Mono Lake and Cathedral Peak
When: 2017-07-22 to 2017-07-23
Mono Lake
Following the dirt roads around Mono Lake, we eventually wander our way to the lake shore where we able to relax under the sun. There, we find a boating dock and pier to spend some time on.
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Pier at Mono Lake. |
Looking out to the right of the dock, there were several seagulls loitering around the area.
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Seagull on Mono Lake. |
Looking straight in, we saw submerged barrels with chains attached. The running theory is that they were once used to anchor the dock.
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View in Mono Lake. |
Before leaving the shore and heading back to the car, a lone tree stood in the distance. The vibrant green of the leaves are what initially gained our attention.
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A lone tree. |
Cathedral Peak
Once we were back at the campsite, we found that someone decided to ignore our tag by parking at the site. He mentioned that he has seen others place tags without payment, and somehow tried to use that as justification for ignoring ours. After sending him on his way, we started to organize and pack up our bags for our early start.
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My climbing gear, sprawled on the picnic table. |
On the other side of the table, Francisco was quicker to organize his gear and pack.
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Francisco's climbing gear. |
Waking up at 4:15 A.M., we were able to arrive at the trailhead by 5:30 A.M. There was a couple who got a head start on us. By the time we arrived at the base of the climb, there was one group of three who arrived just behind us and only a single party ahead of us.
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Francisco at the base of pitch one of Cathedral peak. |
Starting the A variation of the routes, Francisco started off leading the first pitch toward a notable ledge with a tree. I took the next lead which went up and to the right, in the direction of a smaller ledge with a tree.
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Lembert Dome as seen from the top of pitch two. |
With the wind acting up at the beginning of pitch three, I decided to take out the windbreaker. By the alcove, I realized the gamble did not pay off and the jacket had to go back into the pack.
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Ken, at the beginning of pitch three. Photograph by Francisco. |
After completing the third pitch, we found ourselves at the base of the chimney; it was surprisingly difficult to get in to the start of the chimney. More annoying, however, was the backpack management. Bringing it up behind would usually block essential footholds, within.
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Francisco at the base of pitch four's chimney. |
After completing the fourth pitch, we had to recalibrate our definition of what a fourth class scramble actually meant. Clearly, we had differing ideas from the author of the route beta.
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Budd Lake and the Cathedral Range. |
Once we reached the top block of Cathedral Peak, there were some logistics that we had to think through to start the descent. Rather than downclimb the final section, Francisco lowered me so that I could build an anchor which he would use to rappel down. I was holding on strongly to the idea of getting home safely; making a mistake here would have been incredibly wasteful.
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Francisco on the descent from Cathedral Peak. |
Looking out toward Eichorn Pinnacle, we had a clear view of the Cathedral Lakes from near the top of Cathedral Peak.
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Cathedral Lakes and Eichorn Pinnacle. |
On the descent, we were pointed to a rappel station that was setup around the base of a bush. Rather than walk down the descent, we took advantage of the rappel setup to do the initial descent. Of course, things could have gone sideways because the webbing and bush were unknowns, but it was a calculated risk assessment. From there, we traversed to dead or gnarled trees before walking around the north side of Cathedral Peak along the way down.
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Francisco looking out toward the Cathedral Range. |
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North face of Cathedral Peak. |