By Greg Murphy
I was starting to get a little frantic last Thursday with my only weekend off this month just 2 days away. Hans Florine and I had some vague agreement to climb together but no concrete plan was in place. Hans and I finally broke through the electronic barrier and actually talked to each other Thursday night. We adopted the Jim Herson approach to route selection - we were up for any climb as long as it was the Salathe on El Capitan. (As a footnote, it was probably the only weekend this year that Jim wasn't somewhere on the route).
The requisite weekend factors were all in place - late Friday night drive, no sleep, 4:30 am wakeup, hot weather, and a long climb. The only thing missing was a good 2 hour bushwack. We started the route a little after 6 am and I led the first 21 pitches to El Cap Spire. Hans took over and led the last 14 pitches to the top. Our time was 7h 58m, the second fastest recorded for the route. (split times: 3h to the top of the Ear, 3h 56m to the top of El Cap Spire). Although it was very hot, we were in the shade most of the time and topped out with extra water - a first for me! It was a blast. There is something truly wild about climbing a big wall in shorts, t-shirts, and a light rack.
We climbed a bit at Taft Point on Sunday and were treated to a nice thunderstorm over the high country on the hike back to the car.
Greg
From: Jim Herson Greggie, Would you please resend me your trip report. My goofy mailer truncated the part about your afternoon climb. Good job on the warmup though. JimHome / Trip Reports
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