Oct 21. Great climbing in Tuolumne still, most snow has melted at this elevation other than on north exposures. North side of Mt. Dana in this pic above our campground. Huge temperature swing today. 20's at night. We had a warm, clear day with no wind.





We went up the Southeast Buttress, and felt our way up fairly easily without having to mimic any particular guidebook route exactly. The danger I'll remember are the areas of loose rock and weak flakes. This is a very busy climb on most days, with multiple parties winding all around. I found a few huge pieces on the upper slope that you wouldn't want to touch in any way, let alone stand on our grab. There were only 4 other people on the mountain today.




Vince and I swapped leads each pitch and found a really fun way to go, mostly in the middle of the Supertopo guide.








solo young buck climber with no rope or helmet on right. Dad with enough gear to make it back from pretty much any cliff alive on left.


Northwest side of Mathes Crest








Vince belaying me while I downclimbed the top 20 feet from the summit. Shot of Eichorn Pinnacle on right.


Looking South West from the summit at the John Muir Trail Route. You only have to go a few hours with light elevation change, to get into an unreal wilderness setting from your car on hwy 120.


North side of Eichorn Pinnacle. We wanted to go up the 5.4 route, but it was too late in the day already.


John Muir climbed Cathedral Peak in 1867.


Pic on left shows the west side we descended. I think McNamara's guidebook said to stay more on the north ridge, which was less steep. We went over to the notch below Eichorn Pinncale to look up, so I guess we did that descent, not the normal Cathedral Descent. Walking down the west side was easy, but is mostly on exposed terrain for a long way.




Driving out on hwy 120, this is the west side of Mt. Gibbs

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Mike Schwartz
www.thebackcountry.net
mike@thebackcountry.net