Tahquitz and Temple Crag

 Behind the tent, that is temple crag, we did the 15 pitch moon goddess arete.  This mountain is in the eastern sierra, in California. We left camp at the emerald green lake at 5:30 am and returned at 8:30 pm. The first five pitches took less than an hour, the next 5, another 5 hours, since we decided to rope up.  The mountain tops out at 12,999 feet. The mountain is also falling down, with loose rock everywhere.

 Before climbing temple crag, Howard and I flew to LA, then drove over to Idelwild to revisit Tahquitz, to climb whodonit.  Unlike the rock on temple crag, the granite on Tahquitz is solid, not falling to pieces.  We tested out the 80 meter rope, combining pitches whenever we could. It was 7 or 8 hundred feet of challenging climbing.