Where: Yosemite National Park, Sierra Nevada, California
When: July 2008
Partners: DB (Unicorn); Solo (Cockscomb)
Route: Unicorn Pk (South Arete - Class 4) / Cockscomb (West Face - Class 4)
Mileage/Gain: 6/3,000
Matthew Holliman had recommended Yosemite National Park's Unicorn Peak and The Cockscomb to me, so they quickly shot up to the top of the to-do list as I made my way back to the park.
Starting out from the Elizabeth Lake Trailhead in the back of the Tuolumne Meadows Campground one morning, DB and I made quick time up the trail to the beautiful lake. There, we got a nice view of our objective. Leaving the trail at the lake, we started up cross-country toward the east face of the upper mountain.
Reaching the notch between the northern (highest) and middle summits of Unicorn Peak, we headed up. With mostly class 2-3 scrambling, albeit exposed in places, the crux of the route was most definitely a spicy (though with good holds) class 4 sequence around a corner past a bulge. Exhilarated, we were soon on the small summit!
Dropping back down from the summit, DB and I headed for the saddle south of Unicorn Peak, where a small clump of trees would house DB while I headed alone over to grab Cockscomb.
Though perhaps not as spicy an ascent as Unicorn Peak, Cockscomb, another nunatak, is a much more aesthetic peak. I was stoked as I made off for it!
Angling around to the west face of the peak after dropping down below the peak on its north side to skirt cliffs, I scrambled up one of the two steep gullies on the face and found myself at the notch below the summit...or one of them.
With a little trial and error, I found that I was in the wrong (south) notch, and so dropped down a short chimney then traversed right to the correct notch. A couple class 4 moves put me on the highpoint. Yeehaw!
Snapping a few pictures, I downclimbed from the summit crag and then made my way back down the face and headed for DB...
TOPO
Unicorn Peak & Cockscomb: A Special 2-for-1
