The year 2005 was not exactly a watershed hiking year for me, having snapped the Anterior Cruciate Ligament in my right knee playing Ultimate Frisbee in July. Dr. Jeff Cummings with the Tahoe Fracture Clinic expertly put that mess back together, and PT Boyd Etter got things moving again, albeit painfully. Having accepted the fact that I would not be cavorting about the Sierra again for at least a year, I put my focus on other things and had to settle for reading about others' adventures. Annoyingly, much of my work during the winter and spring involved a desk, and I found regular exercise a difficult task that was convenient to push aside.

Jump to August, when after a summer of work in Alaska I was ready to get back to familiar territory. Barry pretty much demanded that I go on a little expedition to climb the North Ridge of Mt. Conness in Yosemite, a route that both of us had been meaning to visit for some time. It sounded reasonable --- 10,000ft trailhead, 3.5mi approach, and quality granite. Throwing in the class 4 North Ridge of North Peak as a warmup was not a big deal either, as two peaks are always better than one. On paper, it looked like an easy day. So, I duly informed Barry of my sad physical state, mentioning that between my recovering knee, summer at low altitude, and over a year without any peaks, North Peak would probably be my only summit of the day, if I was lucky. He promptly called me a sandbagger, or something of that ilk. Well, I figured my used-up La Sportiva Exum Ridge shoes had a couple peaks left in them, so what the heck.

Monday, August 28th, found Barry, myself, and David Rodriguez exiting the car to a chilly morning at Saddlebag Lake, just as the sun was hitting the surrounding peaks. Breathing deeply, I realized that it had been nearly two years since my last Sierra peak. For some reason, that made me feel guilty, like letting a friend down or something. All the more reason to give it a good effort, I thought.

As we passed Greenstone Lake a few minutes later (right photo), it was obvious that it was going to be a classic Sierra day, with endless deep blue sky and bright sunlight bouncing off pure white granite. As we left the trail and continued cross-country to the start of North Peak's North Ridge, the bouncy turf ledges and easy slabs made me feel as if I had never left after all. By the time we began negotiating fun obstacles on the ridge, I had forgotten all about being out of shape.