Cathedral Peak

"I only went out for a walk..." — John Muir

SE Buttress, Cathedral Peak, Tuolomne, Sierra Nevada, USA

This was perhaps the craziest thing I've ever done. I was due to spend a week in San Mateo in the Bay area for work and had scheduled a spare day at the start. About two days to before the trip I realised that Yosemite would be accessible for a day trip if I took advantage of the jet lag to crash in a cheap motel somewhere en route across the central valley, and set off early again the following morning. Thus came into being the idea of climbing Cathedral Peak. Some research on the internet threw up a trip report which suggested that, rather than the standard ascent route, the Southeast Buttress could be done as a solo scramble at a grade of about 5.4, with the crux being a chimney about half height. Thus emboldened I threw in a pair of rock boots and 20m of 9mm rope for sack hauling (just in case).

After landing at San Francisco International around midday the day before, I had driven across the central valley to Oakdale, fed on a pizza, and crashed out in a motel. I was up and away for about 6am and at Tuolomne for 8am. By 9.30am I was at the base of the SE buttress route. There were a number of parties already on the big slabs. I soloed up past a few of these enjoying the superb friction but the route was getting steeper and I found myself having to finesse the odd unpleasant corner. Feeling I might have gone wrong somewhere I called across to a climber on a belay stance: "Is there a standard way to climb this?" The answer came back: "There are three standard routes, all about 5.7, and they join up at a chimney at half height." Methinks : ah...5.7...not 5.4...! Boy am I glad I brought rock boots. After a rather wobbly and irreversible mantelshelf move, the steepness relented and I arrived at the base of the chimney. Although this was vertical, climbing it felt just like caving, and I was much happier. I hauled my sack up on the rope and set off again. The next pitch was also near vertical but with good holds, and above that the route became more broken. I really started to enjoy myself, and climbing up a hand crack past another roped party, I suddenly found myself on the top! I had been concentrating so hard on not screwing up that I did not take any photographs on the route itself, but made up for it by taking plenty from the summit. I looked across to the Eichorn Pinnacle - at 5.4 it should have been a doddle compared to what I had just done but I had the sense that I gotten away with something I really shouldn't, and should pacify the mountain gods by leaving the Eichorn Pinnacle for another day. Once off the summit block I swapped back to hiking boots and headed back down the standard route, stopping frequently to admire the trees, and recalling John Muir's famous words that "... for going out, I found, was really going in".

The postscript was I picked up a hitch-hiker heading back on SR 120. He was on the Pacific Crest Trail but had developed a wisdom tooth problem and was pretty despondent that he might have to abandon the hike. I offered a lift all the way back to San Francisco if necessary. We took a detour into the Valley so he could call in at the medical centre whilst I went for a wander along the Merced River. When I met up with him again, he was much happier - he had something for his tooth, and his mates (who were ahead of him) had left a message for him, so he felt he could carry on and catch them up.

Info : Cathedral Peak on SummitPost; Southeast Buttress on SuperTopo. The current consensus for the grade seems to be 5.6.

Cathedral peak from Tioga Pass Road (SR 120) near the Tuolomne River. SE Buttress is the striking left hand skyline.

Cathedral peak - the Southeast Buttress is the left hand face.

From the summit, looking over the Eichorn Pinnacle with Lower Cathedral Lake in the background.