. Are you smarter than a fifth grader? Wouldn't you go home? Of course you would, but you're not as smart as a fifthgrader, because the average fifth grader knows enough to not be out therein sh#t like that! Except for lady gym climbers from the Sacramento area and friends. Condensed to save space. I was in a frenzy of thought.
I found a taco wagon called Taco the Town.
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Zander
climber
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Nice Mouse!
I love this climb. Better get on it again. Thanks for posting.
Zander
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Mouse, if I come to Yosemite in the winter it would be with my split board in hand.... Maybe some ice gear if someone wanted to take me out.... ;)
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Author's Reply
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Nov 5, 2012 - 07:35pm PT
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Darwin, I liked that too. Just enough butty, just enough lying camera angle.
Not quite Comici, but tempo, tempo, take tiime, then go...con Geronimo! Another climber of note.
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justthemaid
climber
Jim Henson's Basement
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Jan 23, 2013 - 09:09pm PT
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Bump cause this is way more interesting than Taco-drama.
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Some Random Guy
climber
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Jan 23, 2013 - 09:28pm PT
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This was Jim's first multi-pitch effort; so the n00b, a graduate of RCS and Cal, learned quickly.
NICE! i was born in '74. cool to see this. this was also my very first climb ever in the valley. i did it the day after getting food poising from that f*#kin' pizza deck. go big or go home, that's what i told myself. that's what i still tell myself.
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Captain...or Skully
climber
Boise, ID
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Jan 23, 2013 - 10:20pm PT
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It's amazing how many threads and trip reports can slide by without notice....scary, even.
Mouse, I'm diggin' yer stylings here. TFPU.
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nutjob
Sport climber
Almost to Hollywood, Baby!
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Jan 23, 2013 - 10:35pm PT
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I love it! Love it even more now that I'm in LA. Still think of Yosemite as my second home, the Cathedrals like familiar living room furniture or wall adornments.
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rockermike
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Jan 23, 2013 - 11:36pm PT
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one of my favorites, and probably the most repeated climb in my resume. Maybe 12 ascents at this point. Maybe more - who knows. Did it once 3 hours camp 4 to camp 4. And I'm generally a slow bastard. But that climb just felt right that day. Who needs pro. ha First time up was '78 I believe. TFPU (sure wish I hadn't dumped all my photos from BITD. Life was good then....
(by the way, does anybody really do that bolt ladder free? Always felt rather stiff for 10c to me - and time pressure has always impelled me to move on.)
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philo
climber
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Jan 23, 2013 - 11:43pm PT
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Oh wow nice BITG pics. Thanks for posting this TR. I love that Climb.
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Author's Reply
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Jun 9, 2014 - 01:54pm PT
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I just fell across this video looking for something else.
[Click to View YouTube Video]
East Buttress is "popular for a reason."--Smiley-Gal
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Karl Baba
Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
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Thanks for posting!
One of my favorite routes. Probably done it dozens of times. (need to go back soon)
Probably only freed that bolt ladder a time or two then either went the 50 crowded way or just frenched it. (I'd say 11a or 10.d minimum)
Going the Left hand variation is quite an adventure (don't remember if I repeated that but probably not)
Peace
Karl
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murcy
Gym climber
sanfrancisco
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Awesome, thanks MfM!
Twice for me, most recently with JoeyF on a perfect day with only one other party on the route all day (and they zoomed out of sight). It's still a good adventure, and everyone should do the gully descent once (but not necessarily in April, in the dark, in a snowy year, without a headlamp--some dim memory tells me that that would be a mistake).
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HighTraverse
Trad climber
Bay Area
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Hmmmm......I've only climbed it once........now she's calling me back. Maybe I can free that bolt ladder this time.
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Relic
Social climber
Weenie
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Hey derrrrs a picture of me climbing a rock climb!
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Gnome Ofthe Diabase
climber
Out Of Bed
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I waited and I waited, then it was someone else's turn, MOOOSEE
Now having waited I'm
in a hurry to
Bhump
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Apr 13, 2015 - 11:59pm PT
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Bump cause i wanna climb it...
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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Apr 14, 2015 - 11:17am PT
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Thanks for the bump, since I missed ti the first time. In the early 1970's, Middle Cathedral Rock was my favorite climbing area in the Valley, and I still enjoy traversing its base. For whatever reason, though, I've never been on the East Buttress, so I guess it's time to change that.
I still remember when I first met Randy Hamm at Indian Rock in Berkeley in the early 1970's. He was a very easy person to like.
John
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the Fet
climber
Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La
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Apr 14, 2015 - 11:30am PT
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Thanks for the bump. Awesome retro TR.
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trad_at_heart
Mountain climber
all over
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Jul 17, 2016 - 03:56pm PT
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Really enjoyed cruisin through this post mouse. I'm back from 40 years in Alaska, nearly died more times than i care to count on severely hanging the boat out; then i finally wised up a bit. Prob why i'm posting now...
i sent you a quick message to your topo acct. If there is an address you check more often please get in touch. -dick
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Author's Reply
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Jul 22, 2016 - 01:49pm PT
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Never saw that message, trad-at-heart. Sent you a PM just now with other contacts.
Good to hear you are here now. Welcome to the ST.
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Author's Reply
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Jul 22, 2016 - 01:51pm PT
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My email is
bermingham.brian53@gmail.com
and good luck with the ST Messaging System.
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