Climbing Trips
 Snake Dike
Back in March Joy and I decided we should climb Snake Dike together. Snake Dike is one of the only moderate rock climbing routes up one of Yosemite's most prominent features, Half Dome. We are both getting married in October so we decided to make the weekend our bacherlorette party. Since neither of us care for the traditional party, this was perfect.
We met up at Glacier Point around 3:00p on Friday. We readied our packs and began the 7(ish) mile backpack to Little Yosemite Valley. Along the way we spotted a handful of deer and fawns and even a rattle snake. The hike to our camping spot was predominantly downhill. We knew this would get the better of us on our way back to the cars on Sunday. About 4 hours later we made it to Little Yosemite Valley. We assembled camp, pumped some water, made dinner, and settled in for the night.
We aimed for an early start on Saturday to beat the inevitable crowds on Snake Dike. Most climbers come up from the valley floor so we knew we had a leg up on the competition. After a 2 hour approach, we made it to the base of the route with only one party ahead of us. We donned our gear and "veiled" helmets and got on our way. Joy was my masterful leader as I was far too sketched to lead on such obnoxious run out.
We finished the 8 pitches in about 4 hours. But then my slow, non-acclimated, pokey self took another hour to hike the 3rd class slabs to the top. We received many entranced looks when hikers saw us coming up to the top all outfitted in our gear ... and veiled helmets. One fellow congratulated us, thinking we'd married each other! :-o We took the cable ladder down. I had done the cable ladder 2 years earlier and I STILL think its far scarier than rock climbing.
At this point my feet were talking to me. My hike back to camp was slow and Joy pushed ahead to pump some water and start some food. I was worried about how I'd fare on the backpack back to the cars. I soaked my feet in the river as I assumed the water pumping duties and that felt niiiiiiiice. We stuffed our faces w/ some rehydrated meals and drifted off to sleep. My feet were much happier Sunday morning and I felt confident that I could go the 7 miles back to the cars. It was a nice hike once we got onto the Panorama Trail and away from the hustle bustle of the day hikers on the John Muir Trail. We made it back to the cars in about 5 hours and spent way too much money on snack bar food at Glacier Point! But it was soooo good! :-D
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