Van work - September 8, 2010

We woke up in Bill and Leslie's driveway and the task for the day was to replace the van fuel pump. The van has had a sputtering problem on hot days and recently died with 3/4 of a tank, so after some web research Ken decided it was the fuel pump. We were fortunate enough to get Bill's assistance with changing the fuel pump. It was not a simple task because the pump and fuel filter are located inside the van's 36 gallon gas tank (this project will be cross posted on mrpulldown.blogspot.com).

We started the project by helping Bill finish his Daddy-daycare responsibilities: scrubbing the tub, vacuuming, and cleaning rooms. With three sets of hands, the chores were finished quickly, and Bill and Ken moved on to the van project (while Anja took over Daddy-daycare). The first task was to try to drain the 30+ gallons of gas out of the tank and unbolt the tank's support straps.

After siphoning, the fuel tank still had about 10 gallons of gas in it, so we used a floor jack to lower it slowly.
Then we pounded the lock ring out of the fuel pump.
For some reason, the new pump did not come with a pull so we had to reuse the old one.

New pump installed in the tank.
Leslie's mom and Edger arrived at about halfway through the project and made this awesome dinner of Alaskan Salmon and veggies.

Cathedral Peak - September 7, 2010

We headed out of the Valley over Tioga Pass. At Tuolumne Meadows we stopped to enjoy the views and thought about making some mac and cheese in the van. While we were thinking about lunch Ken said: "Well we are at the Cathedral lakes trailhead, which is where we would start to climb Cathedral peak. It's 12:45pm, Supertopo says 1.5 hours for the approach, 4 hours for the climb and 2 hours for the descent. So we could make lunch or climb Cathedral peak...?". Somehow climbing Cathedral peak sounded even better than mac 'n' cheese! We charged in with an 8 mm rope and light rack taking 1.5 hours for the approach, 2.5 for the climb, and 2 hours to descend and hike out. Fun day!

Views of the Cockscomb and Unicorn peak on the hike in to Cathedral peak.
Cathedral peak!
A soloist heading up the peak who answered his cell phone 100 ft up to talk about how windy it must be on the Hulk.
Anja leading up the first two pitches.
Anja climbing up to the belay above the chimney. This was belay number 2.
Anja leading up pitch 4 and 5.
Summit Photos
Eichorn Pinnacle

Planned schedule

UPDATED: Anja's work asked her to delay for a few weeks so we have had to flip our schedule.

So our latest planned schedule is:
Sept 19-20 Lover's Leap
Sept 21-22 climbing
Sept 23-25 Yosemite
Sept 26-27 Tuolumne Meadows
Sept 28-Oct 7 Yosemite
Oct 8-2 Unsure location? Anja may have to work much of this.
Nov 3 - Kevin and Lauren
Nov 4-5 Anja LA for conference
Nov 4-7 Ken Jtree climbing
Nov 8-22 Unsure location
Nov 22-Dec 25 Anja Vermont
Nov 22 -Dec 8 Ken Vermont
Dec 9-Dec 25 Ken Boulder
Dec 26-Jan 3 Boulder (ski hut trip there somewhere)
Jan 13 - Jan 20 Florida

All tenative at this time
Jan 20-Feb19 Thailand
Mid Feb to first week March - Vietnam (Hong Long Bay)
Early March - Yangshuo China
Late March early April - Nepal (2-3 week trek)
Stop in India to Taj Mahl
Late April - Antalya, Turkey
May - Kalymnos, Greece
June - Italy

Anja climbs Snake Hike - Sept 6, 2010

Adam and Yumi planned to climb half dome as part of the wedding festivities. Adam and his Dad, along with climber wedding guests, would do the 8-pitch Snake Dike (5.7 R) and Yumi and Adam's brother Dan would meet the climbers at the top via the cable route. Ken wasn't feeling well and opted to stay at camp. I really wanted to do the climb, and Adam's friends Dana and Matt also wanted to do the climb but didn't want to lead, which worked out perfectly! We left the car at 6am and the hike in took about 3.5-4 hours. Adam and his Dad went first, and we enjoyed a short break from the hike. Note: the photos in this post are from supertopo.com.


