@colliemampbell hiking #tuolumne with #mtconness in the background. The strikingly beautiful southwest face of #conness features the Harding route (IV 5.10c). Kyle Dempster ( @highergroundcoffee ), @jewell_lund and I climbed the 1,200' route a few years ago. A last minute call, we left the car around 10 and added a small ridge travers (mostly because we got lost on the approach). A late start on the route, starting around 13:00-13:30, to say the least. On the second pitch, Jewel dropped the #5 #camalot, a key piece for the crux off width pitch. Kyle quickly, and confidently, accepted to climb the crux pitch without protection of the #5 (really the only protection), instead of retrieving the piece and forfeiting the climb. He climbed the crux pitch (while incredibly run out) beautifully, making it look easy. Typical of Kyle. Meanwhile, I reached the top of the pitch nearly anaerobic. Somewhere around pitch 7 of 9, long after the water ran dry, it became dark. Until this point, we were climbing faster, rushing a bit, trying not to get caught out in the dark (which was inevitable). Kyle calmed us down, we accepted and began enjoying the epic adventure of finishing the climb in the dark. We didn't have headlamps, but the moon came up, and we finished the climb by moonlight on a calm summer evening. It was beautiful. One of my favorite memories from climbing with Kyle. Looking forward to hearing more stories about #kyled this weekend. #kyledlove #tuolumne #yosemitenationalpark #kyledempster #kyledempstermemorialproject (at Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park)
