Brief report:
I climbed the SE Buttress with Steven Sauter. We had fantastic weather. Not a single cloud in the deep, blue sky of Tuolumne. We pretty much followed the classic route (route "A" on SuperTopo). Steve led the first pitch to the "half-alive" pine tree. I led the 2nd pitch. Steve led about 1/2 of the 3rd pitch and set belay on the alcove. I ask him why he didn't continue further and he said the altitude was tired him down. So, I led the rest of the pitches to the summit (4 pitches from alcove to summit). I did not find the chimney pitch to be that difficult. Instead, the crux for me was the 5.6 crack about 20 feet below the summit (just before topping out on the class 4 summit blocks). Best views so far from any summit I've been on. Because several parties bottle necked just before the chimney (crowded day on the SE Buttress), we had to wait in line. I topped out at 4:45pm. I belayed Steve up and we both enjoyed the summit by 5:15pm. Then, we downclimbed the 15-foot class 4 crack and descended via the Mountaineers Route. All in all, beautiful views from this route but way too crowded with other climbing parties.
Additional info about climbing Cathedral Peak can be found here.