My friend and climbing partner Doug Johnson told me he was taking a seminar on teaching advanced math this summer. The seminar was to be held at Stanford University in Palo Alto in late July. He suggested I fly down after he was done and we could climb in the Sierra Mountains and in Bishop California. This plan evolved to include my son Jamie who is an experienced climber and a good traveling companion. So with dreams of seeing new places and meeting new people we made plans to go. Jamie and I took off a few days early to explore San Francisco and we made reservations for two nights at the Marin Headlands International Hostel. Landing in San Jose we rented a car and driving out of the parking lot we almost got side swiped by a California driver in a hurry. That scare over we took a leisurely drive down to Sausalito over the Golden Gate Bridge and found the Hostel. See   http://www.norcalhostels.org. Walking in we immediately found our selves in a friendly atmosphere.

 

International Hostel

  

Michael greeted us and showed us our dorm room and helped us get settled. The hostel was really homey and fun with a large kitchen, living room common area and a game room downstairs. We were too hungry to stay long and as we started back to Sausalito we asked if anyone wanted a ride into town, as the hostel was pretty isolated. A young traveler, Tristin from Switzerland came up to us and said he and Ode, his traveling partner would like a ride. They joined us for dinner at a great Thai restaurant then we walked around the town. It was fun being with a foreign couple and learning about their home and learning their views on the U. S. and their home country. The next day they joined us as we drove to San Francisco. Our first stop was at the Asian Art Museum in Golden Gate Park, which was recommended to us by Michael at the hostel. There was a magnificent exhibit of Chinese sculpture, which has been unearthed in the last 20 years.

Asian Sculpture

This shows what we saw http://www.asianart.org/goldenage.htm the bronze sculpture was outrageous considering they were made as long as 5000 years ago. The ceramic terra cotta soldier taken from the burial complex of the First Emperor of Qin was fascinating, especially when we knew it was one of 7000 sculptures buried there, the largest ceramic project ever undertaken. We left the museum and went down to fisherman’s wharf and had a great lunch at Bubba Gumps. Forest was there to greet us, what a guy!

Luckily Craig who is the manager of the hostel gave us a couple tickets to see Alcatraz. Tristen and Ode tried to join us but the tickets were sold out though the weekend. So we parted ways and Jamie and I boarded the boat to the infamous island in San Francisco Bay. http://www.nps.gov/alcatraz

 

The Rock

 

It was especially interesting to me as I had been there 25 years ago when they were trying to decide how to best develop the island as a national park after the Native Americans had occupied the island for 18 months. When I was there first we were in a group of 20 and we were given a tour by a park service guide. It was eerie to say the least. This time Jamie and I were among at least 500 to 1000 people. We were given cassette recorders and took an audio tour. It was fascinating to hear the actual audio reminiscences of the inmates and guards about what the prison was like when it was operating.

That night we had a great time playing games with some kid who were members of a camp, which was touring the West. We went to bed flush with our victories at foosball and ping pong knowing we had to rise early the next morning to meet the sea trek guide at a cove just north of Sausalito. Max was waiting for us with a double kayak and after a brief indoctrination we put on wet suits and jumped into the kayak. The wind was blowing white caps and we left the cove with some anticipation as we had heard many stories of rough seas and large standing waves where the San Francisco Bay empties into the Pacific. With the current carrying us out under the Golden Gate Bridge we leaned back to marvel at the size and awesomeness of the giant structure. Max was a great guide and eased our nervousness with stories of his adventures in kayaks around the world and telling of his new sport, kite surfing. Instead of the traditional windsurfer with a sail, Max has a kite quite like a parasail. He stands on the beach and launches his kite so it is sailing above his head. Then he gets on his wake board with foot straps and lowers the kite into the "power zone" and is whisked off the beach with the sail pulling him. I said " So you can go off the top of a wave into the air and sail along." Max looked at me with a slightly dreamy stare and said "not just off a wave like wind surfing but any time you want to go airborne, just put the kite in the right spot and you take off!"

Well we had a great paddle out 3 miles west of the bridge and we enjoyed the beauty and solitude of the California coast while being in sight of the huge metropolis of San Francisco.

 

Golden Gate Bridge

 

 

That day we met Doug and set off for Yosemite National Park in his little green Geo. We shoehorned Jamie’s 6-foot frame into the back seat (kids are flexible) and off we went through frustrating California traffic. Finally we were close to the Sierras and as the driving relaxed and scenery started to get interesting.

