It Is Time

Twenty-nine years ago last night I was finishing my CB radio to Walkie-Talkie conversation with my husband. I headed back to my tent. He was bivouaced in an alcove over 3,000 feet up the Nose route of El Capitan in Yosemite valley. He had already anchored the pitch above and would be completing the climb to the top first thing in the morning. I had given him the weather report - a snow storm was on its way. He was not worried since he could easily climb that last pitch, even in snow.

Saturday morning, I awoke to a blanket of white. Clouds filled the valley and there was no visual indication that I was surrounded by the monolithic grandeur that is Yosemite. I grabbed something for breakfast, then headed down to the meadow to make radio contact with Dave once again. Depending on the time he awoke, he could have completed his descent by mid-morning. I did NOT want to face his fury, so I dared not be late.


We had been married less than two years and it had been rocky almost from the start. He decided he had been limited for too long and rebelled against nearly everything I thought he believed in. He had a nasty temper and wanted things his way. I tried hard to please him, but it seemed we were always at odds over something. Six months earlier, he even had a girlfriend. He swears nothing physical happened between them, but I was never sure. Despite the tough times, things had improved since the first of the year. I would soon have my teaching license and we were making plans that would suit both of us.

Saturday was hard. I couldn't raise David on the CB. I didn't know whether his battery had died, he had dropped the thing or if he was just busy climbing. He only turned it on occasionally, so it wasn't too odd to not reach him. But what was I to do? I couldn't sit in our pick up truck waiting. If I ran the motor, it wasted gas. Without the motor, there was no heat. I could return to the village, but if Dave made it to the meeting spot and I wasn't there, I was in trouble.

I did a little of everything. I waited until I couldn't stand the cold any more, then ran the motor and heater for a bit. Once in a while I would drive back to the village and wander through the stores to stay warm. I'd stay only as long as I thought I could before driving back to our meeting spot to see if he was there. Round and round. Waiting, cold, waiting.