For the last two years, I had been working full-time as a data analyst. While I enjoyed some of the benefits of working a full time job (house, security, etc.), I missed the longer climbing road trips of my younger years. So, when I decided to temporarily leave my job to take a full-time 6-month coding bootcamp from mid-June to mid-December, this was the perfect time to build a couple of weeks of climbing road trip into my schedule. Sunny Californian granite was calling. Nate had never climbed in California (!), so it wasn't too hard to twist his arm to join me on a two-week climbing road-trip to experience some sunny Californian granite.
- Our first destination of the trip was Whitney Portal, where we enjoyed four days climbing multi pitch routes on the gleaming white granite and hanging out at camp at the Whitney Portal Campground.
- The plan for the second destination was The Needles in southern Colorado, where I had climbed in 2017 and 2018 and deemed it one of my favorite places to climb. But when we arrived there after a 4-hour drive from Whitney Portal, we found the gate was closed to access. Dejected, we headed back towards the Sierra East Side and decided to crag in the shade of Pine Creek Canyon for a few days. The rock and quality of the climbing was superb and fun and Nate probably enjoyed this area the most of any destination on our trip, but I found myself craving bigger, higher routes.
- Then, Tioga Pass opened for the season, so for our third destination of the trip, we decided to head to Tuolumne for a few days. I had been there a few times before and was happy to return to this land of the granite domes. We climbed in Tuolumne for three days.
- Our fourth and final destination of our California adventures was Charlotte Dome. The South Face (5.8, 1500') is a Fifty Classic, and this route had been on my to-climb list for a long time. My friends Erin and Cara (of the Grand Traverse the previous summer) had just climbed it and had a blast, said there was no snow on the approach, and encouraged Nate and I to climb it.
The South Face of Charlotte Dome has hundreds of different variations, but the best route goes pretty much directly up the face. The rock and the climbing are more reminiscent of Tuolumne than the High Sierra: long, smooth faces that appear impossible from a distance are actually covered with knobs and texture, allowing for relatively easy climbing. Many water grooves and pockets make climbing manageable and unique. Being relatively low in elevation and south facing, this climb has a longer season than most climbs in the Sierra.
The South Face of Charlotte Dome has a fascinating first ascent story. In October 1970, with only a weekend at their disposal, Chris Jones, Fred Beckey, and Galen Rowell reluctantly embarked upward, fearing blank faces with no retreat, but were pleasantly surprised to find that the golden granite bristled with flakes and chicken heads; the climbing was moderate and by evening of that day they found themselves standing on top of the dome. I can only imagine the exhilaration they felt at having done the first ascent of such a gem of a climb.
Due to the length of the approach (12.5 miles from trailhead to base of route), we decided to climb the South Face as part of a 2-night overnight adventure. We secured overnight permits (the new online permit system made this easy to do) for Charlotte Lake, 8.5 miles from Kearsarge Pass trailhead on the east side. On Thursday, we hiked in and enjoyed an evening at camp. On Friday we climbed Charlotte Dome. On Saturday we hiked out and began the 15-hour drive back to Estes Park.
It took us 3 hours and 30 minutes to climb the South Face. We climbed the 12-pitch, 1500-foot route in 6 pitches—simulclimbed Pitches 1-4, Pitches 5-7, linked Pitches 10&11, and pitched out the rest. There was one other party on the route, a father and son team (Diedrich, 68 years old, and his son Paul, 38 years old), who we passed on our first simul-climbed pitch.
It was a fun climbing + hiking adventure to cap off out 2-week California road trip. The following page gives a route overlay, map, time stats, and pitch by pitch photos from our climb of the South Face of Charlotte Dome.
