Temple Crag / Dark Star is the massive buttress immediately right of the summit / Sun Ribbon Arete is the prominent knife-edge ridge immediately to the left of the summit / Moon Goddess Arete is the next distinct ridge, starting immediately above the pine tree top in the left of the photo / Venusian Blind Arete is the less distinct line to the left of Moon Goddess

20090711-13.  Pat came up from San Diego, wanting to climb on Temple Crag.  Temple is host to some fantastic alpine grade III, IV, and V routes on surprisingly good rock.  Pat and I got to climb Moon Goddess (IV 5.8, 15 pitches), with our SMC Interns Andy and Rich following along.  Rich was the declared “team photographer” and I’ll add photos as he passes them on.  Cheers!

Chris Simmons is an AMGA Certified Alpine Guide and a Rock, Alpine, and Ski Guide with SMC.  More about Chris’ adventures in the Sierra and around world can be found on his blog, Climb.Ski.Run.Sleep.Repeat.