Yosemite bouldering! w00t! Ngoc, J-fire, Fogel and myself just returned from a two day trip to the valley for some bouldering and camping antics. Day one involved a 6AM start from Albany (which, actually, worked out well. I'd definitely be inclined to repeat the saturday morning start, vs. a friday evening traffic battle) and a quick stop at Nation's for their 7 lb. breakfast to go. On to Yosemite, and the Cathedral Boulders, where J-fire, in rare form, made a quick 4 or 5 attempt send of Octagon V6/V7. That was actually one of the only problems ever that I'd dare whine about my lack of height over. The pre-crux move was just long enough to force me to reach for it dynamically! Argh!

After the Octagon, we headed over to the King Boulder and worked on a couple of hard problems that none of us really sent, but that John and I came reasonably close on. Fodder for our next trip. We did get some great pictures on a nearby v2 lie-back arete that was totally classic Yosemite desperation. See below. It's funny how the next-to-nothing footholds that everyone complains about in the valley are only literally a millimeter or two away from the bomber overhung foot placements in Bishop. So close, yet so far!

Day two was a little more relaxed and involved many more sends on the Curry Boulders, including Zorro V4 and a V3 on the Kevin's Traverse boulder or something like that. The day ended with a bit of excitement as I fell off the top (not the crux) of Circuit Breaker V2 on the Staircase Falls wall. Epic fall, epic problem. I send shortly thereafter using some obvious footwork beta that I missed the first time. I definitely count this problem as one of the most aesthetic I've ever sent.

Some other highlights: the no-frills buffet at Curry Village, frisbee and beer on our Merced River sand-bar, and Yosemite falls in all its glory. See below for some trick photos taken by all of us.