This may seem silly to most, but for me there’s nothing like going home after a day at work, checking my mailbox, and finding the most recent Patagonia catalogue waiting for me. Sure, Patagonia clothes are great, but that’s not why I like their catalogues. If you’ve ever had the pleasure of looking at one, you know they are chock full of exciting photographs and stories of adventures around the world. Be it skiing two feet of fresh powder in Utah, mountaineering in Chile, or scaling rocks in Nepal, the pictures and articles captivate me, turning my ordinary living room into a world-class expedition.

It was one such catalogue that introduced me to the world of rock climbing in Yosemite National Park when I was in high school. I had done a little climbing at that point in my life, but it was limited to gyms and crags in western NC. The photographs of climbers wedged into cracks on Half Dome and the majestic El Capitan sparked my interest and fascination of the sport of “big wall” climbing.

Since then I’ve spent a lot of time reading about the extensive history of rock climbing in the Yosemite Valley – the unofficial birthplace of the climbing movement in the United States. In the late 1800’s, John Muir was the first to record accounts of his adventures in what would become Yosemite. Adventurers took note of the area and eventually adopted the use of European climbing systems (ropes, belays, and rappels) in the 1930’s. With safety systems in place, thousands of new routes became accessible and their ascents became realities. For the past 80 years, the sport’s popularity has grown exponentially as the gear and techniques have been continuously re-worked and improved upon. Yosemite has become the “motherland” of American climbing – the place where climbers dream of visiting (and living) to test their skills on the big walls covered in history of climbers past.

You can imagine my excitement when I found out that the John Muir Trail Trek Hante group would be climbing in the Yosemite Valley during their trip. As a high school kid (and even now), I would’ve done just about anything to experience the majesty of Yosemite National Park. If you haven’t read the itinerary for the John Muir Trail Trek yet, I encourage you to check it out. This is a trip that shouldn’t be missed!

Want to learn more about the history of climbing in Yosemite? Check out this website.