I’m often asked by clients what I do for fun. Besides the obvious answer of spending time with my family, I like to remain active by playing basketball and softball whenever I can. In summer and fall, I regularly leave a tour to make it to my evening softball game. It’s normally not a problem, but I sometimes get tired after 10-12 hour days on Half Dome. I also spend a good amount of time on my road bike and plan to make it into Yosemite from Sonora next spring. I also enjoy coaching at our local high school in spring which makes for interesting drives home from the park to games in Sonora and throughout the Central Valley. Basically, I like to run myself ragged while burning the candle at both ends.
Of course, I also hike as much as I can, even when I’m not working. I spend a lot of time choosing which hikes to do on my days off and Unicorn Peak has been high on my last for quite a while. I finally had the opportunity to climb it this past weekend. After last year’s solo of Tressider, I decided that any attempts of a peak with consequences must be done with a partner so I called my friend Dave, and he was game.
The day was perfect. We had a bit of a chilly start but by the time we made it to Elizabeth Lake, we were shedding our layers. It did not take long to hike to the lake from Tuolumne Meadows and we began to make our way to the Unicorn. We were greeted by traces of snow amidst the boulders once we made it out of the forest. After a brief traverse, we made it to the summit slabs just above a rocky cliff speckled with white bark pines. We approached the north peak and prepared to make the ‘move’. It’s listed as the only class 4 move of the hike, and it really is not very difficult. But there is serious exposure below. As I approached it, I thought that it was not as difficult as a couple of moves I made on Tressider. Now is a good time to say that I am not a rock climber by any means. I will, however, do what’s necessary to get myself up a peak. Again, Tressider comes to mind when thinking about this policy. Back to the move. Everyone I spoke to said there is only one Class 4 move on this peak, but I thought the move to get to ‘the move’ was pretty consequential as well. You have to contort your body a bit to get onto the next rock. I didn’t take too long preparing for the move so I wouldn’t talk myself out of it. I did spend more than a few seconds looking for some magical alternative though. Swinging my left leg about four feet across open air to the next rock was somewhat of an adrenaline rush. Every description I heard said there were two bomber handholds at this spot but I would say there were one and a half. There isn’t much chance of slipping but it’s still a bit of a gut dropper while you reach for the rock with your left foot. After a few second to catch my breath, I climbed to the highest rock and was rewarded with spectacular views.
I took a moment to reflect on what a great accomplishment this really was. It’s an added bonus every time you’re totally alone on top of a summit. I felt so big, yet at the same time, I felt really small. So many things run through your mind including “how am I going to get down?” After bouncing around from rock to rock, I finally took my self portrait and made my way down.
Besides taking a full leap onto the ‘move’ slab, which Dave caught on film, the way down was less difficult than I imagined and much easier than climbing up. We ate our lunch on the saddle to Mt. Althuski. We made our way to the Cosckcomb and hung out there for a while. I decided not to climb it this time, but I did scramble through some of the fissures, and we got some great photos of Cathedral Peak and Budd Lake from here.
I’ve been told that it’s pretty easy to grab a bunch of summits in one day in this area, but we were content with just relaxing for the rest of the day. It really was superb. Besides hearing a couple of voices on Cathedral, we were pretty much alone all day.
On our way back down to Elizabeth Lake, I was starting to feel somewhat regretful about some of the risks that I take on these outings. It didn’t take long to get over that feeling, though. Besides, where would we be if we played it safe all the time? I’d be somewhere on the east coast still wishing I made a move out west. I know when my daughter starts to take some of these same types of risks I’ll only have myself to blame. I know I’ll worry about her but I won’t be upset if she chooses to take part in these activities. Is there really any better ways to spend your free time anyway?
There is an old proverb that states when one door closes, another door opens. This is obvious in Yosemite with regards to the current lack of snow. Ok, I know it is a bit of a stretch, but I also feel a little more comfortable discussing it since a new storm in descending on the Sierra as I type. Although a lack of snow will have major implications in the long run, some new doors have been opened these past couple of weeks.
