On Oct 19, 2003, we went to do
the Snake Dike with Brian and Brett.
An amazing route up one of the
most famous pieces of rock in the world!
We took advantage of lovely fall weather to climb this classic.
Thanks to Brett for the great photos.
To shorten the approach, we camped the night before the climb
in Little Yosemite Valley. This only saves about two hours, which
is probably offset by having to carry overnight gear up the trail.
We enjoyed the company of several hikers around their campfire
but didn’t like the resident bears quite as much!
We left camp at first light and did the last mile or so of the approach,
over the shoulder of Liberty Cap, past Lost Lake and then onto
Half Dome itself. Here’s me on the slopes below the route.
We got to the base of the route around 8:30AM. We were the first
party on the rock, but there was another group of three right behind
us so we hurried up and staked our claim.
The route starts almost directly above me in the picture; the first
5.7 section climbs up to and around the roof obscured by the tree.
From there, you climb a 5.6 hand crack up and to the right to the
first belay. A delicate 5.7 friction traverse leads to a bolt and the
beginning of the dike.
This is the feature for which the route is named.
It’s an incredible
formation of bomber holds that extends for six pitches.
The R rating comes from the fact that on several pitches there’s only
one bolt between belays, with little or no opportunity to place other
protection. In other words, you can move fast, but any fall is going
to be ugly. We took six small camming devices between .4” and 1”,
a handful of medium and large nuts, six quickdraws and two
cordelette belay stations. In hindsight, we could have left the nuts
and two of the draws behind.
We each carried our approach shoes and one liter of water, plus
another three liters in the pack along with jackets and lunch. In the
summer, this is probably a thirsty climb, but we topped out with
water to spare.
Here’s Brian coming up to the third belay. You can see the
other party below us at the first belay; we were moving much faster
than them, so we didn’t see them again after this point.
Brett and Brian were simul-following on separate ropes, belayed using a
self-arresting belay plate. That technique, combined with the fact
that there was no gear to place, let us move pretty quickly.
Three and a half hours after starting, we were at the top of the eight
roped pitches. We stopped off for a bite to eat before trudging up
the “endless” third-class slabs that lead to the summit plateau.
This is definitely a route for comfortable shoes! We decided to keep
our climbing shoes on for the slabs but you could probably also do
them in approach shoes.
Looking back down the Valley, you can see Glacier Point, El
Capitan and an endless sea of granite.
Looking back across the summit plateau, you can see the wide
variety of cairns that tourists have built directly above the route.
Brian took the opportunity to knock a couple over in the hopes that
they won’t fall on any climbers.
It felt much longer, but it only took about an hour and a half to climb the slabs, traverse the
plateau, and descend the cables. The wooden planks and cable supports had been removed
a few weeks before.
We then set off down the long hike back to camp and the even longer hike back to the
Valley floor, which we hit around 5:00PM. A quick stop in Curry Village for snacks and
caffeine, and then we headed back to Pasadena.
Email : namascar@hotmail.com
Last Update: 23-Oct-03