My interest in the Evo Traverse started in 1997 when I rolled into a stocked camp at Evolution Lake and Galen handed me a glass of wine. Peter was sitting there next to the kitchen like a good dog waiting for the camp chef to throw him a scrap. He may have already had a few glasses of Kundé Cabernet Sauvignon. Both of their hands were trashed from climbing. It was that night that Galen made that photo of Evolution Lake with the crazy Sierra Wave cloud. I was a day late for the first attempt of the traverse but we still had a few days of fun and with Hans Florine and Dick Duane put up some new routes on Mt. Huxley, and the wall above Sapphire lake. It would be another year before Peter completed the full Evolution Traverse.
All these years its been on my mind, something that I'll do. An inevitability. Meanwhile, Galen is gone and time is slipping by. I turned forty. Forty! What the f*#k? The window only stays open for so long. You don't get these things done by holding the idea in you head. You have to wake up and get it done. Over the past couple weeks I set a plan in motion. With work and life I won't finish the traverse this season, but now I know what I'm training for, which is very motivating.


Get light. I stopped climbing all summer and developed a healthy mountain biking addiction. Lost 15 lbs. Whats not to love about mountain biking?

Get mentally strong. I spent a few days mini-traxing at Sonora Pass, then met Steve for three days of smoke climbing at the Hulk. We had a great time. Its always good to have someone older than you kick your ass.

Hiked out, met a friend in Bishop and went on a recon trip into the Evolution Region. I thought I'd climb some peaks but the weather was iffy, with strong winds. Finally it cleared but we were low on food and decided to just scout and backpack out over Bishop Pass. That was worthy and helped with conditioning.


Back at work for a week, thinking about Evolution. Friday at five pm, left Santa Rosa on a solo mission to push as far as I could and be back at work on Monday. Damn it was fun. Here is a rough cut of the video. And yeah, I like to wear fingerless gloves on easy Sierra climbs.
[Click to View YouTube Video]

It took me 12 hours to get from the car, over Lamarck Col, up Gould, Mendel, and to top of Darwin. I bivied/froze my ass off, then bailed the next morning and hiked out in a leisurely 8 hrs, then drove home.

I was really inspired by Vitaliy's 27 hour car to car push. He offered me a bunch of beta, for which I am thankful. I took 100' of 7mm static line, which was just right, but next time I'll probably do a few more rappels. Meanwhile, I'm really psyched to get back out next summer.

I hope you are all out getting after it!

Cheers,
Jerry