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Before leaving California to make my triumphant return to the Pacific Northwest, Evan and I descended on Yosemite for a deep ’scending frenzy. Our primary target is an 8-pitch 5.7 R climb up the world’s grandest and most recognizable granite monolith; Snake Dike on the SW face of Half Dome.

A late-started 7 mile approach in heavy rain through the Sierra’s finest forests, punctuated with groves of the mind-blowing sugar pines and their gigantic ooz-mutated cones, gets us to our base camp below the monstrous South Face of Half Dome.

An early morning start on heady 4th class slabs, slippery from yesterdays rains brings us to the base of the route. Thus commences 900 feet of perfect slab and juggy climbing on a weathered vein of pink rock jutting out from an otherwise featureless glacially polished granite wall. A natural line of the highest order. With limited fractures and cracks as options for protection, the route instead offers a few bolts along the way, which ease the mind during the 60 foot run-outs common on most of the pitches.

The 8 pitches of exceptionally fun technical climbing are over too quickly! Now we must scramble up infinite 3rd class slabs to the summit. Our ascent up the steep calf-burning slabs is accompanied by warning droplets from an impending storm. If lightning is in the cards, as the sky would have us believe, we’ll need to move quickly.

We reach the 8,842 ft summit in good time, hydrate, share a victory medium-bodied American Spirit, bathroom break, snap a couple pics, chat with some tourists who’ve come up the cables on the east side–this will be our descent route. The weather seems to be holding for the moment, but more rain and lightning are clearly on their way. We execute an unbelievably rapid descent down the hiking cables.

5 mile slog back to base camp in the rain with no drinking water. Food, sleep. We wake and pack up, eager to get back to the car and our dry garments. Instead of backtracking and taking the long way home on a pristine maintained backcountry trail, we decide to bushwhack overland. Its fun and adventurous, but quickly becomes a tiring and painful hassle. The difficulties reach their apex when our chosen route cliffs-out on slippery terrain adjacent to a waterfall. We set up a hasty rappel on a healthy laurel and begin lowering our packs off the edge. The hectically executed lowering operation puts both our rucksacks in a pool of water at the bottom of cliff. We rappel. We deal with the situation and make our fast-paced retreat to the car. Such a good trip!