Sweet Home California by Joe Cauteruccio
“Crush, crush, cshhhh” the sand and gravel fell down the path as mike, Kataya and I trudged up the trail towards the ridge from which we could see the route. The sun had painted a masterpiece in the sky, a fading blue accented by reds and orange. With the moon looking on we stared off into the distance. “AaAaA” mike and I simultaneously let out a sigh of relief. “That’s not bad at all” I said, mike nodded in agreement. “I think it was just because it was her first time on stuff like that” Kataya replied. Well needless to say I was relieved that the approach was nothing like what I had pictured based on Anya’s description, “There are almost vertical slopes, that you have to climb up, and you have to traverse on these thin ledges to the base of the route. It was freaky!” I was happy to see rolling slopes no more than 45 degrees steep, which just seemed to be appetizers leading up to the main course. We gazed off at the silhouettes climbing steadily upward on the golden brown ridge. They literally looked like ants; they were just little black dots, specks on the side of a giant.
We followed them, tracking them with our eyes the way a hawk watches its prey. They were moving slowly, or at least it seemed so, this was mostly due to the distance we were watching them from. One spec began to move, it took this particular spec about 30 seconds to reach the top of the pitch. Mike and I looked at each other “Nadya” we whispered simultaneously. After a while watching dots became boring. In anticipation of the approach mike and I began to practice our friction climbing on some rocks near the ridge. This was more a symptom of boredom than an actually necessity. We went back to the ridge. We watched the specs get closer, and closer to the top. I sat there silently, just absorbing. I paned from left to right. The whole valley was right there, towering rock tidal waves just waiting to be surfed. Words cannot describe the view. If I had to describe it I’d say that God stopped and spent a little more time on Yosemite Valley, he had chiseled away his “David”. We walked back to our high camp. Our sinking footsteps disrupted the tranquility created by nature. When we arrived at camp we began to make “food”. Soon my mind began to wander back to the tsunamis of the valley, those monolithic beasts that I would soon be climbing. I didn’t want to go to bed but soon I succumbed to fatigue and drifted off. I arose to the melodic clanging of cams. It was time to climb. I got my gear together and we headed out. We traveled up and down for what seemed like hours, the view kept me occupied. I watched, and waited in till the route came into view. The twisting, winding “Snake Dike” was approaching ominously.
“Whew” I let out a tired but happy breath at the top. I was exhausted and thirsty after climbing sloping granite which seemed to never end. My mouth was stuck together due to a lack of water but I didn’t mind we had trained not to need water. “We did it” mumbled mike as best he could through his parched lips. “Yea we did” I responded. If anytime was a high five moment this was it. Aaaa but wait the beauty of climbing is that when you reach the top you’re not done, you still have to get down.
“Let’s go down slow guys, take you time” the sound of Aleksey’s voice drifted in the wind as Kataya and I flew down half dome. All I saw was a never ending sea of green and white, the bottom was close. Then I began to slow down, my progress got slower and slower. Traffic jams plagued the rusty, creaky railings which snaked their way down the side. I decided to go down on the outside of the railings. Well, I went down a lot faster, I could see steps slowly approaching, I could see the bottom, but it never seemed to get any closer. I felt like Odysseus on an eternal journey. The Wind blew back and forth, I could see Kataya’s red fleece moving further away by the second. I looked up; wondering if could see Aleksey and the rest of the guys. I could see them; barley. They were massed together surrounded by hikers. They looked like a rock surrounded by sand, slowly moving down. While scurrying down the stone steps I hand flew in front of my face. I saw a man and a women sitting on a small ledge. “You climbed that dude?” the man said to me. “Ya” was all I could get out over my heavy breathing. I was in my rhythm and I was not going to stop for a conversation. A quick high five and I was on my way. The path leveled out and I saw Kataya sitting there. “We should wait for the rest” she said. I pretended to look disappointed but I really didn’t mind the rest. I sat there on the rock like a lizard, absorbing the sunlight. After what seemed like hours Aleksey and the rest of the team got down. “Good guys, but this time lets go down together.” We started off. We moved our way down the trail in a single file line. That lasted for about 3 seconds, soon Kataya was running again and I was right beside her. Mike, Sam, and Eric joined us for this bout to high camp. As we moved we varied our speed, one by one they dropped off. About 3 minuets after we started Eric bailed, then in another 5 minuets so did Sam. Mike and I followed Kataya down jumping from rock to rock. Our pace was kept by the clang of our gear; we were expecting to see our high camp any second. About an hour later we were still going down. I was getting thirsty, really thirsty. “Finally” I heard Mike yell “there it is”. We could see the woods which hid our high camp. With mile wide smiles we crept into the woods. Almost simultaneously we saw Aleksey and the rest pop out of the woods, “They didn’t pass us did they?” I asked Mike with puzzled look on my face. “No” he answered equally confused. We didn’t say a thing, we have learned not to question Aleksey’s mysterious powers. We drank some water, packed our stuff, and headed down to the road. Aleksey immediately hinted that he was not going to get shown up by Kataya and he began to run down. Sam, Eric, Mike and I followed right behind. It was so much fun, a perfectly choreographed dance of running, jumping, hoping and kicking off of rocks. We were moving fast, really fast. There was a cloud of dust behind us, literally. Soon I lost sight of Sam and Eric. Mike and I were flying down next to Aleksey. “Excuse me” was the only sound besides the thump of our feet. We were passing the “tourists” like crazy. We kicked it into light speed, before I knew it we had reached the bath rooms. I could feel that we were almost there. Mike stopped at the bathrooms, Aleksey and I kept going. We were going so fast that, well, people were getting annoyed. This boy stepped in Aleksey’s path without realizing it and Aleksey picked him up and moved him aside. Then I saw it, the bus stop, and salvation. Aleksey looked at his watch, “Not Bad.” he said while nodding his head. “How long?” I asked him, while catching my breath, “About 55 minuets.” I was astonished; it had taken us four hours to get up that. From a pick nick table I saw Mike approaching. The three of us sat there for what seemed like hours, waiting for everyone else. They trickled in one by one. Finally we all boarded the bus and headed back to Camp Four. We got to our camp sight, I dropped my bag and jumped up on the slack line. Mike was standing there with me, then we heard it, the pluck of guitars, the rolling base...“Sweet home Alabama, where the skies are so blue, sweet home Alabama lord I’m coming home to you.” “Ha more like sweet home California” mike said with a smile. “Yup”, I thought to my self, “sweet home California indeed.”
