Ohhhhhh we are all a little tired and sore. Jake, Lee, Ben and I hiked up to half dome on Tuesday (35degree heat for three hours), spent the night being eaten alive by mosquitos....it was really hot and we had to be completely covered by our sleeping bags, head and all, we were clam chowder...so clammy...we nearly started climbing at 10pm to escape them but we couldn't get a response from Ben even with Lee throwing iceballs at him...at least Jake , Lee and I had a laugh!

 

We started climbing at 5am...and were cruising up to the variation of the route that Lee and I didn't do last time...it was 70 metres of choss...so loose and the most careful climbing I have ever done with jake climbing up 10m below me, a 3 person aid team below us and another team of two lower down the route. It was all OK until I hit a traverse that had a tombstone size flake that tipped out on me as I pulled on it to get a cam above out...I pushed it back as hard and fast as I could and my heart didn't stop pounding for another 2 pitches...luckily the rest of the route is solid as and we had a ball trucking on to the top. Ben onsighted or flashed everything, Jake didn't have time to redpoit the slab pitch when he fell at the top of it and Lee had already done the route but onsighted the varient picth up high that he had never done...it was a sweat pitch of laybacking! I climbing all but 1 whole pitch (I pulled through the slab pitch at the top...my feet were screaming) and need to figure out 6 moves over a couple of the crux pitches but was very happy with my crack climbing!!

 

We got back to the base of the route at 8, with half an hour of daylight left to descend the "death slabs"...which we did two hours of in the dark...by the time we had walked back to camp four it was 12.30am and we had been going  non stop for 20 hours...my feet hurt sooooo much and the legs are suffering still....but it was very satisfying!!

 

We said goodbye to Ben today...it has gone sooo quick. Lee and Jake are doing the Nose in a day tomorrow and I will limp down to the bridge to record the time at different points on the route and to check their OK....short  fixing...scary...it will take me a couple more days to get my climbing legs back after our most recent half dome adventure ( I am punished) so that my trip done!

 

We should have some more interesting blogging in a couple of days, I am still a bit tired to type the funny stories!