Yosemite Valley - Yosemite National Park, CA



Yosemite Valley - Link to all Yosemite Valley Posts

General Info: Located in stark Yosemite National Park, The Valley is the essential birthplace of rock climbing in the United States. It is not only known for it's big walls and glaring cracks, but also for it's legendary characters, ethics, and the gear that was developed to climb there has become the standard gear on every trad climber's racks today. The climbing here is hard, spectacular, short, long, easy, run out, you name it. This is the Mecca of rock climbing.

Camping: There is plenty of camping in Yosemite, but the spots sell out months in advance. Only Camp 4 offers first-come first-serve availability. Get there at about 7am or earlier and wait in line for when the booth opens at about 830am. There are no facilities here other than potable water and toilets, but showers can be had for free at Curry Village if one knows how to work the system (if not, the showers are only $5). Camp Curry's tent cabins are a must for the tired body, and it is recommended either for the duration of the trip or at the end where one won't feel disappointed after leaving it for a lesser campground.

Parking: There are day-use parking areas, and one can get around fairly easily on the free shuttles. Be prepared for the shuttles to be packed, though. If you are staying in The Valley, then you'll get a parking pass that should allow you to park anywhere except Camp 4, which has its own special pass.

Guideboooks: Yosemite Valley Free Climbs by Greg Barnes, Chris McNamara, Steve Roper, Todd Snyder (SuperTopo). Buy the downloadable version and be free to take only the pages you need on the climb.

Routes and Cliffs: - Links to all posts discussing the routes noted below (sorted by area / grade / alphabetical).

Church Bowl
- Bishop's Terrace (5.8)

Five Open Books
- Munginella (5.6)

Glacier Point Apron
- The Grack (5.6)

Swan Slabs
- Oak Tree Flake (5.6)
- Claude's Delight (5.7)
- Penelope's Problem (5.7)
- Grant's Crack (5.9)
- Lena's Lieback (5.9)
- Goat For It (5.10a)