The last couple of days I climbed in the Meadows with my friend Karén. He climbs way better than I (is there anyone here who doesn't ? :) and he wanted to get on Aqua Knobby (5.9R) but with the early start we decided to get on something warm first.

So we started on South Crack (5.8R). He led up the first two harder pitches (we linked 1-3 in the supertopo) and I led the 5.6 - 5.7 runout friction pitch. After coasting up to the next set of bolts we met up with Jaybro, Daphne and some other Taco folks, which was cool. The last pitch was just fun.

On the walkoff we met up with rwedgee & friend. Wow, seems like everyone was up there :)

So after lunch we decided to go check out Aqua Knobby, but a party of 3 was about to launch up it .. where to go next ? We decided to go have a look at Medlicott Dome instead, and climbed most of Shagadelic (5.8). Karén led pitch 1 (5.7) and 3 (5.8) and I took pitch 2 (5.7), which was my first real encounter with Tuolumne knob climbing. We decided to bail on the last pitch since it was getting late and we were hungry, rapping off the bolt anchors with 60m doubles. Woo-hoo, to the Mobil Mart !

Karén originally wanted to do Crying Time Again (5.10a) or Northwest Face Direct on Lembert, but after some discussion of conditions (probably chilly) we decided maybe that was a little much for me.

So Saturday we decided to go do Hobbit Book (5.7R). But the approach Karén had in mind was a little .. different :) His way of doing it was to climb Euro Trash, a 4-pitch bolted route which is mainly 5.8, but with a 5.11a mantle on the last pitch.

There was still a lot of snow in the gully at the start of Euro Trash, and somehow I managed to drop my camera down the first pitch, landing somewhere deep inside a moat next to the rock, probably not to be seen again until the snow melts in .. August ? Which is why there are no pictures in this TR :(

Anyway, the climbing was fun. The first 3 pitches of Euro Trash were heavily bolted and can be linked to two with a 60m rope. The last pitch has mixed bolts and gear, and seems to be runout towards the top. Karén arrived at the 4th class ledge for Hobbit Book around noon, and while I pulled on slings to aid past said mantle he persuaded the other climbing party who had just come up to let us get on Hobbit Book first.

Turns out we were also acquainted with this other party via the interwebs (Jovie & Phil), so it was cordial :)

Karén led the first pitch of Hobbit, then handed me the rack for the second pitch, which was short but sweet .. nice jams and a fun 5.7 bulge. I set up an uncomfortable belay just below the 5.7 runout plates, brought Karén up, and he made short work of the third pitch. That pitch was enjoyable - lots of positive holds, rather like the gym :) The last pitch was my lead and very fun for me - steep liebacking, then a bit of face, then some undercling action to get around a roof, and finally up the corner almost to the summit.

Spectacular ! I'd never been up to the top of Mariuolumne Dome before, but even with the smoke from the fires the views were wonderful. I hope the party after us enjoyed it as much as we did.

Sorry again for the lack of pics. If anyone finds a small black camera case at the base of Euro Trash with a (probably water-damaged) Canon SD400 inside it & 1GB memory card, feel free to let me know ..