We took off and headed to Yosemite…via Durango, Colorado. Not exactly the most direct route, but we wanted to swing through Durango to see a used Cougar fifth wheel.
It turned out that the trailer wasn’t what we wanted mostly because it was completely saturated with cigarette smoke – bleck. Too bad.
We looked again at our favorite trailer – a 2008 244 RLS that was on the dealer’s lot. On our way out, there was a discussion of what we’d pay for the new Cougar. They countered and we took off for Yosemite without a trailer.
After a car-bivy in central Utah, we continued on our trip. We stopped at a climbing area on the highway that Dave has been driving past and looking at for decades. This time, we stopped to climb. The area is called Sagehen Summit and is located a bit east of Lee Vining, California.
After four-wheeling the Matrix until the road was not passable, we got out and geared up. We climbed a three pitch 5.9 called “Hair Raiser Buttress” in Granite Basin.
The crux was (of course) before the first bolt. A screw up here likely meant someone would be in a cast for some time. Happily that didn’t happen. After this hair-raising section the rest of the climb was a fun plate pulling extravaganza.
We topped out, got a photo of ourselves and the surrounding area, then started the hike down the gully. Part of the gully had the coolest dike in it. It looked like a row of huge teeth or something. Very cool.
We hiked back to the car then drove a bit further toward Lee Vining, pulled off into the forest and set up camp for the night. After luxurious camping in the Great White as well as looking at really sweet fifth wheels, car camping seemed extra harsh. We had to actually sit on the ground! The horror.
We cooked some dinner and went to bed. It was very quiet here and after much driving and some climbing, we were happy to get some rest.
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