6 months after shoulder surgery I had recovered enough to get cleared by the Doc to climb! Now I wasn't breaking any records like Honnold and Caldwell but still climbed enough to have a heck of a time and got to show my family Yosemite National Park.
First a little bit about the family squad going to Yosemite:
Now to say that my whole family is comprised of outdoor folk would be a bit of a stretch. My Dad is an avid angler and had just come off of our trip to Mexico and my mom and sister have both had experiences hiking but mostly stick to indoor climate controlled gyms for staying fit. This was a big step up.
In my opinion, the best way to explore Yosemite Valley is by bike. Riding around, at your own pace to me takes the stress out of what is otherwise a chaotic hustle and bustle summer in the Valley. So day one experience for these guys was doing touring the valley by bike. We would ride around and do the smaller hikes just soaking in the sights and the sun!
<- Dad focuses hard on his selfies
I don't think I have been anywhere where it was 75 degrees and sunny for 10 days in a row! -Dad
Some days we would plan to do a bigger hike in the morning and chill in the shade in the afternoon such as the picture above where we walked to the top of Sentinel Dome for lunch. Other days we would plan to drive to another destination in the park such as Glacier Point, Tuolumne Meadows and Tioga Pass, or Hetch Hetchy.
Looking back, I don't think there was a major tourist attraction that we missed!
Which says a lot for the family stoke levels because while they may not be able to climb 5.10 or do 10,000 feet of gain in a day, they crushed.
Now to talk a little bit about climbing as I like to do:
Having just been cleared to climb from my surgery recovery, I had not yet been climbing consistently. So I really had no idea what my capabilities would be. General conditioning-wise I felt pretty good.
I ended up climbing with both my buddies Gavin and Ashley while in the Valley and was able to do one of my favorite climbs ever. It could be because its a classic, it could be because it was my first big day back, or it could be a little of both but Royal Arches was a blast!
Gavin and I got a leisurely start around 8 or 8:30 and dam did we fly. Now Gavin had done the route numerous times before and has been crushing harder and harder lately. I had no qualms to let him lead most of the pitches just to try and take it easy a little not knowing how the shoulder would do.
When I say we flew, I don't think I have ever been out of breath on a climb like this one. We made the top in just over 2 hours with Gavin leading and me following we simuled some very easy terrain but mostly he soloed and I top roped.
For you folks that are mathematically inclined that's 1,500 feet of technically pretty easy climbing in 2 hours. Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell did the same time on the Nose which is 3,000 feet. For perspective: the easiest sections of the Nose roughly match the difficulty of the hardest sections of Royal Arches.
We were back by lunch to the surprise of my family whom I had told "We might be gone all day". I was and am over-the-moon stoked that I could climb that quickly so soon after being cleared. Since we were going so quick I did take a couple small leads and thanks to Gavin there are pictures:
We all also spent some time outside of the park on the East Side and hung out in some hot springs. We also enjoyed the Woah Nellie Deli which impressed my family because I had told them we were going to eat at a gas station.
We went. We saw. We did. We crushed
A little spin on a quote from my mom.
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