Kitty and I headed off to Yosemite for a short climbing/skiing trip at the end of March. The weather was great although there was plenty of snow on the ground. We went up to Glacier Point Apron to do the Grack Center - a beautiful finger/hand crack up a slab to a Yosemite-style pinnacle. Three pitches, all with a great view across the Valley to Washington Column and North Dome.
The "15-minute" approach felt more like a 45 minute death march, but we got there and the climb is excellent. Three pitches up, then three rappels down.
We cleverly decided to take a shortcut back to the trail and car and ended up in an incredibly dense forest and amazingly wet swamp. When we finally staggered, scratched and with our feet soaked in a foul mud, out of the wet parts of the trek, we came on half a dozen fresh bear scat piles, then a big, beautiful cinnamon bear.
Next day we headed up to Badger Pass. Had a great day of Spring skiing. No lift lines, great snow till late afternoon when it hit 50F and got a little slushy.
Wonderful trip
