Highway 120 through Tioga Pass / Tuolumne was also open through January 17, 2012 this year - unbelievable and a record.

On Saturday we were hoping to climb Serenity Crack + Sons of Yesterday in the valley, but unfortunately there was a party that was making very slow progress (1.5 hours on the first pitch...) - and another party in line, etc. Even in January this climb is crowded!? Sigh. So we climbed Superslide next door, and had time to do the first couple of pitches of Serenity afterwards. A nice afternoon in the sun in tshirts!

On Sunday, we went to check out the Drug Dome ice climb - luckily, that was not crowded! Our alpine start resulted in starting to climb at 11am (better than noon on Saturday!) Since the temperatures were warm and the sun gets on the climb just after noon (this being a bad thing when on an ice climb in California), we couldn't dillydally anymore... I tried to try and do the whole thing in one pitch with the 70 meter ropes, but stopped just before the top in a nice sheltered spot on the left, as we would have had to simul climb a little otherwise (total length is about 90 meters). The sun came on us just as I was starting our (very short) second pitch - perfect timing! A couple of quick raps (first from a tree, then bolts) and we were on the ground, now in warm sunshine. What's unique about this climb is that a couple hundred feet to the left is one of the best climbs in Tuolumne, Oz. It would be cool to link-up both in the same day (I was thinking of linking the ice with rock on Mariuolumne Dome but the logistics of carrying rock shoes/rock gear up the climb did not seem worth it).

Content for the day, we debated whether to do something else, and eventually decided to do West Country on Stately Pleasure Dome - fun in the sun in tshirts, what a contrast! Then we enjoyed a nice sunset at Tenaya Lake, reflecting on how amazing it is to be in such a beautiful spot in mid-January... no traffic on the way home rounded up the sweetness!

	January? Unbelievable	The upper pitches of Superslide, with a couple of girls ahead	Upper pitches of Superslide

	Supersliding

	Melissa on Superslide	Higher up Superslide

	Last pitch	Last pitch of Superslide

	First pitch of Serenity Crack. A masacre of piton scars from the "golden age" of Yosemite climbing	Piton scars FTW	After getting some gear

	Higher on the first pitch	Serenity Crack, first pitch	First pitch of Serenity

	Hard to tell, but longer than it looks!	Starting the second pitch	In the awesome finger crack on the second pitch

	My favorite pitch, pure pleasure	All smiles on the second pitch

	Finger jams	Ice in Tuolumne! Drug Dome	The approach was mostly snow free, but icy

	Ice!

			Stoked at the base of the climb!

	Starting up

		I made it to the little cave at the top left (full 70 meters)	The steep section on the 2nd pitch (only ~10 meters for us)

	Melissa on our first pitch (full 70 meters)		Nearing the top of our first pitch

	So much fun		Topped out - the sun came out to warm us up. Though things immediately start melting.. time to get out of there!

	Tenaya Lake from Stately Pleasure Dome. Lots of folks skating and playing around!	Approaching West Country	On the first pitch of West Country

	On the first pitch of West Country	Starting up the greasy 5.7 corner, highlight of the route	Note the tshirt, and it's January 8th!

	Liebacking with greasy feet, yay	Third pitch of West Country (kinda, I went up to some rap anchors instead)

		Frozen Tenaya Lake is a strange sight...	Slab magic

	Slab moves with people skating in the background...	On the 3rd pitch of West Country	Slabby fun that Tuolumne is famous for

	Sunset

	Ice skaters on Tenaya Lake	Tenaya Peak/Lake

		Tripod + real camera would have been nice. Nice colors!