At its base, you feel at the same time so close and so far from the top...



                                                   Yosemite Valley... enchantment and paradox...

The Atmosphere inside the park is at the same time fascinating and full of paradoxes. The wall, the climbers, the sound of the gear, and the bears made this place astonishing and fantastic... The rules, the rangers and the contrast between Camp 4 and the "luxurious" hotels are a paradox in my eyes and mind. Freedom, and not so free...
Anyway, beside this, and focusing only on the rock, no doubt that Yosemite is a radical place for climbers (and not only climbers...)

Matt and I wanted to have a better idea of what we were able to do. We thought to start the Yosemite menu with the West Face of Leaning Tower, an 11 pitch aid route (C2F 5.7 for those who like numbers).

         The Leaning Tower, the one on the right of the Waterfall

                                 (Bridalveil Waterfall)


Leaning Tower is a steep and nice wall that is usually climbed in two days. We bivvied at the base of the route and did it in one day, satisfied and reassured of our ability to aid climb.
We didn’t take our camera out of our big haul bag, but here you can find some nice photos and more info about the route:

http://www.supertopo.com/rockclimbing/route.html?r=yblewest

                             Another Aid climbing Pitch...

Now our next goal is to try to climb the 3000 feet of El Cap. Not sure yet by which route, even if the Nose seems to be the most attractive to us... We'll soon see where we'll put our hands and feet on the cliff...