Hey! Filler episode for Climbing Adventures because I am being slow.
What is worse than than when you are belaying with an old rope and it gets black crud all over your hands? Or when you have to bind it up and it gets stripes on your shirt? OK, many things, but seriously dirty ropes are a real nuisance, and can make the rope wear out faster.
Birdcrap is terrible.
So I washed mine!
The rope. We used it a few weeks ago and it blackened all our hands. I was a little embarrassed.
I have had my rope for over a year now, but it hasn’t seen use in 6 months or so because it was just like I said, gross to use. After consulting the internet and friends I set to work. First I got the rope out, untangled it, cleaned out my sink (some people use their bathtubs, but I didn’t want to) I set to work!
This was the first time in the water, it got better I swear!
I put about a quarter or a fifth of the rope in the sink at a time, filled up some lukewarm water, and a tiny dab of soap. Then I rubbed the rope together and splashed it around in the sink. I let all the water out, and repeated this several times until the water was pretty clear. Then I moved on to the next bit!
See all the little metal filings? That’s a big part of what makes ropes dirty.
Finally it was all done and my arms were sore. I flaked out the rope on the ground because you aren’t supposed to hang it up as that can lead to uneven stretching and flattening of the rope in places. I still looked dark because it was wet and I was a little scared it was all in vain.
Letting the rope dry…
After a day or so, the rope was nice and dry so I gathered it in the “backpack” mode, wearing a white t shirt, and didn’t get any marks on anything! Hooray for clean rope!
White shirt! No marks! hooray!
There is a little tiny bit of fraying on my rope, but nothing serious like glassy areas or fuzzy bits. I think it has at least another 5 or 6 months of weekend use.
This happened way back in the fall of 2014, but our Bishop climbing weekend was awesome! A big party of our climbers drove all the way up to Bishop, CA to climb at Owens River Gorge, and to do some bouldering at Happy Boulders and Buttermilk Country. Our group was about half and half; half people excited for the top of the line bouldering, and half excited for wonderful new long climbs. We had the whole weekend planned out: Camp Friday, climb most of Saturday with some night bouldering, then Sunday a little more bouldering before heading home.
The view from our campsites was beautiful.
“The Pleasant Valley Pit” (AKA “The Pit”) is a Bureau of Land Management campground, pretty much just for climbers and boulderers. If you are a dirtbag climber (someone who climbs all the time) it would be pretty great. It’s very cheap, only 2 $ per car per night, and some of the spots are very nice. Being Weekend Warriors and not dirtbaggers, we took what we could get on Friday afternoon. There were only two sites left, and neither of these sites were very big, and neither had a table or firepit. They only had stone rings for a fire. So we had to go to in town to Target to go get a little 10 inch grill to cook food on. It worked out alright for toast, less well for any actual cooking. Everyone else stopped and got food on the way, so we only had a small fire before bedding down for the night.
Relaxing around the fire
The next morning we woke up, stoked the fire, toasted some bagels, and set out to Owens River Gorge. This is such a beautiful area.
Big sky of the desertFirst view of The Gorge
Driving in through high desert is breathtaking, and the hike down to lower gorge is easy on a well paved road, looking down to the river cutting through the earth.
We went down to the Lower Gorge and started looking around for some likely spots. We went with the first thing we saw (because we are lazy) which was The Big Tower. It is so beautiful there! With the river running next to the climbs, keeping everything cool and fresh. This trip was in November 2014, and it was still fall, with all the foliage was fluttering in the wind.
During most of our day, the wind was very refreshing, especially with the sun on our backs as we were climbing. Crossing the stream to this area was sort of a challenge.There was no marked path to get across, so Ken Lee just jumped a span of four or five feet with a forty pound pack on his back. I looked around to see if there were any animal trails, and found a small foot path down to a tree that had been knocked over, and made a crossing there with the rest of the group.
From our landing points, we walked up the loose, sandy slope to the routes. A couple people in our group lead three routes, and set up top ropes (TR) for everyone else to follow. I lead one of the “classics” of the wall: Coming Attractions (5.8). My friends Dennis and Chris lead Big Screen (5.10b) so they could TR Bust a Move (5.12a). Matthieu basically ran up Anonymous Bolter (5.5) to set up a route for warm ups.
I loved leading Coming Attractions (5.8), it was super simple and straightforward to climb, with little finger pockets that were like little ledges for your fingers. The pockets were not very positive, like a curling your fingers on a crimp, but very strong holds. It helped that the wall was covered in them and you never really had to feel around for a hold. I’m sure that’s what made this a 5.8 and not anything higher. It was also fun because it has a squiggle “S” line, not straight up the wall; but to the right then to the left, then back to the right.
It was just a little cool in the start of the day
It is a great beginning lead, you got only a little tense over your protection, but it is almost 90* perfectly straight up, so you never really worry about falling too much, and it is very well protected. About the time you start getting really above your protection, you have another bolt. 7 bolts helps to make a beginner leader feel like you accomplished something. We also used the anchor I set to climb Bonus Features (5.7) which was very similar climb, except you start on an easy crack back to the same easy finger pockets on the wall.
Anonymous Bolter
Anonymous Bolter (5.5) was a super easy, juggy, big foot hold climb. I would ALMOST climb this free solo, but I maintain “it only takes one mistake to rough up your day”. The climb is that easy though, basically a really high scramble. I sometimes wonder about people that set these sorts of climbs, because they are so easy… kind of like toddlers terrace in Malibu Creek State Park, because when you lead climb, typically you can TR a ‘10a no problem. But then I think “I started climbing outside with my brother, and he had to take me to climbs like this so I could try something.” So thanks Anonymous Bolter, for making the sport approachable to people of all skill levels.
All three climbs, for perspective
Also, we taught one of our group how to belay with an ATC, a belay device, on this climb. He is usually a boulderer, and climbs in the gym with a grigri, so had never had the chance to try out an ATC. ATC stands for Air Traffic Control, because you are up in the air, get it? It is a friction system that lets you control the descent or arrest the fall of a climber. Many people prefer this to a grigri for lead climbing because you can pay out rope much easier, and it is more traditional to a lot of people.
