“Middle Earth” or “Inner Gorge” is a canyoneering route in Yosemite between upper and lower Yosemite Falls. Since I was a kid and my mom took me to Yosemite I’ve been fascinated with the immensity and beauty of Yosemite Valley. I’ve been back a few times since, but this weekend was the first time I’ve descended a canyon in the park.
This 3 day trip to Yosemite was to focus on exploring a canyon that we had seen on our hike to Half Dome earlier this year (Snow Creek), but with a day to spare we decided to check out “Middle Earth”.
This is one of the falls in the Inner Gorge with Mika near the top of the rappel. After I got down this rappel it was quite clear that the rope had a high chance of getting stuck. I radioed up to her and explained the situation. There was another set of bolts at an exposed ledge 50 feet from the anchor I used, with a lot better rope pull. She pulled the rope, bagged it, rappelled to the next station and set this rappel.
The falls are currently dry but in the spring/summer this can be ragging with water. Definitely plan on going back and running this again with some flow.
