Tenaya Canyon Descent

Racing the light of day, m

y son Gavin, takes a moment to observe the sunset on Half Dome while still in the depths of Tenaya Canyon.

A trip through Tenaya Canyon is like visiting the Land of the Lost and yet it is only a few miles from the iconic Half Dome and sees less than 24 descents annually (summitpost.org). It is the canyon that the outflow from Tenaya Lake has carved an amazing gorge through. While visiting it can be technically demanding and very dangerous (it is known as the Bermuda Triangle of Yosemite, where planes have crashed and adventurers die annually) it is also an incredibly rewarding place for those who are prepared and pass through during windows of time when the geology of the place is resting. On Saturday, Sept. 7th, my group of four close friends and my oldest son made the journey. While we were granted a pass, our day was one of relentless encounters and experiences that none of us could have ever predicted would happen. From aiding in the helicopter rescue of an injured 81 year old mathematical genius who had spent 27 hours in the wilderness alone and unable to walk, to triggering the search for his missing family members (including his 9 year old granddaughter). We saw evidence of recently occurring rockfall that blew our minds when we figured out how and where the debris came from. My son had a close as you can get unharmed encounter with a rattlesnake just as we thought we were home free. Oh, did I mention we ran into five young women descending the canyon that went skinny dipping (and skinny repelling!) in nearly every water hole in the inner gorge (Jasper and Jenn, I believe they were friends of yours)? And NO, I did not take pictures of them, however one of them was kind enough to take a picture of us (see the final photo in the album). You can read the captions to the photos to hear more details about our day.

We start our day at the Sunrise Lakes Trailhead near the outlet of Tenaya Lake off of Tioga Pass Road. For the first 1.5 miles we walk down Tenaya Creek through beautiful meadows and forest. The creek bed then cuts through granite and plunges into an enormous granite basin that marks the head of Tenaya Canyon. There is a famous sign posted here by the park service that seems to have the opposite effect from what it was intended to have.

We descend into the baseball stadium sized granite amphitheater. It is truly an unbelievable site. 

The basin bends to the Southwest and there is a beautiful dense forest right between the granite walls. We skirted along the edge of the trees make good time.

After about 1.5 hours of mostly hiking we approach what is considered to be the crux of the day. A 700 foot class IV descent down steep granite slabs to the valley floor. To access the best line down the steep granite you have to endure some horrific bushwacking. PHOTO BY: Thomas Stargaard

Gavin begins the descent down “the Slabs.” This is the line where the route becomes technical. Sticky rubber approach shoes are best for this terrain and you must avoid stepping on any moisture whatsoever. A slip would not end well. 

During our descent of the slabs section we heard some voices in the valley below. When we got to the bottom we were met by another hiker that had descended the gully route across the canyon. He and his partner moments before we arrived stumbled across an older gentleman who was sitting on the granite next to the creek. He said he had injured is ankle descending the slabs the morning before and that the rest of his party (his 51 year old son and his 9 year old granddaughter) had continued down canyon to seek help from Yosemite Search and Rescue (YOSAR). As most party’s do this trip in approximately 6-8 hours we did not understand why YOSAR had not sent out a helicopter or ground team to rescue the man by now. This made us highly concerned about the whereabouts of the son and granddaughter. We checked on him and offered him food and water while devising a plan of action to get him out of here. He was happy to get some Advil from me. PHOTO BY: Thomas Stargaard

After Aaron took down all of the victims (an 81 year old gentleman named Rob) info and pin pointing our coordinates I took out my emergency location beacon which allows me to send text messages via satellite and as I was getting it fired up my son Gavin looked at his phone and he said it was showing one bar of 4G coverage. A call was made directly to YOSAR and all of the important info was relayed to them before we lost reception. They instructed us to call them back every hour for updates. YOSAR said they had not received any calls prior regarding Rob so the situation with the other family members became of equal concern as evacuating Rob. An hour passed and we were unable to regain cell coverage so I texted my wife via satellite, explained the situation and she contacted YOSAR and passed on my Garmin Sat communication devices number so we could reconnect with them directly. After three hours, while I was communicating with the YOSAR ground team dispatched to help Rob, we all heard the sounds of a helicopter down valley toward Half Dome.

The chopper was flying low up Tenaya Canyon with Half Dome in the background. It was immediately clear that this was Rob’s very expensive Uber ride out of here. They circled us several times to access how to extract him and then landed on a slightly flatter granite rock pile about 1/4 mile from us. Two YOSAR members left the chopper and bushwhacked up to us. They examined Rob and explained that they were going to perform a short haul which meant that the chopper was going to fly above them with a haul line, lift up Rob and the two YOSAR crew, fly them back over to the more level area the chopper had originally landed at, land then and then load them all back onto the helicopter and fly them out of there.

Rob is prepped for the ride of a lifetime.

The helicopter flies into position directly above Rob.

Rob’s spectacular ride to safety.

With Rob safely rescued the focus of the YOSAR team became locating his granddaughter and son. We traveled with the YOSAR ground team down canyon to do a sweep. Not 10 minutes after Rob was airlifted out the ground team received a radio call from the helicopter team notifying them that they have spotted the father and daughter who appeared to be safe but still in Tenaya Canyon. Coordinates were relayed and the ground team jumped ahead using our rappel line to get to them ASAP.

With the emergency over our only concern was getting through the technical sections of Tenaya Canyon before darkness arrived. Gavin can be seen here in blue making the second rappel into the gorge (zoom in and try to find him).

Mike and Marcus boulder hopping in the inner gorge.

Doing our best to keep our feet dry so our approach shoes would have good traction on the polished granite. Photo by: Thomas Stargaard

Markus making the waterfall rappel down the LeConte Boulder look effortless. Photo by: Thomas Stargaard

Half Dome is getting nearer and Quarter Domes come into sight.

More boulder hoping and tricky route finding. 

For the past hour we had been running into a group of five women descending the canyon. They were ahead of us and unbelievably after they would do a rappel they would strip naked and go skinny dipping in the beautiful pools of water in the gorge. We would then catch up to them and they would partly clothe themselves (at least most of them would) and head to the next rappel. We would end up waiting for them to continue and shook our heads in disbelief as the routine was repeated. Was this really happening?

Tom making one of the final rappels. 

Gavin takes in the unique view of Half Dome from the darkness inside Tenaya Canyon.

We exit the gorge as the sun begins to set. We hurry down the last several miles of river bed to make it to the Snow Creek trail before it becomes completely dark.

After a long arduous and confusing hike through boulders, forest, poison oak and scree we make it to Snow Creek Bridge and trail. We think we are home free at this point until Gavin goes below the bridge to rinse himself in the water and almost steps on…..

A Western Diamondback Rattlesnake just inches from Gavin’s foot. A close call at the end of an unbelievable day.

The sign at the Snow Creek Bridge.

As Snow Creek trail comes down to Mirror Lake we are treated to a special view of Half Dome. We finished the walk to the car as complete darkness falls around us.

The crew.