Bust a move, right before the roof
Bust a Move (5.12a), starts off strong and goes directly into a roof problem, where I got stuck. With such a large group, there were people waiting for the line, I didn’t really want to hang dog it. Swinging out from a roof problem is lots of fun though.
I did complete Big Screen (5.10b) which was really fun and interesting.
First bit of Big Screen
You have to really hug the wall for it, and it has some really fun balance-y moves. I had to flag here and there, and dance up the upper quarter of the climb because footing and hands were scarce.
The first bit was pretty much ok, you just have to be patient and feel around. This side was severely lacking the easy finger pockets evident on the other side.
Matthieu on Held Over
We attempted one more climb, Held Over (5.10c), but couldn’t complete it due to most of the group wanting dinner, and very old shoes that just wouldn’t stick to the crux of the climb. Matthieu had gotten two thirds up the climb, and was up above his protection over a slab that had a nub for his feet and an outward dish sloper for his hands. He took several falls, and eventually decided it just wasn’t the day for that climb. Plus, by this time the wind was starting to pick up, and while it was still fun on the ground, I think it would have been scary leading in it. I was up for cleaning the route, but not leading it. Sport climbing is as much in your head as your hands and feet. It is mentally taxing to say “I know I could fall several feet, but I am going to climb higher.”
Walking out, we decided that with no proper pit to cook in, it was too windy to make food at the campsite. We went into Bishop to find some dinner, and found a great pizza place, called The Upper Crust Pizza. Sometimes it is really nice to camp next to civilization.
After dinner we went and got crash pads and headlamps, and drove to the Happy Boulders. We were a large enough group that we had to take two separate cars. One sedan full of five people, and one jeep full of three people and a bunch of crash pads. Due to miscommunication, the cars got separated and lost. Finally, after waiting a half hour for each-other, we got some cell phone signal (the whole area is terribly spotty) and sorted everything out. Clearly having walkie talkies, is the way to go. The 90’s must have been rough.
This was super easy, with a sitting start. It leads to a hole in the rock.
I am not normally a boulder-er. Bouldering has some courage moves that require you to just commit and move your weight in a power move. But I can see the appeal of night bouldering. It’s like bouldering, plus the excitement of being out in the wilderness at night. It pushes a little closer to recklessness without actually being stupid. In the jeep, we had watched everyone leave the area as the sun set, no more groups waiting for a set, or directions to routes.
Chris is super intense on this! Incidentally, I topped out on this.
No one in our group knew which boulders were which, so we just did what we thought looked fun. I am sorry that I don’t know the names of the boulder routes that we did. The rocks there were glassy sharp, especially on our cold fingers! But the night sky was breath-taking, and down in the boulder field we did not feel the wind so much. It was a very exciting experience.
Driving back we could feel the wind again, pushing our cars on the road. When we got back to our tents, our worst fears were confirmed! The wind had actually snapped the poles of one of the tents! And another was seriously in danger of being blown away. Half our group was going to stay in the knocked over tent, so they had to squirm into the tent and grab out all their stuff. They had set everything up to be able to just get into bed when they got back. Their backpacks were unzipped, sleeping bags were unrolled, it was a mess. The other half were staying in the other big dome tent that was bending over in the wind. So we went and found big rocks to tie down all the strings to the tent fly to. This seemed to work ok, so we found more and more rocks to tie everything down to. But they had to be big rocks or a pile or they too would be pulled over by the wind. As the guys were putting up their new tent it almost got blown right out of their freaking hands! This tent had a really nice tent fly that had a million places to tie down to. Finally, after a day of climbing, night bouldering, and disaster we laid down in our respective sleeping bags and listened to the wind howling over us.
The next morning we woke up and most of the wind was gone. Whipping its way to the mountains, and away from us.
Packing up one of the tents
This meant that we could finally have the Korean BBQ we were going to have the night before, but couldn’t due to the aforementioned wind. We made up the fire and Ken Lee made us ten pounds of Korean barbeque. Which was delicious, and time consuming, but mostly delicious.
Yummy!
I also have a new joke about “how many engineers does it take to boil rice?” Most of the group of climbers and boulderers I climb with work in engineering in some way. The only exceptions are Ken Lee, and me. So, to go with the KBBQ we boil instant rice bowls in a pot of water so the rice will be properly cooked and not burned. This has worked great before, in a pot with a lid on it. We have to put the pot of water down *into* the fire though, so it will be consistently hot enough to boil. This morning, some of the engineers did not want to put the lid onto the pot, because they thought the glass would crack. It meant that the million packets of rice weren’t properly submerged in the water to warm up. The rice kept being al dente, which no one likes. Finally, one of the other Engineers (who shall forever remain nameless) says to “put a rock on top of the rice, it will hold the rice down”. So, someone picks up a fist size rock, and delicately balances it on top of the rice packet on top of the boiling water. And it worked! For a second. Before the rice moved and the rock slipped off and fell into the water! Everyone was so stunned thinking, “how could we not see that coming?”, that for a moment the whole site was quiet, before be all burst out laughing! Waiting for the BBQ meant that we got to Buttermilk Country to boulder a little late, but full of protein to energize us for the day.
The Buttermilks is a boulder field that is very well known and, every one of the boulders had at least one group of boulderers around it.
There were so many cars!
I was astounded by just how big some of the boulders were, the first ones we saw were over two stories tall- you basically had to rappel down them.
They like big boulders and they can’t lie
We walked past these to go warm up on the Hero Roof (v0), which was really fun- I actually completed it! Well, basically, I didn’t top out (climb to the top of the boulder) because I am scared of heights and I didn’t want to down climb the side. So I got to the last move and dropped down.
Spotters don’t catch a falling climber, they push them onto the crash pads.This move is where I stopped. Ryan topped out, or got to the top and climbed down.
It was still fun though, as was scrambling around the area north of there, a small hill of rocks.
You have to be careful at Buttermilk Country, it has gotten so popular that now there are some set paths, and the rangers are trying to regrow the native plants. There is tape and markers all over the place to remind you about this. We were there at Buttermilk country though to let some of our group attempt the Iron Man Traverse (v4).
