Coming home to the Range of Light…..

I’m writing this after being home now for about a month and as half now and finally getting into the swing of things once again.

FYI, this will be a 2 part post with my El Cap Trip Report making up the second post.

After finishing up a truly amazing bike tour I still had 4 weeks left in my summer, I needed to make the most of my remaining time.

My first order of business was to go home for a couple days and visit my family and make a road trip to San Diego with my sis and nephew in tow for a few days of wonderful San Diego beach time. It was great being with family but I was once again starting to get restless, and I had already committed to some Sierra Nevada adventures for my last couple weeks before work started.

On my last week of the bike tour I had committed to doing an ascent of Zodiac on El Capitan with Maura LaRiviere, a climbing buddy who was planning on quitting her soul crushing job and needed a reason to head out for a few days. This sounded all fine and dandy as Zodiac had been VERY HIGH on my bucket list for a few years now. However I needed a little refresher course on climbing granite before embarking on a 4-5 day big wall climbing trip. This is where my other buddy Japhy came to my rescue.

Japhy and I at Whitney Portal. I must admit, we make one good lookin' climbing team.

Japhy and I agreed to climb in the Whitney region of the Sierra Nevada eventually focusing on Fishhook Arete on Mt. Russel and the East Buttress of Mt. Whitney. Both peaks are 14,000 ft. + peaks and Whitney is the highest peak in the lower 48. This high altitude alpine climbing was exactly what I needed to get back into my old climbing shape.

Mt. Russel with Fishhook Arete being the obvious huge J-shaped arete

mmmmm..... Mt. Whitney (on right) with Keller and Day Needle.

The climbing went well enough and aside from a little cold and altitude sickness the trip was A+! Climbing with Japhy was great and we spent equal amounts of time climbing and hiking as we just hanging out and shooting the shit in a beautiful alpine campsite.

Our perfect alpine camp at Upper Boy Scout Lake

Marmot proof, but definitely not mouse-proof...

The climbing went well and although I was a bit out of usual climbing shape, we did great. We even managed to fly up Whitney with fast belay switch overs, smooth leads and efficient rope work. I was worked after both climbs having not been at altitude or having climbed in three months but it felt good. It was a nice coming back home gift to myself.

However, El Cap was calling and after getting back from my high Sierra mission, I had a couple days rest before embarking on the big trip, Zodiac. My next post is a trip report of my big wall climb on Zodiac, El Capitan.

Here are some pics for y’all…….