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9815 Hits
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81.84% Score
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14 Votes
Page Type:
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Route |
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Lat/Lon:
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37.74000°N / 119.58°W |
Route Type:
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Trad Climbing |
Season:
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Spring, Summer, Fall |
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Time Required:
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Half a day |
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Difficulty:
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II 5.8 |
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Rock Difficulty:
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5.8 (YDS) |
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Number of Pitches:
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4 |
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Grade:
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II |
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Overview
Selaginella ascends the 2nd tier of cliffs in the Five Open Books area just left of Yosemite Falls. The route offers fun and well protected climbing with great views of Lost Arrow Spire.Getting There
Either climb one of a dozen or so routes to reach the top of the lower tier of Five Open Books cliffs (e.g. Munginella, 5.6 or Commitment, 5.9) or reverse the descent directions given for Munginella (wet class 3). The foremer option is the preferred choice for most I'd assume. The route is located ~150 yards right (towards Yosemite Falls) and slightly uphill of the top of Commitment. Fairly obvious climbers' path connects the two. Look for nice cracks formed by flakes trending left towards the huge right-facing dihedral.
Route Description
Pitch 1: 5.8, 160 feet. Move up the easy and enjoyable cracks heading up and towards the dihedral. Climb the dihedral and surmount a dead snag remnant. Belay on a huge ledge on the left just above the snag. Gear belay.
Pitch 2: 5.8, 100 feet. Move up the cracks toward a right-facing dihedral. Just above this initial dihedral, look for an easy escape left via low angle ramp system. Head left and up and belay at highest tree (gear).
Pitch 3: 5.8, 120 feet. Surmount some flakes just above belay on right and enter a low angle groove/chimney. Re-enter another right-facing dihedral and exit onto a small ledge on left. Clip a new bolt (and/or piton) and step left (crux of route?) onto a large, sloping ledge with embedded "crystals". Gear belay.
Pitch 4: 5.8, 160 feet. Move up the obvious right-facing dihedral with a hand crack. Continue up a series of intermittent small dihedrals with thin cracks. Eventually reach a narrow ledge. Traverse left to a 15 foot flake. Move up the flake and pull onto the rim (there's a manzanita tree/bush there).
Descent:
From top of route, hike directly uphill for ~150 feet until you reach the obvious Yosemite Falls Trail. Hike the trail left till it brings you down to Camp 4 in about a mile. Hike park road back to your car.
Essential Gear
Set of nuts. Double cams from blue Alien to #3 Camalot. I may have placed a larger piece (#3.5).