It looked so cool, just one sliver of rock to hold on to, all the way across. I watched so many people try so many different ways to get across it. One of my favorites was a girl that heel hooked, walked her hands to her heel, switched heels, and walked her hands towards the end. (You always go left to right). She did not quite make it, but it was very interesting to watch. I did not attempt it, to my shame, there were just too many people waiting and watching. Not only my group, who I don’t mind looking a fool in front of, but two other groups of five to eight people were crowded around this one traverse. This was the place to be. Honestly, it was just too many people for me.
After everyone who had wanted to attempt the Traverse had done so, we walked out with our crash pads. We squeezed in one more route on the back of one of the two gigantic boulders we had seen walking in.
It was fun and relaxed with yet another group of boulderers that were working next to us and eating lunch. Everyone piled in the cars and we all drove home safely from an awesome Bishop weekend. I would totally go back to Owens River Gorge, to try some new places there. I haven’t even touched on Upper Gorge or other areas there. What are some favorite classics I should hit up next time? Are they worth more of a hike in?
Special thanks to Ryan and Dennis for taking all these wonderful photos!
Texas Canyon has been dear to my heart, this is a major place where I learned to climb, before I started going to the gym. When I started climbing there, Texas Canyon was relatively unknown, then over the course of last year’s summer (2013) it got more and more popular. It went from having maybe a couple of groups of four people, to having several groups of fifteen or more. The entire First Corridor would be taken up by midday. Most of these people were really cool, fun to be around. About this time, my brother and I started being more and more curious what other places were out there for Southern California climbing locations. So, I haven’t been back to TC in a little more than a year, and I went back because I had heard some sad things.The word that I got was that one weekend, several of these groups went to Texas Canyon and absolutely trashed it. There are no bathrooms at the TC, and a desert ecosystem is non-conducive to crap taking. There is no rain to wash it away, no ocean or lake, nothing. If you take a crap in the desert, it stays there for months. This is true of all kinds of trash. One weekend, a big group of people left broken glass, cigarette butts, and a ridiculous amount of actual crap all over the place. No one even tried to hold it, pack it out, or even go very far off trail. It was the final straw for the people that take care of the crag. Someone told me that the men that bolt Texas Canyon took action and removed the first bolt of several of the classic climbs in the area. I had to go see for myself.
Beautiful!
The crag is stark, way out in the middle of the desert. My hypothesis is that the rocks were crushed together and left by a glacier, as the rock is all loose sandstone conglomerate in the middle of a small valley. It’s beautiful though, red rocks and blue grey scrub brush, a family of crows flies through the area; black on blue. Sorry, I got a little poetic-y. Texas Canyon is cool though because it has so many climbs, and a good range of beginner to advanced routes. It is a place that is set up for sport climbing, so you don’t need a trad rack to enjoy it. All you need is a rope and quick-draws, although I highly recommend a dedicated anchor and a helmet.
So, we went to the crag. At first we couldn’t really tell any difference. We headed over to one of our favorites, Black Gold, which is just right of The Cave or The East Face of the Elephant Head. Its easier to associate with the Caves though, I never know where the Elephant is. Inside the cave there used to be a bee hive in the roof of the cave! It was really cool, then they moved down and to the right of Black Gold. But, they were gone this time, and there were rocks piled up against where the hive used to open. I know some people don’t like bees, but they are essential to the plants near where they live. I just want to stress again, that even though deserts look very hardy, they are more fragile than many other ecosystems, because it takes so long to recover. There was also some broken glass that was laying around, very unsafe.
Tim leading while Alex belays
Black Gold (5.10a) is very typical of Texas Canyon, with bolts that are a little run out, and fun moves. You start the climb with only a few feet, or if you are top roping, you can go up a crack on the side then traverse on the second bolt to the “true” climb. This climb has a lot of fine hands and feet, some pockets and chips that are all good to use, but in the cold, they cut your hands a little. The glassy rock also cuts up your shoes pretty fast. The day that we went was also extremely windy, so windy that we felt like we could be pulled off the rock. Tim lead this climb, but he had to stop and hug the walls several times until gusts of wind died down. I climbed it top rope and had to do the same thing, clinging to the wall while being buffeted, getting grit in my hair and eyes. It would have been a really nice day, temperature wise, had it not been for the wind.
Alex leading Unknown to the Crux
Then we went to the Unknown (5.11a) of the First Corridor, across from Itsy Bitsy and Agua Negra. It did seem like maybe the first bolt of Agua Negra (5.8) was missing, but I do remember it having a very high first bolt.
Up next to the small bulge is the first bolt…See it? Upper left third, little tiny bolt
So, I sort of doubt the gossip of removing all the first bolts, maybe just one of the classics. Maybe.
The Unknown 5.11a is also known as the booty climb, because everyone bails out on the third clip. When we saw it, there was half of a quick draw there. Alex has tried this climb, but got stuck at the bolt, right before the crux. Part of the reason he had a problem with this climb, I think, is the kind of rock that TC is made from. The stone of Texas Canyon is only loosely held together, so it can crumble out from under you with little notice. You can never really trust where you put your feet. I rarely feel that this is much of a problem, but everyone that I climb with complains about it. Ken Lee and my brother Alex have both popped off the wall because rocks have literally turned to gravel under their feet. So, I have tried the first part of this climb and found it to be extremely delicate for moves, with lots of flagging. Flagging is where you have to use your foot on the wall for balance, not power. You don’t stand on a flag, because you are pushing on the rock to hold yourself on the rock, there are no other foot holds. The flag is to help maintain a pose to move on another point. I can’t say for the rest of the route, because I have never sent it. Additionally, Alex did not feel comfortable falling on the crux’s bolt, as it was getting a little loose and could spin around. When you are climbing, your life is always on the line, and if something feels off or unsafe, you should stop.
We were getting winded by this time, even though it was only one climb in for me, the day was dragging on us because we were actually getting pushed around by the wind. Just existing in that is tiring. Tim and Alex were ready to leave, but I really wanted one last climb. This blog is driving me to work harder to have more to write about!
Mostly its the Cup for the Egg which sits on top.
