Brief, because I’m busy as hell this week (mostly of my own sweet creation) but hate leaving things hanging.

Tenaya Canyon goes from high in the alpine into Yosemite valley. The “Bermuda Triangle” of the valley as hikers since Muir have gotten lost and epiked.

We started early, with gorgeous granite.

The views were pretty good. We’re headed down to that grove of pines, around 1.5k vertical of talus hopping and bush wacking.

Hard work, especially sideways ;)

M on a friction downclimb. Steeper than it looks.

The inner granite slot was a fascinating chaos of cracked boulders. Hard rock, slow erosion compared to the CO plateau. We found 3 raps and minimal technical difficulty, some cold water, and some people.

Our legs were pretty spent from the aforementioned descent.

Jumping the final pool to cool off, after the last rap down the back wall.

After this the clock set in. M had eaten a granola bar and bit of bread all day, and while it’s her custom to go long periods with minimal food and water (that would kill a normal person), this time it bit her. She bonked, her average speed dropped to 3/4-1/2 mph, and she puked a few times. I eventually regained my patience, took her pack, and guided her through the last maze of steep trail and boulders to a “real” trail and level ground in the valley.

We retreated to our tent cabin and refueled on Sprite and microwave burritos.

Next: the escape from the valley!