Due to our respective work schedules, my brother Geoff and I could only squeeze in a long weekend for our annual climbing trip this year. However, this was the fifth one and we wanted to make it count. We set our sights on Tuolumne, specifically, the Third Pillar of Dana. I'd driven by it countless times, always transfixed by the imposing profile it cuts in the Sierra skyline as you head West up Tioga Road from Lee Vining. But I had never attempted it.

I picked Geoff up at SFO late on Thursday night and we headed out first thing Friday morning. The weather forecast called for clear skies and moderate temps - we were stoked! We figured in early October we wouldn't have much company in high country. But it was unusually warm and people were thronging Olmsted Point and Tenaya Lake, escaping the inferno in the Valley. However, they mostly seemed to be day-tripping tourists and we saw very few climbers.

We kicked off the weekend by climbing American Wet Dream on Mountaineers' Dome. With the 4-hour drive from the Peninsula that morning and wanting to set up camp and scout the approach to the Third Pillar before dark, we needed a climb that we could accomplish fairly quickly.

The route offers really fun climbing in a beautiful setting, interspersed with spacious belay ledges. We each got to lead fun 5.10 lieback or stemming sections, which were just enough to get the blood pumping and get us warmed up for our main objective the next day.


The trip was off to a great start! After setting up shop in Junction Campground and scouting the approach for the next morning, we headed down to Mobil for dinner.

As we crawled out of our sleeping bags early the next morning, the car thermometer read a frosty 33 degrees. Hmmm…climbing shoes were going to feel great. Fortunately, the long, steep approach hike warmed us up and the NE aspect of the route meant that we’d be in the sun for at least the first several pitches. Dawn breaking over the Dana Plateau was incredible. So was the view of the Pillar towering over Mono Lake, a few thousand feet below. We snapped a few pics, found the descent ridge and carefully picked our way down the exposed and slightly-sketchy 4th-class sections, maneuvering around clumps of snow left over from storms earlier in the week.


With nobody else in sight, we decided to do the direct start to add another pitch and give us each three leads. We wanted to soak up as much of this high Sierra granite as possible!


After a few tricky moves, the pitch moderated and Geoff ended up at the block belay marking the usual start. The next pitch required a bit of route-finding as it zig-zagged up to the belay. The climbing was easy but the rope drag kept me quite focused.


The next pitch offered a really fun crack/dihedral that widened into an off-width higher up, ending with a couple of moves stepping left out of the crack onto a small ledge.


I reached the belay and we swung leads again. I worked my way up through a series of parallel cracks and then tunneled behind a massive detached flake to a wild belay on top. Sitting atop the flake, separated from the wall, with several hundred feet of air below and a stunning view of Mono Lake was about as good as it gets.


As we ascended we left the sun and climbed into the shadow of the Pillar itself and it felt like the temperature dropped about 15 degrees. Just in time for the crux. The final pitch had two brief 10b sections, which took a little thinking to piece together but ended up being quite solid and fun. Then the route finished in dramatic fashion with a ridiculously awesome 5.9 fingers -> hands -> dyno for the jug & mantle to the top! Yes, Geoff was quite gracious to let me lead it... As I pulled over the top and back into the sun I was so excited to have knocked off our big goal for the trip. Geoff came up and we hung out on top for about an hour, eating lunch and soaking it all in.


We had to drive back the next day but wanted to get one more climb in beforehand. Three years ago we’d attempted the South Face on North Dome and bailed two pitches in, just before a violent storm pelted us with hail and rain (Bros Trip III). So we decided to attend to unfinished business. We left the Porcupine Creek trailhead a little before 6:30am. The hike to North Dome went quickly and we learned from our grievous navigational mishap last time. However, the descent to the base of the route was still an arduous and dirty bushwacking adventure. I am pretty sure we were on the ‘trail’ the whole time as we ended up right at the base of the approach ramp…but I understand why the route doesn’t see a lot of traffic. The painful approach quickly receded from our minds though as the setting, perched above the Valley and staring directly at the NW Face of Half Dome, and the striking line of the enormous dihedral up the S Face of North Dome were mesmerizing.

We had packed a 70M rope and ran the first two pitches together. The somewhat runout slabby start transitions to liebacking up a short dihedral to belay at a tree. I got the next pitch, which started up the huge dihedral and then followed an improbable sequence up and over it and into a crack system to a bushy belay.


We each got to lead up grunting, squeeze chimney sections that separated long liebacking stretches. While nothing was harder than 5.8, the route was very sustained and we were in full sun nearly the entire time. The final lieback pitch (second to last pitch on the route) was continuous and extremely polished. Sweaty hands and a fairly vegetated crack made it quite thrilling (and tiring)! Then an easy finishing pitch and the climbing was done. The ~4.5 mile hike uphill back to the car was long but at least no more bushwacking…


All in, it was a fantastic weekend and we were very thankful to have hit a perfect weather window. We returned exhausted but in that good way where the scrapes, bruises and tiredness remind you of the amazing adventure that you just completed.