Surprisingly, I barely slept last night. I had expected to fall straight asleep after falling into my air mattress but instead I tossed and turned all night and by 7:30am, the light of my tent was bright and I was completely awake and starving. While Kathi and Shannon slept, I got some water boiling for some oats. Halfway through the process I decided that a couple of packets of dry oats weren’t going to cut it being in my condition so I boiled a little more water to prepare some dehydrated macaroni and cheese. While the food sat heating, I contemplated how to open a can of chilli beans without an opener. I found a way thanks to the swiss army knife that belonged to our camping neighbours. When Kathi and Shannon emerged, I had pretty much finished my breakfast for three, eaten with an O’Reilly’s loyalty card since my spoon had gone walkabout in Rob’s car.

My camp mates were surprised to see me up so early and I agreed it was out of character but explained my rough night. We all sat down at the picnic table and I relived yesterday’s antics and they told me about their easy day kayaking on Tenaya Lake with their inflatable boats. When it came to contemplating plans for the day, I firmly explained that there was no way climbing shoes were going on my feet. They accepted that fact and thankfully all thoughts of climbing Fairview Dome had already left Shannon’s mind.

We kept chatting as I packed up my camp, packing everything away into my hiking bag ready for my flight home in a couple of weeks. When ready, I followed the Sprinter van out of camp to a nearby crag called Puppy Dome. We parked in a lot that had a line of hikers waiting for overnight permits and walked a short way to the small dome. All I packed was food, my book and some wet wipes and I followed Kathi and Shannon down the trail. 100 m from the carpark, I made sure we were only walking a short way since my legs and feet weren’t interested in anything more than a kilometre.

We were at the crag only five minutes later and set up on Puppy Crack, a 5.6 rated hand crack that was right up Kathi’s alley. While my friends racked up, I got myself a spot in the sun and sat on my jumper. As Shannon lead his way up the wall, I took my shoes off and went to town on them with my wet wipes. When I was done with them, I gave my feet another wipe down. Once I was done, it was as if yesterday had never happened? Not really, I could still feel pain in my legs.

I sat cross legged and watched the climbers, chatting to whoever was on the ground. A few climbing parties showed up, all interested in the 5.6 crack and Shannon slid into his role of tour guide quite well, advising everyone on the options available on this crag.

We moved on to the next climb which was an interesting looking 5.8 nestled into a corner and extending to the peak of the dome at least thirty meters up with a challenging bulge near the top. Shannon lead and did so very carefully as Kathi and I talked nonstop. Shannon doubled up on gear in places because the fall was likely to be nasty in the event of a slip, but he nailed the climb from bottom to top. With just enough rope, he came down to meet Kathi and swap rope ends. The sun disappeared as Kathi started climbing so I quit sitting on my jumper so I could wear it.

Kathi walked off the top of the boulder and came back round to meet us. Once K&S had collected all their gear, we wandered to the nearby waterhole which is a hidden gem of Tuolumne. It would be great spot on a sunny day to bask on the flat rocks as a channel of water flowed past and into a deep aqua pool. It was a gorgeous spot. We hung out here for a little bit, watching the water and dipping our feet into it but it was way too cold to contemplate swimming. After wandering around the crag to see an 11b climb that didn’t look at all appealing, we made our way back to the cars.

By the time I’d gone to the bathroom, K&S were sitting by the side of the van munching on some fresh mango whish they shared with me. They’d put a chair out for me so I joined them in chatting for a while until I decided to head back to the Bay area. I had originally planned to go back early morning but the west bound traffic I’d seen when I drove out put me off that notion and I was desperate for a good night’s sleep which I had more chance of getting on Vanessa’s couch than I did in my tent.

With no idea when we’d meet again, we said our goodbyes and I left Kathi and Shannon to climb their hearts out for the rest of September. I’m sure we’ll meet again some time next year though where and how is completely unpredictable. Thanks for all the climbing guys, I look forward to having fun with you on the rock in future.

I hopped into the Mini and started my five hour drive west. I wouldn’t stop until I came close to the Bay. I was glad to find no traffic the whole way too. The weather was still cloudy as I drove along Tioga Pass, but I was surprised to drive into a lightning storm as I drove parallel to the valley. When I saw lightning strike the cap of Cloud’s Rest, the crest nearest to Half Dome, I thanked our lucky stars that the weather had been so good for us the day before. There’d be no sane people ascending Half Dome during this storm. The rain followed the lightning and the Mini got wet until I exited the park.

The rain was replaced with the dry landscape I’d seen on the way out but when I reached the Bay area again, the rain returned. As soon as I got into range, I called Rob to make sure he’d gotten home ok. I managed to catch him between meetings at work and he told me about his drive through the night. In disbelief that he was still functioning, I called Dan, excited to tell him I’d see him tomorrow and also got in touch with Vanessa to make sure she was ok with me staying the night. When I approached the Bay, I felt so sleep deprived that I knew my brain capacity was limited. I couldn’t do much beyond following my navigation and concentrating on the road ahead, so when Jayne called asking about DMV stuff for the Astro van, I only managed to talk to her for five minutes.

When Vanessa let me know she was going to be home late, I stopped in at a Jack-In-The-Box, a very unhealthy fast food option, for dinner. I watched the rain come down as I ate a dirty burger and fries. The coke I had with it kept me alive and awake for the hour long drive into San Francisco. With a little coordination with Vanessa, I met her in a dodgy part of San Fran where I picked her up from her work’s shuttle stop. She found me easily me enough and I drove us back to her apartment, me talking about my weekend and her about hers.

By the time we’d taken the elevator up to the ninth floor, I was ready for a hot shower and to pass out. The shower soothed my body and instead of going straight to bed, me and V spent the night chatting as I packed. It was a great hang out with my mate where we talked about all sorts in a philosophical manner. I am going to miss this girl.

We both said goodnight about 9pm and thankfully, I almost immediately fell asleep despite the plans running through my mind.