We went to the Egg Cup and I lead The Boneyard (5.10b)! Super proud of that! It was very fun, exactly the kind of climb I tend to favor, with hands and feet if you can find them, but most of them were little crystals. Tiny pinches that you have to just trust, and then you can use them for little feet, with a couple cool features, like a little crack part of the way, and some slope-y jug holds. I find it easier to stay balanced, not giving too much weight to any one foot or hand.
Wearing a helmet to lead, and looking for more fingers to hold.
Stay equalized and find what you can. There is one area, just before the last major bolt, that is extremely bare, and I had to really work on to move forward. Small steps and one off side mantle pushed me up to the next good hands. Then the last bolt, up and over to the anchors are on the Egg. My brother cleaned the route, and we decided to call it a day.
Alex, Tim and I were just so tired of the wind and the dirt in the wind. We hiked out, up the steep hill and then back down the fireroad to the car. A short, hard day, but still fun. I am glad that Texas Canyon hasn’t changed that much. I still like it, but as I climb more places around California, I feel like it is no longer my favorite place to climb. I love the look of it, but I don’t like how much it uses up the rubber on my shoes. I like how much friction is there for hands, but I worry about how chausy and crumbly it is on people’s feet. It is a great place for many reasons, and I will go back again, but not for a while.
WOW! I have been to some cool places on the SoCal climbing circuit, but no where like Red Rocks Nevada State Park. This place is amazing, off the chain, totally epic, and really very nice. Red Rocks is a destination climbing place for the nation, and it totally lives up to it. It is so beautiful!
Red Rocks on the Loop
Let me back up and start at the beginning though. We decided to go camping and climbing over Halloween Weekend, and stayed at the Red Rocks Canyon Campground. The campground was alright, it had a lot of construction going on. The weather was cold and extremely windy! It knocked over other some people’s tents, and almost blew down mine. Desert wind definitely made it hard to sleep, plus staying out for Halloween night fun in Vegas made us sluggish in the morning.
We took naps when we weren’t climbing. I took this from from the top of a Conundrum climb.
This was probably why we went the wrong way out of the parking lot for Kraft Mountain, by Calico Basin. We went west out of the parking lot instead of north, along a much broader path, which is why we thought it was the path to the crag. But it was sort of better this way because it had rained the night before, so the sandstone had to dry up. Technically you aren’t supposed to climb on sandstone for 48 hours after a rain, but this had been a very light rain, and other climbers were up on routes. We decided that it would be fine once the sun was out for a while. Also, we found a cool bouldering project that looked like it would have been a lot of fun if we had had a crash pad.
Just laying around, this awesome Bouldering project.
Eventually we looked at a compass, righted ourselves, walked back to the beginning of the trail, and got onto Kraft Mountain. The trail for this is significantly smaller, edged by little rocks, and goes through a cool field of boulders. After hiking for maybe ten or fifteen minutes, you round the edge of the mountain, and you go by the Monkey Bars boulder, you are in Gateway Canyon. This is where we spent our day!
First we went to the Conundrum Crag and blew through three climbs there: Family Affair, Wayward son, and Family Circus. All three of these are very easy, doable climbs. They all have really good, very positive hands and feet. My brother, Alex, lead all of the climbs for the day, while I cleaned every route. This meant that we were a faster team, and could get through more climbs.
Team work in climbing. I am tying in to clean the route.
Family Affair (5.8) had a little bit of a pumpy, over-hung start. The hands are all there, but you are leaning back for the first two moves. If you trust your feet, and it isn’t hard on this climb, then anyone can push through the first couple of moves to the easier top part. It is the right-most climb of this wall. The rock here is very friendly on your hands, but also very sticky for your feet. It is the perfect combination!
Family Affair, right after the hard bit.
Because we were sharing the crag with a couple of other climbers, we skipped the middle route and went to the far left route of Wayward Son (5.9).
Ken Lee on Wayward Son
This was another simple climb, a little more spare for awesome juggy hand holds. Honestly though, that makes a climb a little more interesting because you have to think a little more about where you are going. Part of climbing is the problem solving aspect to it, so when there are so many hold that it becomes like climbing a rock ladder, it is a little less interesting. Wayward Son was good though, a couple of interesting, harder moves throughout. The interesting thing is, on the surface of the rock, there are all these dark spots, like the sun glazed the surface of the rock.
Spots on rocks, it sounds almost like Dr. Seuss. But it made for fun climbing!
These spots can be a boon and blah for when you are climbing, because sometimes something will look like more than it is, looks like it has more depth than it really does. But sometimes they are actually a little ridge out that you can stand or balance on. Mostly though, there are really obvious really sure fingers and toes.
Family Circus (5.9) was the last climb we did for this wall, and again, just classic rock. No pain on your fingers, and plenty of friction. I found this to be a lot like Family Affair in that it is a little tougher in the start then much easier. The lesson I am learning is that climbing is a lot about trusting your hands and feet. My only problem was, the thing I remember most about this climb was how much my feet hurt from my new shoes! I had just bought new Sharma super aggressive shoes for this trip, thinking they could give me an edge. Unfortunately, I was not ready for just how intense these shoes were going to be, and after climbing for a while they really really pinched! I couldn’t wear them the whole day, but they did make a difference in how sure of the rocks I was.
Look at that high foot! That is trust.
After these three climbs, we decided we wanted to try and find Sport Chimney and see what else was around there on the Sunny and Steep Crag. That meant that we had to hike through the canyon, and it was beautiful! Full of interesting rock formations and colors.
Stratigraphy! Stripes in the rocks make them even more beautiful.
This hike by itself would have been worth the trip, it is so pretty. Mark, my husband, loved it, and so did I.
Rings in the Rocks, how cool is that?
Eventually we got to the Sunny and Steep wall, and it was all it was cracked up to be! (haha, cracked, for a crack climb? Ahhh, funny.) There were a bunch of different groups already there, but no one was on the Sport Chimney (5.8) climb, so we jumped in!
Crack! (don’t laugh)
I have never done a sustained chimney before this, it was super cool, but a little scary. Alex lead it, and I have no idea how. There were some run out bolts, and some very weird moves. But he did!
Look at that move! So awesome!
And I was up after him, in my old Boreal Jokers. Chimney climbs are cool because you are also using your back to push you into the the rock.
