In early summer, Chris Koppl and I hiked out to Little Yosemite Valley to check out new possibilities on some large walls that seemed to have a lot of potential. The first was the northwest face of Bunnell Point, approximately four trail miles east of Nevada Falls. We were unable to cross the Merced River directly across from Bunnell Point to access the wall, so we had to camp a couple of miles farther up the valley, by a bridge. The following morning, we crossed the bridge and backtracked, bushwhacking and scrambling over exposed moss. When we got to the base of the wall, it looked large, but we assumed it wouldn’t be much bigger than 1,000’. We began on a thin white dike that traversed up and left, about 200’ left of the Golden Bear (5.10b R). After about 700’ of sustained climbing, which required bolting, we ran out of time.

The following day, we found another bigger than expected route on Sugarloaf Dome, a south-facing formation directly above the trail, about 3.5 miles east of Nevada Fall. Beginning far to the right of existing climbs, our route began with about 600’ of fifth-class climbing with occasional 5.7–5.8 cruxes. We soloed and simul-climbed this terrain, and above encountered more sustained climbing, some of which looked very improbable for free climbing. This was mostly nice cracks, with a nails-hard slab pitch that Chris did a brilliant job of bolting on lead onsight. The crux overhang appeared unlikely to go free, but I found just enough holds and a thank-god jug, which allowed it to work out at only 5.11a or so. Above that, we found about 700’ of 5.9–5.10 cracks and corners, which did not let up until we pulled over the last overhang—Sugar Mama (1,600’ of climbing, IV 5.11a).

Later, in the early fall, Chris and I returned to Bunnell Point with Christian Black, hoping to finish what we started. This time we were able to cross the Merced with no trouble. After a day to climb and equip a few more pitches, the following day we sent the full monster route to the top. One of the best new routes I’ve climbed, the Salad Tossing Dike (2,250’ of climbing, IV/V 5.11a) was almost three times the size as it appeared from the base, and the climbing was brilliant, ascending a huge left-trending dike for nearly the entire wall. (The actual cliff is about 1,400’ high.) The route featured some good crack climbing, but was mostly featured face climbing on a dike that was as wide as six feet in spots.

– Vitaliy Musiyenko