Travel notes by Ryder Stroud (ETU 2)
Published on Jan 09, 2026
Src: RyderStroud-史瑞德
One Last Climb, Part II
Glug glug. I greedily drank the water from the bottle I pulled from my backpack.
“Sounds like Yibo’s really excited about this!” Jimmy raised an eyebrow, looked at me, and pointed at Yibo.
“I think…” Pfft! I drank too fast, choked on the water, and coughed a few times. “I think he’s ready! He easily cleared the 6th wide crack in Castleton Tower.” I looked at Yibo. “Are you really excited about this? Of course, we don’t want to put any pressure on you.”
“Yeah, I think I still have some strength left.” He looked up at the huge crack above him. “This will make tomorrow easier, right?”
“Absolutely. First, you need this.” Jimmy handed Yibo the No. 5 stopper, a large purple stopper shaped somewhat like an alien head. “And this section will take a lot of effort! This is a real Yosemite 5.9 difficulty!” He patted Yibo on the shoulder.
“Let’s begin! One more time!” Yibo stood up, turned, and faced the rock face.
Yibo slowly climbed the wide crevice, pushing the plug above his head until the fissure became a deep, wide, chimney-like cavern.
“Here…” he looked around, “…there’s almost no foothold!” His shoes slipped on the smooth granite. Despite the approaching night, the rock was still scorching hot from a day of intense heat.
“Come on, you know what to do!” I yelled at him. “Think of Castleton’s wide crevice, or Squamish’s Split Beaver!”
Yibo twisted his body, climbing towards a large, blade-like rock fragment protruding from the chimney. He tapped it hard with his hand.
Thump. Thump. Thump. The rock made a hollow sound.
“This is what we call an ‘expand-o-flake’!” Jimmy shouted.
“Sounds… not good.” Yibo said, taking a smaller plug from his harness. He kept his eyes fixed on a small crack overhead.
“You have good protective gear down there! Get to the top of the rock!” I shouted.
“Okay!” He secured the rope to the rock wall. With a few nimble movements, he slid out of the chimney and grabbed a large rock wedged deep in the crack. His feet wobbled in the air before settling firmly on the rock walls on either side of the chimney. I could hear him breathing heavily as he climbed over the large rock, looking like a wrestler grappling with an opponent.
“Aha! Got it!” I saw his left hand reach into the large handhold behind the crack. He grunted, lifted his right leg, and pulled himself to the edge of the large rock.
He climbed the second chimney and finally reached the platform at the top of the rock wall. He looked down at me and Jimmy.
“YEAH, BUDDY!” Yibo gave a thumbs up.
Yibo descended to our overnight platform, and then Jimmy started chatting with him. I mustered the last of my enthusiasm for the day.
“You did a perfect job again!” I bumped fists with him. “Your transition from the chimney to that steep section above that big rock was fantastic, I was really impressed.” I pointed to the large rock stuck in the chimney, hanging like a giant potato above the platform above us.
Yibo laughed. “I mean, that part was really hard. Much harder than Moab’s 5.9 route. But it felt natural! "I hope I've learned something from you in six weeks!" he smiled at Jimmy.
_ Hiss. The water in the pot began to boil. Jimmy reached out and turned off the stove.
“So, in my twenties, climbing was my whole passion. You could say there was no greater goal than that. I told you guys, I lived in my car. Life was simple. It was a very…” He picked up the pot of hot water and looked at me. “Wait, Reed, what’s the word ‘pure’ again?”
“Pure!” I said, almost spitting out my pasta. “Right! My goal is pure and simple. But finding that balance in life is much harder later on. It takes time to learn.”
Yibo nodded. “Yeah, I mean, I think that’s what initially drew me to climbing! And the supportive atmosphere of the climbing community.”
Jimmy nodded enthusiastically in agreement. “Yeah, when you find that perfect balance: you feel at home with the people you climb with, you find that comfortable state, that’s…” He gave a wry smile and glanced at me again.
I smiled. “Here we go again?”
“No, no. I remember now.” Jimmy smiled. “Just need a little help now and then.”
I continued chewing. “Wait, let me finish this pasta!” We talked for an hour, and Jimmy told us stories from his youth, how photography became his motivation for adventure, how it helped him climb higher, and how he had always struggled to find a balance between maintaining his passion for climbing and making a living from it, without letting the latter affect the former. Yibo and I listened intently. It felt like we were sitting before the famous Jedi Master Yoda from Star Wars, absorbing every bit of wisdom he offered.
Meanwhile, I was translating increasingly longer sentences and ideas for Jimmy. Soon, my translations were becoming complete sentences and paragraphs.
“So, I think what he meant was that you chose the right attitude towards rock climbing. Of course, none of the three of us are true rock climbing fanatics, but…” My eyes widened, and I suddenly stopped, stopping mid-sentence. Jimmy and Yibo turned to look at me.
“Are you alright? What’s wrong?” Yibo looked at me with a puzzled expression.
I shook my head. “I… I’m sorry!” I paused, looking at them both. “I just didn’t expect that after two days in the sun, I would still have the energy to translate so much!” I looked at Jimmy.
“You did a fantastic job! I’m really surprised you suddenly remembered so much!” Yibo said with a smile.
“Oh, please. I hope I can learn something from you in six weeks,” I said with a laugh, quoting something he’d said before.
The walkie-talkie next to the stove suddenly crackled to life.
“Steve calling Jimmy, Yibo, and Reed? Please respond!”
I picked up the walkie-talkie. “Speak, Steve!”
“Great, guys! Really great!” I looked down at the walkie-talkie incredulously, wondering how Steve could still be so energetic after shooting for over 12 hours straight. “And Reed. You’re in great shape! This is the best I’ve heard you say this on the whole trip!”
I smiled and looked toward the rock formation I knew he was standing on with a photographer. “I think there’s no better time than at the end of the show to show you what I’ve learned, you know?” “Alright, you two have nailed today. Yibo did a fantastic job climbing, and your translation has improved a lot. Great job! You all deserve a good rest! See you tomorrow morning. Over and out.”
Silence followed on the walkie-talkie. The three of us gazed at the cliffs across the valley. The sun gradually dipped behind the ridge, bathing the entire valley in a magnificent gold. I felt the tension in my stomach finally dissipate.
“Now we can finally relax,” Jimmy said with a smile, picking up a cookie—one that Yibo and I had brought from Portland, carrying all the way to the platform on the wall.
I felt a wave of relief. Yibo handed me the cookie box. “The last one? I think you deserve it,” he said with a smile.
“No, you were the star today!” I broke the cookie in half and gave him one. “I think we both did a great job today.”
I looked down at the cookie, then at Yibo and Jimmy. Finally, we found ourselves surrounded by the towering cliffs of Yosemite. “Nothing could be more beautiful than this. Really, nothing could,” I thought.
The three of us sat quietly, watching the sky change from gold to red, then to purple.