It’s like every escape movie where people press up against both sides of an air duct. It really works, and makes it possible for some strong moves.
Down foot, to transfer to the last bit of vertical climb.
Just don’t wear any clothes you don’t want torn but, because with all the pressing and wiggling, it gets rough.
The last climb of the day was Working for Peanuts, the climb just to the right of Mr Choads Wild Ride (5.11b). I watched a lead climber ascend this and it looked like so much fun. I would totally come back for that climb. While I was belaying for Alex on Working for Peanuts, I joked around with the other belayer (on MCWR) about how crass some of the names of climbs are. Some people are working to class things up, but I personally think its fine, I just want more girls to bolt so women get some crazy names too. The one we came up with, for a really hard climb would be “Seven Days of Blood”. Maybe it is better to have more mild names though, they just aren’t as weird. Chimney Sport is a very accurate name, but it doesn’t give any feeling to what you’re doing.
Working for Peanuts (5.9+) was interesting, a spicy start along a little crack, smearing your feet to get up to the first couple of good hand holds.
Alex leading Working for Peanuts
There are a couple of really fun bits in the middle too, where you have to scrape your way up, shuffle your feet around, and push forward.
Working the seam in the rock.
The rock quality again, was just classic, super clean, nice on your hands and grippy on your feet. I loved it.
After cleaning Working for Peanuts, we packed up and started the trek back the way we came- from the mouth of Gateway Canyon, back through the boulder field. It was just as beautiful leaving as it was hiking in. By the time we got back to the car the sun was setting, and the climbers I had been chatting with at Working for Peanuts came up to the parking lot at the same time, even though they had left considerably later. They had gone the shorter route to the west and then south. The path wasn’t as good, more scrub brush and weeds, but the way was considerably shorter.
Red Rocks from the scenic loop.
I really enjoyed Calico Basin and Kraft mountain of Red Rocks. I really want to come back and try Red Rocks proper, which is on a different mountain. But these climbs held up to the expectation of world class climbing.
This week I did NOT go climbing, but instead went to Little Santa Anita Canyon to try a canyon run for the first time! Although a number of technical challenges are the same as climbing, it had a very different feeling and pacing to sport climbing. Canyoning is a lot more of constant action to climbing hurry up and wait. But let me get onto our journey…
At the start of the trail: Jenny, Justin, and Alex.
My brother Alex has been trying to get me to go with him for months now, ever since he went to Zion National Park. One of Alex’s climbing buddies, Justin, said that he had run Little Santa Anita before and really enjoyed it in the spring time.
I should also mention that some people are keeping up this area, all of the webbing that we used was brand spanking new! All of the bolts and closures worked and looked really nice too. It is always a good thing when you can trust all of the equipment that is supplied. That is one thing about climbing and rappelling I always love and appreciate is that this is all done by people that love the sport, with very little praise or reward. Most of the people that set routes don’t get paid for it, or even to climb professionally. It is simply done out of love.
Now, usually Alex likes to climb at the very crack of dawn. I’m saying that usually when Alex plans a climb, we get to the crag at 6 am. So when Alex told me we were leaving his place at 12:45 pm from his place, to drive to his friend Justin’s place, meet up with them and then drive to the trail, I was a little shocked. Actually very shocked. But as it meant that I got to sleep in a little, I was ok with it.
At the head of the Mt. Wilson trail is a cute little fake old timey diner, tucked next to a playground in a neighborhood. The trail itself is pretty steep, like doing a light stair master. I am really glad I have been working on getting stronger, because this trail still kicked my butt! It’s about 2 miles to the side trail that takes you to the beginning of the Little Santa Anita Canyon. I have to describe to you now what our expectation was of this canyon: mild hike into the canyon that was nice and cool and dry, 4 or 5 rappels, a total trip of about 4 hours. This did not turn out to be true. But at the beginning we were unaware of this.
After walking up the two steep miles in the glaring sun, down in the dell of the canyon was amazing. It is so green and beautiful, even without much water. We stopped and put on our harnesses, then we were ready!
Glaring sun of the hike ^
Cool valley:
Here is Alex modeling his new Eldrid Men’s harness. So stylish!
The beginning of the canyon had only one big puddle, and the rest was just swampy. I loved finally getting to see some fall colors!
The first rappel is nice, pretty long, and you could see all the way to the bottom. Really easy to follow the line of the rope, and during this trip it was all dry rappels. I learned a new word for rappelling by the way: to abseil.
A picture of me abseiling.
This is looking down the first rappel.
There was some water on the rocks, enough to keep some moss and lichen alive. And enough to attract some bees! I love bees! These poor little guys were so thirsty, and the water was just right for them.
The third rappel was interesting because you had to make a choice: The hard way- Fancy footwork and maybe losing your balance, or the easy way- looking goofy and sinking into the crack in the rocks. I chose the easier, if goofier, way.
Fourth and Fifth rappels were all nice and pretty, we were really getting into our stride and feeling good. We were all thinking “ok, we hiked for a half hour or maybe more, we have been in the canyon a couple hours, we must be about done! This might be our last rappel!” We were all incorrect. It was so pretty though, we did not mind. Also, Alex started using a trick with his figure 8 device (a rappelling mechanism like an ATC) with a clove hitch that allowed us to do a single line abseil. This technique allowed us to only use half the rope, and keep the other half coiled and ready- a huge time saver! Please note that this is an entertainment blog, not a teaching or technical blog. Canyoneering is very dangerous, be careful!
The sun was setting and everything was starting to get a little dark and we were happy to think we were almost done with our trip. We had done our five descents and were ready to hike out.
But we had several more rappels to go.
So
Many
Rappels
Some of these were really short, and most of them had just enough of a hike between them that we really really believed “this is the last one”. NOPE! We really liked them, we were having a good time, but it was dark by this time, and we only had Alex’s one headlamp, so things were starting to get a little sketchy. Even if you aren’t descending very far, it is way better to be able to see where you are going. Also being able to see where you are hiking is helpful.
The picture is a little weird, but it was dark.
