Hi, y'all
I had the chance to go to Yosemite with a total novice. It's a fun story.

I was at Lover's Point in Pacific Grove. I go there to boulder. It's a small point of ancient Sierra Nevada granite, cut loose and wandering on the Pacific tectonic plate. It's an idyllic spot. The masonry surrounding the cove has abundant bouldering and only two 'No Climbing' signs.
A hula hooper on the point was so captivating that I watched her dance from afar for most of an hour.
Awhile later, while reconnecting with one climber buddy, up comes a third climber friend accompanied by the hula hooper. We all get a kick when it's discovered that hooper and I share the same name. We are both Brook(es). She gets a good laugh when I tell her of my "strict No Brookes Policy" based on the discomfort of saying your own name during lovemaking. That joke has never landed so well.
Young Brooke has just dropped out of college and taken a month long trip to Thailand. It's clear that she is hungry for experience. It took about 10 minutes to find out that she has never been to Yosemite. That's right. Never been. She grew up just 4 hours away. It took another hour to convince her to drive us to Yosemite for a week.
A week later we walked in to El Capitan Meadows.



We walked to Lower Yosemite Falls and the trail was completely empty. I was enjoying Brooke's beginner's luck.


In addition to never being in Yosemite, young Brooke has never been climbing. I wasn't concerned about physical ability. Her yoga and hooping athleticism made it clear that she could be a better climber than I ever was, by a long shot. And there was a fearlessness and sense of adventure that inspired confidence. I've taught a lot of novices and have a fair nose for natural climbers. My nose nailed it this time. This kid has natural ability. But we didn't have any climbing shoes.

Our first full day started with some rock climbing at Swan Slabs. After some substantial successes in Chuck Taylor's on 5.1-5.4 we made a friend.


This is Haylee. Haylee is from England and very excited. She's been here a week and the rangers are already trying to shuffle her along.Haylee came wandering up with her brand new, unused tarantulaces from the message board and a borrowed monster crash pad. She also had never climbed. There was much rejoicing as climbing fun was high for everyone involved. Somewhere in a tourists camera is video that may end up here:

And pictures of Devil's Bathtub might go here:

And then we hiked half dome. And there might not be any pictures. But they would be amazing. There was just enough snow to make the peaks shine. The spring runoff filled the falls and we walked nearly alone.
I wanted to get us up the cables. I chose a lightweight short rope, a few slings and a few carabiners. We tied in with bowlines and started up twice. The first time with the line doubled and us short roping and the second with the rope extended to its full 100'. She would have followed but was also reaching the limit of her comfort zone. We were relieved to experience the rarity of our high point. I love summits and I tend to want to linger. But summits don't define success. And this trip was a success from beginning to end. We made it to the top of the mist trail in the last light. I was pushing for the longer JMT. She said no and down the Mist Trail we went. The days melt had increased the wetness and I'll admit to being very protective of my young charge. I'd like to compliment the trail builders and give a shout out to Jaybo and the other Trail Builders who've treated me right over the years. We were down in short order and a day in hammocks was definitely earned. We both brought hammocks and found perfect hangs in the downed oak in the meadow.
There had been a hanfdful of Topropes but more rock clinic was in order. We made a day of toproping, rappelling, leading, cleaning and following with another 8-10 runs on Swan Slabs. Haylee had been extra excited all day. She hadn't accompanied us to Half Dome and we returned to find her planning to hobo the John Muir Trail. I say hobo because these kids have that can-do native energy that won't be denied. Brooke had just hiked half dome in Chuck Taylor's and Haylee was going to panhandle the JMT in Espadrilles if she had to. These girls started to snicker at me with my "appropriate footwear" comments and reproach to pay attention while belaying the scared leader.
You couldn't ask for a better first timer. We were on the face closest to the trail. Brooke powered through a couple of mantles with double-foot frog hops. It looked great and a family gathered, 3 teenage Latina girls and a few parents. As soon as Brooke stood on the second mantle she innocently and joyously yelled "Holy F*#k!" The crowd went wild. It was a beautiful beautiful moment. 6 days of them.
I knew what had happened in an instant. Brooke was climbing the 5.6 layback and Haylee was drawn to the tree growing from the base of the cliff. She chimneyed up a move and hung out. Then a quick slip and a hunkered silence. She'd be engaging in some regret and internal self loathing right about now.
"Did you just do your ankle?" She had.
I wondered how many people had twisted their ankle in the same way in the same place.
I was genuinely conciliatory. I am also a bit socially dysfunctional. In my mind I thought that a little ankle twist might help temper her enthusiasm with caution. I can also admit to doing the math on the climbing shoes and possibilities for the next day. Bad person that I am.
Brooke was about ready to go home. It had been almost 5 days and that's a lot to take in. I had been taking some sound advice from the community here and paying close attention to Brooke's comfort level. I was also aware that I am responsible for the final outcome.
So I pushed a little. " I really think that a longer climb in the morning will be the perfect topper for this trip. You've earned the skills and now you're ready. We'll finish in time to get back home tomorrow night. This will really be a different kind of experience. What do you think?"
What do you think? So we did After 6 on Manure Pile Buttress. It was perfect. Just like the whole trip.

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