Raining in Yosemite

Before dawn Thursday morning the rain was pouring in Chinese Camp. Thunder, lightning, heavy pellets of rain- it was a full on storm. When John and I left for the Valley, the roads were wet and the clouds were still hovering over the ditch. We got to the base of Lower Cathedral to look at Beggar's Buttress. We turned around quickly when we felt more rain.

The guide book boasts that Kaukulator stays dry in a light rain, so we hiked down to the overhanging Rostrum splitter and booted up. John grabbed the rack and attacked the route, cruising through the 5.11 down low. He moved steadily for another forty feet til he hit a bit of wide. "10c offwidth" is what the book says. Hard is an understatement. John went left side in and let the crack devour him for half an hour before he scrambled out victorious. The lightning was going off as he rested on a tiny stance. He belched a little, and then slowly made his way to the anchor. An impressive onsight. He cleaned the gear as I lowered him. About fifty feet off the deck he yelled for me to stop. I figured he was trying to pull a piece out.

That's when it really started raining. BLEECH! A heavy current of vomit came flooding out of John's mouth. And then. BLEECH! John puked up what looked like three days of food. Lukcily the route was steep and the vomit fell behind me into the trees. I couldn't stop laughing at the waterfall of vomit. Then when I lowered John back to the ground he gave me a haggard look. "I think we forgot our hiking permits at the lodge."