There are two ways to get out of the canyon, one is that you see one cairn and hike up a really crappy dirt-fall and get back onto the mail trail and out you go. A dirt-fall is like a waterfall, but with dirt. They are absolute crap to try and move up, the dirt is so loose it falls in your shoes, and there is no traction so every foot up slides back. I am not fond of dirt-falls.
The other way out is through three more rappels to the dam. This is way is illegal though, so be warned. After you jump the fence of the dam, you have to have a very good sense of direction to find your way through the winding streets of a neighborhood to get back to the start of the trail, and your car.
So we got back to our car in the dark after an extra long hike and fun canyoneering! It was a super fun day. While I liked it, I am definitely still a climber first. And I can’t wait for the weekend, because we are going to Red Rocks! Let me know your favorites at Red Rocks, ok?
This week we went out to the Riverside Quarry, a new place for me. Driving out there was sort of nostalgic for me, I used to live in Riverside, and I learned to love the high desert. As for the crag itself … I did not entirely know what to expect. My older brother loves this spot, loves the climbs, and talked us into trying it. Unfortunately I just don’t think this was the right time.
To begin with, we did not get to Riverside until about 10:30 in the morning, which means that the sun was already out warming things up. The weather channel had said it would be about 80 degrees, but I’ve been spoiled by an 80 degrees in Malibu Creek, or Echo. The Quarry is right next to a neighborhood, and you park on a street next to some houses. It is really easy to spot this area approaching, the hill has been split down to get at the granite, exposing the climbs. So the approach is really very simple, just follow up the dirt road.
This place has a very Mad Max sort of feel. There is rubbish laying around- old tires, sofas, broken glass, graffiti on the rocks, and people doing motocross. I thought about what a Bartertown would look like if they had set up in this area, and tried to hear the sax player before he got shot. Tina Turner would definitely class the place up some. There is no shade really in the whole area, and no where to relieve yourself, so be ready for that.
There were already a couple of groups on the crag, but they all seemed fairly well spaced apart, there was no clump of people standing all on one route, so I’m guessing that there are plenty of good climbs along the main part of the crag. However, we had a very hard time discerning where exactly we wanted to climb. We were looking for some pretty easy, accessible climbs, because I am still learning to lead climb. Our goal was actually the Schoolhouse Rock face which was described as pretty easy, but we met a couple of guys who had been there before, and were going to Fun City, just around the corner from the main part of the crag. So we decided to start there and come back to find Schoolhouse Rock.
I liked the climbs at Fun City that we did- Mass Production and Made to Order. But the thing is this, a lot of the holds were drilled and chipped into the rock, and then glued to stick like that. I have never seen anything like that anywhere else. It was weird for someone who is used to either natural rock or gym climbs, as this was both. On real rock, but designed by a person.
Ken Lee borrowed a guide book from some fellow climbers, (the ones we followed to the wall) and the book listed Mass Production as a 5.10b, but on Mountain project it is listed as 5.9. The moves are not that hard, and since they are glued they are all very obvious… but it is very pumpy and very very steep. This place is freaking perfectly 90 degrees! And it’s so sheer. It made it really scary to clip because you can’t lean into the rock. You have to really trust your stance and be really clean. I was really proud that I lead this one.
The next climb I tried to lead, Made to Order 5.8, but got stuck after the first stinking bolt!
Because I could not find a stance that I could trust to stay on the wall. So Mattieu lead it and I top-roped it up to clean it. It was a very dirty route to clean (badum ching!)
(Thats the only thing I don’t like about outdoor climbing)
But there was this cool hawk nest! I have to assume that it was a hawk nest because we saw hawks flying around and there were rabbit pelts on the twigs.
I personally would consider this a little harder than the 5.8 its listed, but not by much. There is such a difference between climbs though, not only from different rocks to different grades, different kinds of holds. This had little ledges that were marked by the cement glue, but again, it is such a straight climb it feels very exposed. The granite that made up these climbs was friendly on your hands; it doesn’t cut into your hand like some of the sharp rocks at Texas Canyon, but I found it hard to make my shoes stick to it. It was a lot smoother than I was expecting. Still fun, but an added challenge. Both of these climbs were amazingly well protected though! Someone put some love into making these climbs possible. There was seriously a bolt every couple of feet. I watched another climber go up Worker Bee (5.10a) and there was literally a bolt every 2 feet. So nice, it makes you feel so safe!
#selfie #top of the route #baking hot # pink cheeks #hashtag
By this point we were baking in the sun (see previous picture), the rocks were hot to the touch, so we went and tried to find Schoolhouse Rock, to see if maybe we could get some more breeze. Unfortunately we went too far to the left and almost got onto a different face. But after very close inspection, and wandering around for a bit, we did find it, it is the very last block of rock on the farthest right. We did not think it was going to be in any way difficult because of the low grades of the rock. The angle, especially after the near perfect vertical of Fun House, just seemed sad. Also, Schoolhouse Rock is all very short routes, only 40 feet maybe, whereas the next face climbs over would take the entire rope. Those to the right were easily 80/90 foot routes.
Oh, a note about crags, faces and routes: I consider the crag to be the over all location of the climbs, so all of the climbs fall under one crag. Faces are a group of specific climbs, or a wall of individual rock that has routes. Faces do not have to be connected or touching to be at the same crag. Individual routes are just that, a single climb. So you have route A on face/wall blah at the crag triangle. Or at Riverside Quarry on Schoolhouse Rock wall I tried the classic climb Schoolhouse Rock, and completed on top rope Tyrannosaurus Debt.
Schoolhouse Rock (5.8) is, unfortunately, the kind of climb that I have a really hard time with. It is low grade to a sheer bump, so if you got on top of the bump, you have to walk to the next one and clip there, but if you fall, you roll really bad or you could drop onto the rock you just climbed! I know it might be silly, but this kind of climb really scares me.
So, I climbed up to the first bolt and called it. Sadness was mine, and Ken Lee cleaned the route.
