Tuolumne Meadows - Potholes Dome & Daff Dome 6.11.14

Finally in an area with appropriate climbing temperatures (at least for us), we were really excited to get our first full day of climbing in during our road trip. In hopes of helping me acclimate to 8600', the elevation of Tuolumne Meadows, we started the day at Potholes Dome to do some single pitch top roping and hopefully ease our way in. We found the bolts for anchors G and F after scrambling up the third class slab but we needed a 70m rope which was in the car, so instead we kept hiking to anchor B. Aaron scrambled up to set the top rope up while I found some sunshine to put our solar cell in. I had the honors of climbing first on the blank face, getting to pick my own adventure. We consulted the guide book so I tried to follow what was depicted there with the features I could find. Not only would top roping let me ease into the altitude, but it also let us get used to the rock. The climbs at Pothole Dome were all slab, but the granite slab was full of knobs - like Smith, only solid granite. I started on the 5.5 and made my way up easy enough, so I tried the 5.9 next. For the 5.10a, I tried to follow the most difficult looking line that I could. I felt like it was counter intuitive as I'm usually looking for the easiest line up something, not the hardest. Aaron climbed all three routes next before we packed up and hiked back towards anchors G and F.

[Left] Aaron climbing the 5.9 on Anchor B. [Right] Routes up Anchor B

Aaron ran to the car to get the 70m rope while I set up the solar cell again to charge our battery pack. Since I had scrambled to the top of Potholes Dome the first time when we were initially trying to find the anchors, Aaron went up this time to set the ropes. We started with anchor G first, which had the first routes on which we encountered gold polish. Gold polish is very smooth rock, polished by old glaciers moving over the rock. I started up the 5.6, which mostly avoided the gold polish, so it was easy climbing on the knobs. Next I did the 5.10a and ventured into the gold polish, looking for pock marks in the gold polish. The chunks of gold polish, or pock marks, that were missing not only exposed the sticky granite underneath, but the edges of the missing section created nice tiny ledges for my feet. I next climbed the 5.9 and went right through the gold polish - no better time to try my luck on the stuff than when I'm on top rope. Luckily the gold polish was on a lower angeled section of the slab so I could sort of smear. If I smeared about half of my foot, I got a little purchase if I moved quickly enough.

The knobby granite at Tuolumne Meadows with gold polish.

The routes on Anchor G

After Aaron climbed all of those routes, he moved the rope over to anchor F and I started on the 5.10a route, going straight up the gold polish and up the more vertical rock at the top to the anchor. The last climb of the morning was the 5.6 on anchor F with more knobs for footwork practice.

[Left] Aaron climbing the 5.6 on Anchor F. [Right]The routes on Anchor F

After a quick lunch at the visitor's center we drove west to Daff Dome. We wanted to find the more direct route up to the south flank over the third class slabs. After walking a little we found a fairly low angled slab and started up. After conferring with the book, we found Guide Cracks, four cracks from 5.5 to 5.8.

[Left] Heading up the slabs to Guide Cracks on the South Flank of Daff Dome. [Right] Guide Cracks, from left to right, 5.8, 5.8, 5.7, 5.5

I wanted to lead the 5.5 and since it makes sense to start easy and work your way up when at a new area, I got the first lead. The cracks were interesting as they had knobs inside, making jamming a little more challenging/painful. I got a good #2 in, but then the crack flared. I placed a marginal #1 and 0.5 in nearby pockets. I then found a place for the #0.3, a solid #3, and finally a Mastercam #1 before reaching the low angled terrain that led to the anchor. The climbing itself wasn't difficult but it wasn't the easiest climb to get good, solid placements on. After Aaron followed the 5.5, we top roped the 5.7 that shared the same anchor as the 5.5. The start was a bit blank with no sort of crack. After heading up the knobs you gained the pockets which led to the crack and eventually easier terrain.

>
[Left] My lead on the 5.5 Guide Crack. [Right] Aaron climbing the 5.7 Guide Crack

After I cleaned the anchor, Aaron led the next crack to the left, a 5.8. It was a more traditional crack with some stemming down low as the crack was finger sized. There were lots of knobs outside of the crack for feet though. After pulling past the rounded top, the route continued up a corner. From there a few moves across the face on the knobs led to a bolted anchor. After I cleaned the route, I clipped a bolt above the other 5.8 for a redirect as I lowered. I top roped the left most 5.8 on the otherside of the block, up the mostly blank corner. I had to lie back the crack until I could get up high enough to start stemming. It was definitely the most challenging of the Guide Cracks.

[Left] Aaron leading the right 5.8 Guide Crack. [Right] The left 5.8 Guide Crack

Next we went down a little ways so that Aaron could lead Alimony Crack (5.8). This was Aaron’s favorite climb of the day – following a good crack with the crux being a bulge. The crack wasn’t completely full of knobs, which made for more pleasant jamming. One single rope rappel down from the anchor brought us to the anchors for Fingertips (5.10a). We set up an anchor and did one more rappel down to the base of the rock.

[Left] Aaron leading Alimony Crack (5.8). [Right] The top of Alimony Crack (5.8) above the bulge

I was the lucky first person to top rope the route. It was a very balancy slab climb up large sections of gold polish. I made a lot of moves that I didn’t expect to stick but somehow the tiny ledges worked. There were several moves without any hands, but I somehow made it to the top cleanly. I lowered to find out that I had actually climbed 14K, the 5.10b to the right of Fingertips (5.10a). There was another couple at Guide Cracks that we climbed with a little. Aaron belayed Jared up the first pitch of Great Circle (5.9), a fun 5.7 finger crack to 5.9 slab. Aaron really enjoyed that route but I called it a day after the 14 pitches I had already done, my feet were ready to be out of my rock shoes. Aaron and the other couple all top roped 14K (5.10b), then we packed it up and headed for camp. It was a great first day of climbing in Tuolumne Meadows!

[Left] Aaron climbing 14K (5.10b). [Right] 14K (5.10b) followed a bolt line up through the gold polish left of where the rope is hanging