The first pitch was one of the harder pitches (5.7), but I was pretty groggy and a bit over confident. After placing gear on the right side of the roof (as Adam had), I continued along the thin seam even though the route description said there was no gear, which of course meant no holds! After traversing to the far end of the roof, my foot slipped. It was my first trad fall, and I went for a pretty good ride. Fortunately, it was pretty mellow and may even have helped my lead head for the rest of the climb. I kept thinking, "well, I already fell once, and it wasn't so bad...". It also woke me up!

We started climbing at around 11am, and didn't reach the top until about 7pm, which was about twice as long as the 3-4 hour super topo estimate! I like to think we were taking care to do the climb with style. We were also climbing as a party of three, and we simul-climbed rather than soloed the last few hundred feet (dubbed "3rd class slabs forever"). I also wasn't the best at route-finding (normally Ken's job), so when the dike ran out I was bit slow on the detective work.



By the end of the day, after navigating through the forever slabs, I had learned a lot about picking up rock trails. Earlier on the climb, I also learned that even though the route description says "5.2 friction", that doesn't mean one should head straight up the blank wall for 50-80 feet (especially when obvious pro can be found on the right). Down climbing slab can be hard.

Overall it was a great climb! We all had a blast and would do it again! Though maybe not the next day...

Ken hanging in camp with Cat, Greg, Dave, baby, Bill (daddy), and Leslie (mommy).

Goodrich Pinnacle and Harry Daley - September 5, 2010

After the long day of the wedding we wanted a relaxing day so did the short approach to Glacier Point Apron to climb 3 of the 5 pitches of Goodrich Pinnacle (5.4, 5.5, 5.7) and the 2 pitch 5.8 classic Harry Daley. Ram joined us for the day of climbing and took some pictures.
Anja headed up the 2nd pitch.

Ken following the 3rd pitch.

Harry Daley - 5.8 2 pitches Glacier Point Apron
The first pitch was slaby pin scars to a funny traverse.
Ram on the traverse.

Anja leading the second pitch. You can see the little roof nicely.
Ram got some great photos of Ken following the 2nd pitch.

That night in camp, Skater Dave had brought some glow sticks so we had some fun with them.

Adam and Yumi's Wedding - September 4, 2010

Adam and Yumi got married at the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite Valley on September 4, 2010 and Ken was the officiant. This was Ken's 3rd time as a wedding officiant. In the morning Anja went and climbed the Grack 5.6, 3 pitches on Glacier Point Apron with Greg, Dave, and Cat. Ken was too worried about getting showered and being on time for his officiant responsibilities so he did not go climb. Anja charged up the Grack with Dave and made it back in time to get a quick shower at Curry Village and catch the shuttle to the Ahwahnee. Ken had already been there for an hour trying to make sure everything was in place for the ceremony. The bride was beuatiful and the groom seemed relaxed so the ceremony went great.
Yumi and her parents
Adam and Yumi

At the reception we sat with Kevin and Lauren and Ram.
Kevin go this great shot of Ram and Ken. It is especially great because Ram doesn't like having his picture taken.
Anja of course had to get her dance party on and is living it up dancing with Adam's dad.

Tuolumne Meadows top ropes River Wall- September 3, 2010

Adam and Yumi's wedding was on Sept 4th in Yosemite, so we left Boulder on the 2nd and camped just past Salt Lake City. On the 3rd, we drove over Tioga Pass through Tuolumne Meadows. Fortunately, Ken had a Tuolumne Meadows top rope guide, so at about 5pm we headed to River Wall which was about 15 minutes from the road and had bolt anchors. We found our way there but found the bolt anchors were difficult to access, so we built a gear anchor and lowered to the bolts at the top of a 5.9 and 5.11a. The views were spectacular!

River Wall
Anja on the 5.9
Ken on the 11a
Anja on the 11a
Both climbs were nice and we were back on the road in about 2.5 hours -- just in time to catch sunset on Half Dome from Olmsted Point.

We arrived at Lower Pines Campground in Yosemite Valley at about 9 pm. At 10 pm we were quickly in trouble with the rangers for having a fire past 10 pm and being too loud. Oops! To muffle our voices and laughter Greg, Bill, Dave, Cat, Roger, Anja, and Ken all piled into the van.