Tyrannosaurus Debt (5.9) was much more my alley! Although, I did again get stuck at the first bolt while trying to lead it. There is so little to hold onto after that first bolt! Nothing and more nothing, except one little foot hold under a lip of rock. Everything else was a smear, where you just put your foot on the rock and hope. It is all about the balance, which normally I can rock, but for whatever reason, I just couldn’t stick this move. I sat on the rope for a long time and tried this and tried that, and finally got frustrated and let Mattieu finish it. I did complete it on top rope, but I just feel like a 5.9 should be obvious enough to be pretty easy to climb (maybe that is just my ego speaking). All three of us had to sit and try several different moves and holds to get something to stick. It felt weird to project a freaking 5.9! But for all that it was a pretty interesting climb, really really good for learning and practicing balance moves, with one big move up over a boulder. There is a two or three bald patches on this climb though, where you just sit and think “WTF! There is nothing here to hold on to, nothing to put my feet on, where can I move?!” But, inevitably, there is something there, you just have to keep trying. One example being a really solid ledge half way up said boulder, you have to put your hand in just the right spot as you can’t see it at all. The end of the climb you just walk up to the anchors, but there are a lot of pebbles, so keep moving slowly so that you don’t kick them onto your belayer.
By this time the sun was about to set, and I could not believe how much time we spent out there! I think we spent too much time trying to find the right face. We headed out, but went on the wrong road (who was leading the group? I was. I lead us in the wrong direction) So we had to track back over the prickly brush, which is everyone’s favorite.
I think Riverside Quarry might be better for more intense climbers. Personally, I think it is sort of funny to have a man made face, with man made climbs that are chipped, etched, and glued into the rock. I want to come back to this place someday, when I am a stronger climber, and try some of the other places in the quarry.
Reasons I will go back:
1 Sheerness of the rock
2 Quality of the rock is unlike anything else
3 Length of the rest of the climbs is intense
Reasons I am not in a rush:
1 Ugly location
2 It is enough of a drive to Riverside that I want to be really excited to be there.
Is there anyone whose favorite place is Riverside Quarry? Did I miss the perfect climb on one of the faces that we went to? Most importantly- where should I go next?
I love Echo Cliffs! It is one of my favorite places to climb, and has my favorite outdoor climb that I have completed. … It’s just, getting there is kind of intense. It’s located out in the middle of the Santa Monica Mountains, not an easy drive in to mountains, like Malibu Creek State Park, but way out into the mountains proper. Part of the drive is on really really old road that has a million switchbacks and long curves. Everyone always has fun driving it! Just, please watch out for the millions of bikers that also use the roads.
Once you park, you hike up the Mishe Mokwa Trail which is beautiful, but really long and fairly demanding. Be ready to work those glutes! The trail is always obvious though, you never have to really worry about getting off trail or lost. One of my favorite things is that there is fair shade for the hike, and this might sound weird, but it always smells so good! And the views are knock out for rolling California countryside. The trail is fairly well peopled by other climbers, and hikers just out to enjoy the views (mentioned previously).
After about 30 minutes of hiking, there is a split in the trail, with the main trail heading to some picnic tables and more views. I have never actually taken this trail, but instead follow a creek or natural spillway straight down the side of the mountain. This is extremely taxing both physically and mentally, because if you fall on this bit, you will roll down the mountain. I have never actually heard of this happening, it is just what it feels like. I once saw some climbers attempt to take some dogs on this part of the trail, and the dogs could not climb down it. Oh! that also reminds me, these dogs also accidentally got overheated, please be sure to bring lots of water for yourself and animal companions!
Once you get down the dry waterfall, you are basically at the Grotto, the first climbing area of Echo Cliffs. This area is one of the best, but it’s also the most used. And everyone uses it because:
1 You just hiked 45 minutes and you’re a little tired, and the next wall is another hike away
2 It is almost always hot out and the area is shaded by big trees
3 Most of the rocks are also shaded
4 More shade
(relaxing in the shade)
Shade is so important because Echo is big and beautiful, but a lot of it is north facing, so there is not always shade to relax in. Many of the climbs are right in the sun and bake all day long, so most people chase the shade throughout the day. In the Grotto you have to be careful though, the rocks on the left of the area are off limits! But there are plenty of fun climbs on the right side. We completed 2 in the Grotto- Superfly, and Lowrider.
SuperFly 5.10a is amazing… to follow. First you scramble up a big flake of rock, which is the best area to belay from (especially if you’re using a grigri) then just jump onto the rock. To start out with, I was not leading this route.
Ken Lee was, but for reasons, he had hurt his back… and it spasmed and he fell, right on the third bolt, before he clipped in. The third bolt is really run out; that from the second clip, you match your feet to the second bolt, then take another big step up, then you can almost reach the third bolt.
(Shout out to my buddy Dennis for catching Ken Lee falling!)
So Ken fell like 25 feet! It was really scary! I think that makes it a factor two fall, because we basically equalized. NO GOOD! NO ME GUSTA! Then it was up to me to lead this route.
I have actually climbed at Echo Cliffs before, and done this climb before, without falling… on top rope. After watching Ken fall, I was pretty nervous myself, but the climb is actually really really fun- all the holds are pretty obvious, good crimps and plenty of little feet ledges. One of the things I like about the Grotto area is that the rock is a lot more compact than other areas, which are more conglomerate. Superfly offers a lot of flakes and finger holds, with a couple of friendly jugs here and there. There is one area — right before that third clip — that only has flat finger ledges (less than two knuckles deep, flat) but if you have some guts, you can pick up your left foot and put it in a really good pocket- previously a really good hold. Then you can stand up and try and reach for other holds. Once my brother told me “you just have to turn your fingers to stone and trust them”, and I think that this climb is a good place to learn that. It’s really about confidence.
Lowrider (5.10b) was to the left of this, just behind one of the trees. It was only maybe 45 ft tall, up to a ledge then two open shuts. It’s just to the right of Stinger, and three bolts to two open-shuts. The way that I climbed it made it seem easy, almost too easy, except for one move that is a spread between two finger pockets. Maybe I used to wrong beta though -I went up the crack of Stinger to the first bolt, then traversed to the right. You grab the two finger pockets, move up your feet, grab the ledge, and the climb is over! By finger pockets I mean two little holes that you can really only use two fingers on, and for this you were spreading your arms out so they are clinging to the sides of the holds. This is the only crux of the climb though, just one move, and it’s a really short climb. Not my favorite.
