Our alarm went off at 6:00AM to rouse us from sleep. We were happy to awaken to daylight; it made
it so much easier to get out of bed. We
needed to head to the Wilderness Center to get in line to pull
first-come-first-serve permits to backpack out to the Matthes Crest and
Cathedral Lakes area to climb. Our goal
was to climb one of the peaks on Monday, and the other on Tuesday before hiking
back out. When we arrived at the
building, there were about a dozen people already in line. When the ranger came out at 8:00AM, he organized
us into groups based on when we were looking to leave, and whether or not we
had reservations already. When we said
we were going out to climb Matthes and Cathedral we were psyched to see that
put us right behind the people who had reservations. Apparently, climbers are not counted the same
way as regular backpackers since we use cross-country trails off the main
trails.
Cathedral Peak
After getting our permit and renting bear canisters to store
our food while we are out, we headed to Lee Vining to buy food supplies for the
trip. We are currently sitting at the
Mobil, getting updated and informed with internet access. The rest of the day will involve meal
planning and shopping, prepping our packs, and hopefully a bit of easy access
climbing. A second meal of BBQ and fried food is already planned... we already had breakfast burritos and pancakes at the Mobil!
