Reed's Direct, Yosemite Photo The photo was taken during the winter in Yosemite, California. The view...

Reed's Direct, Yosemite

Photo
The photo was taken during the winter in Yosemite, California. The view is from the second pitch (rope) off of the ground in a classy long hand crack. 
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The Climb
This is an excellent route.  I have climbed it a few times. Not counting all of my alpine climbing as a kid, this was my first rock climbing trip , day 2, and I was ready for the challenge.

The first pitch has a awkward step across to a long jam crack that ends with a nice curve to a bush.

The second pitch is shown in  this photo and is a classic. The crack leans to the right so there is no place to set your right foot.

The 3rd and last pitch is a grunt, in a chimney that closes off and forces you out to an off width crack. My hands sweat sometime just thinking of the finish. On the finish I had to turn in the chimney a couple of time to size up my exit and plan my moves. As the chimney walls got closer and closer more leg strength was needed. I ended up stemming the outside to get higher to gain the off-width crack section. I hate off-width-cracks! I was able to place a nice stopper in the rock for protection in case I fell. As I continued up the off-width crack, I did an arm-bar. Only problem was when I would exhale, I would start to slip out of the crack. Quickly inhaling I would jam my arm in deep again, crank on it and work my way up. There were 4 of us that day and as the others made it up I realized I was not the only one that had to grunt my way up.

The Youtube clip shows just the first two pitches. The end on a nice ledge I once spent the night on. We took gear for the night and stayed tied in during the night.
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I found this excellent Youtube clip; 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g--kDiqvHfY
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Link to Route;
http://www.supertopo.com/rock-climbing/Yosemite-Valley-Reeds-Pinnacle-Direct-Route
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More Good Stuff in the Text Below ... Read More
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Congratulation! If you made it this far, there is more good stuff to come. I have included some slide shows that were taken while climbing.

The Ptarmigan Traverse, Washington Cascade Mountains.(Including photos of this trip) (Use arrow keys)
http://www.panoramio.com/user/2707898/slideshow?tag=Ptarmigan%20Traverse%20Slide%20Show

North Ridge of Mt Stuart Slideshow (Use arrow keys);
http://www.panoramio.com/user/2707898/slideshow?tag=Stuart%20Slide%20Show

Some Personal Favorites (Use arrow keys)
http://www.panoramio.com/user/2707898/slideshow?tag=Personal%20Favorite%20Slide%20Show

Slide show of nameless lakes, un-mapped lakes and others;
http://www.panoramio.com/user/2707898/slideshow?tag=Tarn%20Slide%20Show    (Use arrow keys)

Climbing on Eldorado and others on an Ice Cap
http://www.panoramio.com/user/2707898/slideshow?tag=Eldorado%20Trip%20Slide%20Show  (Use arrow keys)

Mt Daniel Area   (Use arrow keys)
http://www.panoramio.com/user/2707898/slideshow?tag=Mt%20Daniel%20and%20Dip%20Top%20Slide%20Show

Mt Olympus slide show
http://www.panoramio.com/user/2707898/slideshow?tag=Mt%20Olympus%20Slide%20Show

Lake Lyman Area Slide Show
http://www.panoramio.com/user/2707898/slideshow?tag=Lyman%20Lake%20Slide%20Show

Goat Slideshow
http://www.panoramio.com/user/2707898/slideshow?tag=Goat%20Slide%20Show  (Use arrow keys)

Thanks for taking the time to look. You comments are always welcome!     - Randy
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+Dana. k
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#landscapephotography  +Landscape Photography +Margaret Tompkins +Kevin Rowe +Toshi Nakamura +Tony Phillips +Jeff Beddow +Kevin O'Connell Photography +Krzysztof Hanusiak +Dennis Hoffbuhr +Dave Gaylord +Doug Hagadorn +Eric Drumm +RJ Wilner 
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#breakfastclub  +Breakfast Club  +Gemma Costa +Rob Heron
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#stunningmoment  +Stunning Moment by +Alycia Tsai +Zvonimir Fras
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#hqsplandscape   +HQSP Landscape curated by +Michael Garza +Leo Schubert +David D +Jesse Martineau +Mike Hankey +Peter Marbaise and +Albert Vuvu Konde
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#promotephotography  +Promote Photography   +Nikola Nikolski +Naghmeh Khadembashi +Milena Ilieva
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#showyourbestwork  +ShowYourBestWork  +Britta Rogge
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#yosemite   #reedsdirect   #climbing   #rockclimbing   #randylikestoclimb   #climbingjunkie   #adrenaline   #inspirational   #climbingjunkiestory