After a quiet night camping in the foothills we set off for Tuolumne Meadows to climb huge granite domes and our goal of Cathedral peak.

40 miles into the park we came up to our first climb the great White Book on the Stately Pleasure Dome. As we sat looking up at 8:00 in the morning cars started pulling up and climbers tumbled out stretching and grabbing gear for the day’s climb. Doug and I were interested in being first on the climbed and we dumped more than enough gear into our pack and started up to the climb. The granite was truly amazing and a joy to climb on. It turned into a true adventure with a couple long runouts, which really got our attention. On the third pitch I climbed a classic dihedral similar to many striking pictures I have seen in climbing magazines. Nearing the summit of the dome there were rock seams that looked like petrified snakes cruising through granite rock. Once on top of the dome we could see down into Yosemite Valley with Half Dome dominating the center of the view.

 

Lambert Dome

 

 

In the afternoon Jamie and I climb a route called Northwest Books on Lambert dome, just across from the Tuolumne campground. It was a fun 5.6 climb and we both enjoyed it. Coming down was as fun as going up. There were large areas with rock inclusions that looked and felt like the ultimate safety anti skid surface. We traversed the whole dome and walked on what seemed like a massive sloping granite parking lot one-quarter mile, all the way to the road. That night just after we went to sleep there was a little pop then BOOM. Luckily I’m fatalistic and don’t feel death imminent with large rifle like noises going off to wake me up. But as I look out of the tent there was a ranger running around behind us yelling to his partner that the noisemaker should have scared the bear away. Now I was worried and it took a long time to go back to sleep, maybe 10 minutes. Obviously the bear wasn’t too hungry and the next morning Doug and I got up at 5:30 and lit off for Cathedral peak.

 

Cathedral Peak

 

 

The 3-mile approach was beautiful in the early morning light. Many of the trees are really thick and looked very healthy. The altitude (approximately 9000’) took some extra energy and heavy breathing. Even with an early start we were the second group on the climb. The climb was up the southeast buttress and consisted of 5 pitches (80 to 120’ rope lengths) of 5.6 climbing (usually easy but there were some hard spots to get over). Between the amazing views and the lack of oxygen to breath I started to get a little giddy and talked, so I am told, non-stop. The crystal clarity of the air made the surrounding peaks feel like you could reach out and touch them. I realized that I had become accustomed to the hazy maritime air of the northwest. The contrast to this sierra air was stunning. It was easy to see why Ansel Adams called this the mountain "range of light." The top of the peak was a flat rock the size of a bathroom. We sat and enjoyed the 360 panorama and ate lunch.

The top of the mountain was cool enough to put on jackets. As we walked back down to Tuolumne valley the weather got warmer and warmer. The valley floor was in the 80’s, just two hours from the cold breezy mountaintop. We pack up camp and headed for sport climbing in Bishop California. As we dropped down into the Owens River valley the heat became intense. At 110 degrees we decided we were in the right place at the wrong time. On the road north. Endless rolling sage with occasional views of mountains to the west.

After a good sleep in the fine camping area at Smith rock we made an early start and we were the first climbers on Morning Glory Wall.

 

Smith Rock

 

We had two great days despite the heat. Unfortunately Jamie caught a sore throat and couldn’t climb but took solace in reading numerous Issac Asimov and Robert Hienlein sci fi books. He also practiced guitar to keep up his chops.

At night at the camp I played my Native American flute. During a tune I thought I heard an echo. I played some more and was "answered" by another flute song from an adjacent campsite. After a few flute exchanges my fellow flute player, Fritz, immerged from the darkness and we had a fine conversation along with more music. Fritz is a student at U of Penn finishing up a horticultural degree, specializing in viticulture. He was touring vineyards of the west and had been to 25 in California, Oregon and Washington. He is a very personable and confident young man, a joy to be with. We went to bend for dinner and a microbrewery tour and enjoyed the night tasting beer and window-shopping the galleries.

Tired but satisfied from the stay at smith we headed for Ellensburg. Doug is an amazing and tireless driver and we arrived home in the evening. He kept apologizing for only getting 42 miles to the gallon in his Geo. Not bad for an overgrown roller-skate. We came home a day earlier than planned so I took most of the day off to write this journal and hang at the local coffee house and lunch counter. It was a nice way to end a vacation and see friends. It was a great vacation a good time had by all.