The idea behind this linkup was developed while sitting one sunny morning at the Tuolumne SAR site with the famous Stu. We discussed the idea of linking up all the domes by any means possible, climbing, walking, butt-scooting, what have you!
A few weeks later, I put the plan into action.
I left the Tuolumne SAR site at 4:30am and began walking to the first dome: Puppy. I quickly climbed the first two domes and then proceeded to walk along the road to the third. I dropped my pack at the third dome, Marmot, to de-layer, and accidentally left my little med kit there in the process, which would come to haunt me with nightmares of chaffing when I realized a few hours later.
I continued along and watched a magnificent sunrise over the meadows from the east shoulder of Fairview dome. The next several domes flew by fast with only the steep gully on Marioulumne proving to be a cause for pause, as I decided if it went or not (which it miraculously does at 3rd class or so). After descending from Lower Cathedral lake, I arrived at the technical crux of the TURDL: Pywiak. I had scouted the ascent and descent so I knew the way more or less, however the holds on the way up the rappel line felt real greasy on the particularly hot day that it was. I then descended the slab on the west side and ended up down climbing some trickier slab sections, up to about 5.7. There's probably an easier way to do this part but it's a maze of slabs and ledges and this was the best way I found.
I then found myself at Tenaya lake after a little more than 6 hours since beginning and chilled for a while at the beach. I then proceeded up a knuckleheaded approach to Stately Pleasure dome which involved more bushwhacking than I would have liked.
The next few hours started to drag on, with lots of up and down, weird route finding, inconvenient water fill-ups and impending thunderstorms. I pushed on through and eventually found myself at the base of Daff dome, debating if I should go for it with the dark skies and rain nearby. I stupidly decided to gun it and ran up the steep ("4th" class) slab as fast as I could, full zone 5 heart rate zone. I reached the summit in a couple minutes, touched it, and then turned around and full sprinted back down, arms waving in the air. About 1/4 of the way back down the slab it started to rain, and not just a drizzle, an immediate full downpour. I kept running down until I started to slip and then switched to a butt scoot/water slide. I stuck the small landing zone at the bottom and bolted out of their full speed. I proceeded over to the Micro domes and sat there for many minutes, contemplating life.
In the amount of time I spent sitting on Micro dome thinking about my loved ones, the thunderstorm had passed over and the skies were clearing, so I filled up some more water and slogged up to West Cottage dome. I kept walking along and found myself on Pothole dome, looking out at what I had climbed and the only two domes left, three miles down the road. I climbed back up part way to Marmot dome to grab my med kit and then started the walk over to Lembert.
After a quick rest at the store I started up the slab of Lembert and was gifted with hands down the best sunset I'd seen all summer in Tuolumne. As the sky exploded with reds and oranges I paused at the summit of Lembert and then jogged over to the final dome: Dog! I stood on Dog dome for a while, taking in what was around me and the fading sun. A huge ploom of smoke erupted from the Red fire off to the west as I began the final walk down. I arrived back in camp at 8:00pm and sat down at the fire ring to see what my friends had to say.
Some gear items:
Scarpa Spin Ultra trail runners
Black Diamond Carbon Z poles (rubber tips, key item!)
Black Diamond Distance 15 pack
Outdoor Research Ferrosi softshell
Little med kit
Headlamp
2 liters water capacity
Katadyn Be Free water filter
Lots of hydration help (Nuun tablets, Hammer salt pills, GU drink mix)
Lots of snacks!