Seeking Ansel Adams' ghost on Yosemite's Matthes Crest

In 1938 Ansel Adams led an extended trip for his friends Georgia O'Keefe, David McAlpin, and two  Rockefellers through the Yosemite wilderness. His entourage included "about fourteen mules, guide, packer, cook, much food, warm bedding, photographic equipment, and great expectations in general." They camped two nights at Cathedral Lake and by Adams' words and the testimony of two of his photographs the party made it to the north approach to formidable Matthes Crest (which Adams forbade anyone to attempt to climb).

Adams' 1938 photo scanned from page 229 of his autobiography

My August 2019 rephotograph of Adams' September 1938 Matthes Crest photo

I've been viewing Matthes Crest for nearly fifty years and wanted to rephotograph Adams' two photos. In August 2019 I stood at the east end of Echo Peak 8 looking down the whitebark pine-filled col and finally decided to see if I could safely get down it and traverse over to the approach to Matthes Crest.

Echo Peaks 8 and 9 above the whitebark col

It turned out to be quite easy and safe and within 30 minutes I was standing where Ansel placed his tripod 81 years ago at about the same angle of the sun and shadows. I was amazed to see that even the small rocks in the foreground had not moved in eight decades of snowstorms, rain, and wind. This is also a testament to how few people come here.

I then clambered to the south to find Adams' second photo site closer in to the crest. I found a perfect match. Again, the rocks are for the ages. Clouds and people come and go but geology flows at a slower rate.

My field copy of Adams' 1938 photo

My August 2019 rephoto

I told my climbing partner that I would meet him in four hours at Budd Lake pass above our Upper Cathedral Lake camp. After my Matthes Crest rephotography I still had three hours to go so I decided to pay a revisit to my "mountaineers paradise" which I had discovered during a solo one-day circumambulation of the Cathedral Cirque in August of 1987. The entrance to this area is a curious passageway which I called "Heaven's Gate."  I could see this opening in the east wall leading up to the Cockscomb from my vantage point on the north apron of Matthes Crest so I decided to reclimb this passageway at seventy which I had first done thirty-two years earlier at the age of thirty-eight.

Here's my 1987 photo of Heaven's Gate and my 2019 image of it.

August 1987

August 2019

I intersected the steep sidewall that led to Heaven's Gate about halfway up and found the footing a bit precarious but I made it up to a friendly old twisted mountain hemlock which I used to pull myself up the slope inch by inch until I could stand and clamber through the gateway. I gave out a fine welcoming shout when I made it back through the gate after a thirty-two years absence.

After exploring my mountaineer's paradise I headed up past the "garden wall" to near the base of the Cockscomb which I had clambered up to near the top of in 1987. But not this year. Time was running out with just an hour left to get all the way back to the Budd Lake pass and I wasn't sure yet how I would go. The darkening clouds I had been watching were clearly pouring down on the Tuolumne Meadows area to the north. Distant thunder was booming.

The Cockscomb from Mountaineers Paradise

Looking down into the Cathedral Cirque from below the Cockscomb

Looking down towards Budd Lake, which is a route I took decades ago, I quickly saw that lingering snowfields and the steepness of the descent were not for me so I hurried along to the highest point of the Matthes Crest apron where it intersects the south wall of Echo Crest. Here I found a refreshing snowfield where I filled my near-empty water bottle and speedily traversed over to the whitebark col leading up to Echo Peaks. At the top I found myself facing a seven-foot undercut wall which I could only climb by bridging the gap with my body using the tension between my legs and my back to inch my way up. Soon I was heading down the wide north-facing sandy swath that leads down to Budd Lake. As soon as I cleared the rocks to the west I headed directly down to Budd Lake Pass crossing gorgeous slot canyons full of late-season greenery and blossoms. I made it back to David at Budd Lake Pass 30 minutes after four after a fine adventure back in time.

The sandy swath leading to Wilts Col and the Echo Peaks

Echo Peaks