Handbook

Overview

This route is steeper than it looks. As the name predicates, it is a beautiful hand crack and very well protected, following up a right-facing dihedral. The first pitch ends at a pair of new (3/8 " bolts) and an old rivet. It is a beautiful open book and strenuous, perhaps an anomolly for Tuolumne Meadows.

Getting There

Park on Tioga road about 1 mile east of Low Profile Dome, across from the east end of Medlicott Dome. This is a paved pullout on the north side of the road - the only pullout nearby that is paved. Once you've parked, hike in a northwesterly direction. The domes are about 1/2 a mile away; there is no real trail. (We did find cairns, but they didn't seem to lead to the domes.) You cannot really see the domes because of the dense forest and because from the direction you approach, they just look like piles of rock. Once you hike around to the backside, however, you'll see that these aesthetic domes are about 200 feet high with moderate and many difficult routes.

To find Handbook, walk around the backside of North Whizz dome and look for the perfectly shaped right-facing dihedral. It's near the south side of the dome -- you can't miss it.

Route Description

The route is easy to see and goes straight up for the entire first pitch. The route begins in a straightfoward open book, alternating between overhung and moderate with strenous climbing and big ledges for the feet. This is not a trivial climb but can also be a practice aid climb (C1). There are two new (3/8") bolts at the top of the first pitch and you can easily rappel down from there if desired. Otherwise, continue up and under the roof to the left (5.8), up, across to the left again (5.7), and then up a short chimney to the top.

Essential Gear

This route is very well protected. Use lots of medium-sized nuts and cams. (.75 - 5 inches) If you don't have 5 inch cams, you can probably get away with a couple of slighly smaller ones, maybe 4 inches. The smalled size of nut I used was a #7 offset nut (purple). Bring doubles of the medium sized nuts and cams. One rope reaches the ground from the top of the first pitch if you choose to rap off.

Images

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