Matthes...

According to our High Sierra Climbing guide, “Matthes Crest is a true knife-edge ridge - a long fin of rock sculptured by glaciers”.  Matthes is in Tuolumne Meadows - the high, eastern valley of Yosemite National Park.  Tuolumne is famous for less crowds and cooler weather then it’s big brother down valley.  It is also famous for lots of intermediate / moderate climbs for folks like us.  Since Matthes cannot be seen from the road the mass majority of the two million plus visitors that come through Yosemite never see it.  It is a beauty that has to be sought.  The climbing is relatively easy, but it can be a very tricky place to be if anything goes wrong.  There is no cell service, the trail head is six miles away, and it is a terrifying place to be if an afternoon electrical storm moves in. 

Vaughn the explorer...

Two days after leaving Vegas Greg and I were up on Matthes Crest.   It was a climb that we had both wanted to do for years.  The entire ridge is almost two miles long.  If a party were to belay each of it’s pitches one rope length at a time it could take up to ten hours to traverse.  We ended up combining the first two pitches into one and then simul-climbed the rest of the route after doubling up our sixty meter rope into a 30 meter double.  We completed the entire climb in three hours and the entire car to car trip took less then 10 hours - this included an amazing high alpine swim at Budd Lake.  

Pure Fun...

The "Think Tank"...

I am not one to remember all kinds of information about the specifics of any one climb.  Nor am I confident that we made all the best choices when we climbed Matthes Crest, but it sure did seem to go remarkably  smoothly.  To be truthful I barely read the description before we climbed the peak and depended on the rest of my party to navigate the approach through the high country.  But I will never forget this perfect alpine day...

Skinny dippin porn...  Sorry...