Barely home two days from my Utah Idaho trip I jumped in my car yet again. This time to go to Yosemite with my friend Doug. I picked the toughest possible itineraries that I felt we could possibly pull off. It ended up being just above my overall capacity, but thanks to diligent training, my performance was adequate for most of the task.
It was nice to first stop in on Mike and Britne, They’ve had a rough go recently and it was nice to spend some time with them. Thanks you two.
Soon enough though we were off to the high country to Crying Time. This was a very nervy route with lots of insecure moves above the bolts.It was quite a mental reintroduction to this area again. We tried to sleep high but the altitude punched me in the nose with a bad case of AMS. I recovered well enough from that and we backed down to a cragging day.
Facing cold weather in the forecast we just squeezed in the amazing Matthews crest traverse in cold windy conditions. It lived up to the hype, but the down climbing was scary. We preferred going in the John Muir trail approach and out the cathedral. Everybody seems to be doing the three climb link up, so we felt a bit lightweight. Big day just with the crest alone.
What followed was a spell of cool weather that lead us nicely into Yosemite Valley. An amazing day at Sentinel Creek, then a day with the super fun Slacker Hwy climb, led to an ambitious day on the Voyager route.
This is where I really got to test myself, as it had been my goal to lead an 11+ for the first time this rock season. The real story with the Voyager is that first long 511a pitch however, it is sustained, long, and techie. Of course the Incinerator crack was an arm load of work, but fair game. Impossibly complex however, was the Boulder problem 11 C after that. I popped off of it and really struggled to figure it out. Overall I felt this route was technically harder than the Astroman, but not as big of a day overall. I can’t wait to try the last in the trilogy, the Rostrum.
As the trip wore on, the weather warmed up again. We decided to finish on the sunspot dihedral of the Incredible Hulk. As it loomed above me at the start of the wall, however I started to get second thoughts and almost went off to an easier climb. I forced myself ahead on the climb and it proved to be more difficult than I was prepared for. It too had an endurance 511 a pitch, and it too exhausted me before I could get to the top of it. I took a large fall on it near the top with a stopper in my mouth, it was funny that I didn’t spit it out when I yelled “falling”!, I just bit onto it and yelled. As tired as I was I couldn’t give the crux 11b a fair shake so with a few points of aid I was once again In steep endurance physical corners. It was great to be able to rappel the route next to us: the solar flare, as I was very tired after this long, amazing trip. Toughest. Trip. Ever! It was well worth the effort however as comes with it the reward. Thanks Doug, Mike, Britne, Mik, Sam(Congrats on Salathe!), Jennifer, and congrats to my daughter , she just bought her first house!!!
6/5-13/2021 Yosemite 36p to 11c w/Doug
6-5 Crying Time Again, Lembert Dome 6p 10 spooky
6-6 Olmstead pt 4p to 10a/d
6-7 Matthes Crest Traverse IV-5.7 ~10p south to north
6-8 Mañana, Sentinel Creek 3p to 10d
6-9 Super Slacker Highway 10c, 6p
6-10 Voyager, Fifi Butt. IV-5.11c ao 1 fall
6-13 Sunspot Dihedral, Incredible Hulk IV- 5.11-ao 1 fall, 3 pts of aid
Wayne's site 
The way your partner carried the rope under his pack in the Matthes vid is pure genius! Does that guy mentor?
He certainly does mentor me all-the-time.