We showed up at the Ahwahnee parking lot around 8am and after visiting the bathroom and getting the gear ready, another party turned up in a car. We each looked at each other from our cars and practically raced to the base, but it turned out they were doing Serenity - good! So despite the fact we started at 8:30am, we were the first party on the route - seems suspicious? The sky was blue but there were some small & pretty puffy clouds - we knew what that meant so we didn't slack around too much. We chose one of the variations to the first pitch to bypass the 5.6 chimney, a nice enough 5.8 crack which took us to the main ledge. We shortened the rope and scrambled together the rest of the way, briefly pitching out a few sections. Around 10-11am the sky was dark black across the valley, but we were still inside a pocket of sunshine - we knew that wouldn't last all day, however, so kept moving.

We got to the top (pitch 15) around 12:30pm, 4 hours after starting - not bad. Of course, it started raining a few minutes after Melissa joined me at the belay, perfect timing! The rappel was uneventful but took some time with the mandatory tangled ropes, 2.5 hours or so. We hung out in Yosemite Lodge with a drink in the afternoon and enjoyed being cozy inside while it was pouring rain outside for the whole evening. It would have been nice not to feel as rushed, but Royal Arches is an awesome climb and the weather made it extra exciting. It is deservedly one of the "50 classics"!

The next day, we went to Hetch Hetchy.

			Starting up Royal Arches

	Feeling pain on the wide hand crack variation	Jamming	Melissa about to do the pendulum

		About to do the pendulum traverse with clouds overhead	Got it on the first try

	Arches near the top		Melissa near the top as it is starting to rain

		Pouring rain over there, but we are still mostly dry	Ready to rappel in the rain?

	Crisp air in between rain		Enjoying a pocket of sunshine between rain

		Mmm salty almonds!