Eagle Tower 7,285′ and Peak 7,568′
Sierra Nevada
Total Time: 5:30
Distance: 8.4 miles
Elevation Gain: 4200′
Crux: Class 2 (plus log aid)
Trailhead: Yosemite Fall TH- full services
It had been a sad gap in time since my last visit to Yosemite Valley, from a combination of the usual winter storms, illnesses and work obligations. But March was shaping up to have excellent early spring weather and some nice time off, with 6 separate days planned in the Valley to climb and hike. After a day of solo top roping on some Valley testpiece cracks, I wanted to break out my snowshoes at least once for the season. I decided to head up to Eagle Tower, hardly a tower or even a true summit, but a point on the north rim of the Valley with a phenomenal view of Yosemite Falls. It would also allow me to tag nearby Peak 7568′, with a 10′ summit block overhanging on all sides, rumored to be the “hardest unnamed summit with over 300′ of prominence in California.” A very niche title but it would make for a nice outing nonetheless.
I parked at the Yosemite Falls trailhead shortly after sunrise, a few hearty souls stirring in Camp Four as I hiked through. I realized this was the first time on the Yosemite Falls Trail in almost 6 years since hiking to the top of El Capitan, more of a testament to the quality and variety of trails and objectives in Yosemite than anything else. I passed one poorly prepared looking hiker in the lower switchbacks, but wouldn’t see another person until on my descent hours later. I on the other hand was over prepared, with mountaineering snowshoes and microspikes, unsure of the conditions I would find higher up. But low on the trail the conditions were quite dry dry, quickly hiking past Columbia Rock and across the flatter sections across the bench above Lower Yosemite Falls, with Upper Yosemite Falls thundering above.
There was a very short section of trail buried by thick avalanche debris and snow which was fairly easy to skirt past, as well as a few patches of snow on the upper switchbacks before hitting the rim. I eyed the climbing route “Via Aqua” near the falls, an adventurous route typically climbed due to its proximity to the falls rather than the rock quality- in fact a huge flake had come off the route the year before. I reached the junction for the Yosemite Falls overlook in about 1:45, pretty decent time given the 2800′ of elevation gain and stopped to filter a liter of water and put on my snowshoes, the snow coverage now at nearly 100%.
A bootpack continued along the Yosemite Creek Trail and I followed it briefly before cutting cross-country toward Peak 7568′. From the trail the summit lies roughly 0.4–0.5 miles away, mostly through steep forest with occasional slabs. My mountaineering snowshoes with integrated crampons provided excellent traction on the firm morning snow, allowing me to climb fairly directly.
I pulled out my phone to try and hit Peak 7568′ directly, deviating at times to avoid bare steep rock slabs or patches of manzanita poking through the snow. It was just after 10 AM when I reached the summit block, a medium sized log wedged tightly into a water groove to get above what would otherwise be a difficult boulder problem. Ideally this would be climbed with deeper snow filling the base, but the rock had melted out from solar radiation.
The log itself was too slick to climb directly, but rather made for nice hands with lower logs stacked up for steps. I found a few more branches to fortify the makeshift ladder before starting up. There was actually excellent hands in the water groove itself, and after an initial false start, I pulled myself on top of the log and up to the summit block. I took a few photos, forgot to check for a summit register then reversed the moves fairly easily and back down to the snow.
I popped my snowshoes back on and started directly south towards the rim in search of Eagle Tower. The snow coverage became thinner and thinner, eventually leading to completely bare rock slabs and sand slopes where I took the shoes off completely.
I picked up a game trail through the manzanita before reaching the rim with a dramatic 2000′ drop down to the Yosemite Falls trail with one of the best angles of Yosemite Falls I’ve ever had. The ‘summit’ of Eagle Tower was very indistinct, a few bump along the rim with ~10′ of prominence vying for the title. I stopped at a few of them before I was satisfied that I tagged the summit. It was only 10:30, tagging the two summits from the Valley floor in under 3 hours, and I stopped for an early lunch and enjoyed the view of the Falls, Half Dome, Clouds Rest and the Clark Range.
For my return, I needed to partially reclimb Peak 7568′, although I was able to skirt the summit itself to the east to avoid regaining the full elevation. Having made such great time, I took a less direct route back to the Yosemite Creek Trail, trending further to the north on less steep slope, now softened by the sun. I quickly reached the junction with the falls overlook and removed my snowshoes, now with throngs of hikers ascending the trail. I got an unusual number of questions as I passed countless unprepared hikers:
“Do we have to come down this way?”
“Did you drink the water?”
“How much farther is it?” It was a far cry from the peaceful morning I had enjoyed alone.
It took me about 2.5 hours to descend from Eagle Tower back to my car, the entire outing taking 5 and a half. With no short objective left in mind—and my climbing gear back home—I called it an early day and drove home to pick up Avery from preschool and start on dinner.