Lower Cathedral Rock 5600′, Middle Cathedral Rock 6520′ and Higher Cathedral Rock 6644′
Sierra Nevada
Total Time: 6:35
Distance: 4.8 miles
Elevation Gain: 4800′
Crux: Class 4
Trailhead: Yosemite Valley- Cathedral Rocks Pulloff
In lower Yosemite Valley directly across from El Capitan is the Cathedral Rocks grouping made up of 6 distinct summits- 3 spires and 3 “rocks.” The 3 spires, Higher Cathedral Spire, Lower Cathedral Spire, and Church Tower are all technical, and I had a fun adventure up Church Tower the previous fall. The three “Rocks,” Higher, Middle and Lower Cathedral Rock, are similarly considered technical summits, although all three feature non technical routes to the top which are more commonly used by trad climbers to descend. I had been wanting to do a scrambling tour around the Cathedral Rocks via the Gunsight, and old class 4 route that ascends the notch between Lower and Middle Cathedral Rocks. But the deep notch holds snow into the early summer, so I had been saving it for a fall outing. The California National Forest closures and a late start due to being on call the night before forced my hand into trying out this route under hotter conditions than I would have ideally liked, but it still made for a rather fun day. I started out from the Cathedral Rocks parking area, the same place where we started our climb of Church Tower the year before. I planned to descend via the Spires Gully directly above the pull off, and followed the perimeter trail to the west as it paralleled the road.
The Direct North Buttress of Middle Cathedral loomed overhead along with a number of other lines that I had trouble picking out without a guide in front of me. I reached the cairned use trail for Gunsight just as I was starting to think I had passed it, and started steeply uphill, thankfully in shade. When I broke through the trees into the upper half of the gully, I was surprised by how close the notch above looked.
The gully steepened and the terrain went from second to third class, and I stopped to put on my harness at the first fixed rope and class 4 section. The rope was in quite good shape, and after a few test pulls, I clipped in my Microtrax and started up. The majority of this section was still third class but with polished and moss covered holds, so I was more than happy for the extra bit of security. The pitch ended with a solid Sierra fourth class move around a chokestone, reminding me a bit of the second pitch on Weavers Needle.
I quickly reached the second fixed rope, this one only about 30′ long and mostly to protect a single slippery move getting off a landing. The third rope was the longest and most difficult, heading up a steep chimney. I had read that the scrambling was a bit easier off to the left but did not have the safety of a rope, so I kept on the steeper but more protected line. At the top of the chimney a second rope appeared alongside the one I was clipped in to, both leading to a two bolt anchor atop some polished slabs.
A final 20′ rope connected the two bolt anchor to a solitary bolt across a ledge, and just as quickly as it started, the class 4 was done for the day. There were a few third class moves to get up to the notch, Lower Cathedral Rock now just overhead.
The summit looked close, so I decided to keep my harness and shoes on for the final bit of scrambling, taking about 20 minutes from the notch. The summit had an overhanging prow similar to the visor on Half Dome, and I sat in the shade beneath a nearby pine and took in the fantastic views of the Valley.
Although I had made good time, Lower Cathedral Rock is significantly shorter than Middle and Higher, probably half the height above the Valley floor. I knew that heading directly up Middle Cathedral from Gunsight would be somewhere in the 5.5-5.7 range, but I hoped I would be able to skirt the fifth class and pick up the climber’s descent trail in the narrow gully between Middle and Higher Cathedral Rocks. I followed a use trail from the top of Gunsight as it skirted the fifth class cliffs just as I hoped, dropping down in a handful of spots to get around some outcroppings but more or less traversing out across the slopes, Bridalveil Creek faintly rushing in the canyon below. As I neared the broad and ill defined gully running between the two rocks, I lost the use trail in more open and slabby terrain.
Utilizing a combination of game and faint climbers trail, I started steeply upslope, trying to avoid clumps of manzanita as much as possible. I cheated slightly to the right to avoid some of the steeper slabs, finding a well worn path of the lower angled slabs near the edge where other climbers had clearly descended previously.
The entire uphill stretch was in near full sun, and in the middle of the last big wave of heat for the year, I sat down at the high notch between Middle and Higher Cathedral Rocks for a breather to cool down.
Both summits looked very close, maybe 15 minutes to get to either one, and after cooling down, I started up to the summit of Middle Cathedral. What started off as a well defined climbers trail quickly disappeared into the manzanita, and resulted in a surprising amount of bushwacking for the final 200′ to the high point of Middle.
After a short summit break I headed back down to the notch, not doing much better at keeping on a climbing trail than on the way up. The route up Higher Cathedral from the notch was a bit steeper, and I quickly hit some steep slabs guarding the higher ledges below the summit.
I started up one side, found the slabs a bit too steep and polished, then moved around a bulge to my left. This initially worked but ended at some thick manzanita, with a very exposed series of moves out left on near vertical polished slab to reach easier ground. I opted for the safer option and plowed through the manzanita, pulling myself up on bundles of branches to easier ground and up to the summit. It seemed somewhat ironic that the worst bushwacking of the day was just below the summit of the two more well traveled rocks. Being the high point of the day, I took a bit longer of a break again under a pine tree just off the summit. There were 6 gallons of water cached for climbers at the summit, although I still had a bit under 1.5 liters left, which I felt like would be enough to get me back to the car.
After taking a few photos I started down towards spires gully, the climbers descent trail feeling like a highway compared to the thin trails I had followed since Gunsight. At the head of spires gully, there were two short class 3 downclimbs until I found myself in the broad boulder gully with High Cathedral Spire framed by the massive pines provided much welcome shade.
The upper third of the gully was well traveled boulder hopping, but the route became more defined the further I descended. By the time I was nearly in line with Lower Cathedral Spire and Church Tower, the trail was essentially a dirt path, and I picked up my pace, half jogging down to the Cathedral Boulders and the Valley floor. Hopping in my car, I swung around to El Cap Meadow to quickly rinse off the manzanita pollen I was coated in before heading home.