After we finished these two, our group split up and half the group decided that was it for the day, and headed out. But the rest of us decided to go check out Guillotine on the Alcove wall, and the Easy Street face.
The hike around to the Alcove is also challenging, another place that it would be hard to bring dogs or very small children. Although, once when we were at Guillotine, there were some people hiking around, one group with a smallish woman with a gigantic backpack. I looked at her and thought “What, is she camping here? Did she bring a tent or something? What is going on?!” I did not say these sentiments outloud, that would be rude. But we waved as the group passed us by, and out of the back of the backpack were two little dogs! Tiny little things! So cute! Right after the belay area, the woman took off the backpack and was like “ok you two, you are too heavy!” and the little dogs crouched down in the backpack like “No! We don’t want to walk! It’s hot!” I about died trying to hold in laughter, and I still laugh whenever I think about it. Spoiled little doggies!
Unfortunately though, this trip we did not climb on the Alcove, I was not confident enough to lead my favorite climb — Guillotine (5.10b) without having someone be able to go get a quick draw if I could not finish the climb. In their defence, Ken Lee’s back was all screwed up, plus monster fall, and Mattieu had just run a trail race before coming climbing! So onward to Easy Street.
I like Easy Street because all the climbs are super long. As the name suggests all the routes are pretty easy, but it’s cool because they’re still worth the effort. The bolts are a little run out again, but the climb we did on this day was only a little harder than climbing a ladder, if the ladder was 80 feet tall and had really weird handles. The only problem is that this is the crumbliest part of Echo Cliffs, so wearing a helmet is a good idea, and be sure to watch out for pebbles and rocks coming down.
(Dennis grabbed this of Matthieu as they were hiking out, Matthieu is being lowered from leading the climb)
We did the first pitch of Head Wound (5.7), it used up almost all of our 60m rope. There are parts that are interesting, tons of good holds all over the place, you can get creative if you want. I went for speed and completed it in maybe 5 or 7 minutes. There is one part that you are basically scrambling forward, this is a big area for loose rocks though, so be careful! Also, there is a lot of drag on the rope, but I don’t think it is too big of a risk… just because I don’t think there are many places to fall. Fun, good exercise, and a hell of a view makes this climb totally worth it.
After that we were all pretty tired, and had to hike ALL THE WAY BACK!! The distance from The Grotto to Easy Street is in and of itself maybe 20 or 30 minutes of scrambles and hills for hiking, then back up the waterfall, then back up the Mishe Mokwa trail. … but all that and this place is still one of my favorites. There are just so many climbs! And not too many people, just enough to feel like if you fell to your death someone would notice. Plus the view is really really something else.
I’ve been gone! I went home for two weekends so no new outdoor climbing adventures, so I will take you back to a couple of weeks ago…
My buddy Ken Lee and I wanted to climb during the Los Angeles heat wave. But we KNEW that Malibu Creek state park, and Point Dume were going to be swamped with people who also wanted a cool place to climb. So we looked up the next coolest (literally chilly) place. We landed on Horse Flats, which we had never been to before! So we tip toed away to have a super *cool* adventure! (see what I did there? cool? and cool routes? ok.) Most of Horse Flats is known for Trad routes and boulder, but there is the Top Rope Wall, which has a good spread of easy to moderate climbs. But before we could do any of that, we had to freaking get there!
Ken Lee and I stopped for a photo!
Actually it wasn’t that hard to drive there, we just went to the Horse Flats campground. You drive up to Angeles National park, which is only a hop skip and a jump from Los Angeles — 30 or 40 miles plus traffic — then keep going on windy mountain roads for another hour or so! It might only be about 30 miles, but it is so windy and bumpy that it will take you a long while. So, being real, that place is way the heck up in the mountains. I think it would be easier if you stayed at the campground, for the night, but we were there for a day trip, plus I forgot some cash so we had to park at a lot a mile away. The day was so beautiful that we did not even care. Seriously, as advertised by the weather channel, it was 70* and a little cloudy. A perfect climbing day!
From the campground, we set off from campsite #1, one of the two possible trails out to the crag. The other possibility is across from campsite #5. Ok, now this is important: the trail starts off easy to follow, you stand with your back to campsite #1, and you can see the trail. I thought it was little demanding physically, but c’mon, we’re climbers, so what? BUT there are places where the trail freaking disappears… it’s gone! There are a lot of game trails to get a little lost on, and a couple of places where it goes through rock beds that are really easy to get turned around with. We almost got lost a couple of times… But Cairns — little piles of stacked rocks — saved our freaking lives, another climbing friend, Tim, told me about these while we were hiking in Echo Cliffs. Seriously, it is important to keep an eye out for these guys to keep you on track. Please do not set up ones off trail or knock any down!
(See the cairn? They’re not always easy to see!)
Finally though, we did make it to Top Rope Wall, and climbed around back to enjoy the view and start setting up our top rope. It looked like there had once been a couple of bolt anchors, but someone had taken them down.
All that’s left is the tree, lonely, at the top of the rocks and a boulder to tie on to.
On the tree was a couple of… well we call them cow tails, but I think they’re really nylon loops.
Ken Lee used them to tie into while he was setting up our anchor, we made a dedicated anchor — a quad anchor, which is really bomber– that is already equalized, using an X pattern. I will have to take some pictures of this some time to show you all what I’m talking about, and get Ken to explain it.
It looks like this one, plus two opposing locking carabiners
ANYWAY we finally got the rope up and us down, and ready to start climbing. We only tried two climbs on Top Rope Wall: Horse Play (5.8) and Ant Line (5.11c)
Horse Play was just that! Super fun crack climb, a tiny bit tricky first step, then up and away until you have to leave the crack, then it gets balance-y. I really liked this one. Usually Crack climbs are not my favorite, because they scratch up the back of your hands, and hurt your feet (yea,I am a bit of a baby.) This one had holds on the inside of the crack in places, so you didn’t have to use so much of your body to make the holds.
Like on some cracks where you have to make a fist and use your fist as a hold. This was a lot kinder than that, plus there was a bit where you could put your back against the rock and chimney up. The second half was, as mentioned a little balance-y. What I mean by balance-y is that while there is not big jugs coming out of the rock, there are little pieces that you can put your feet on and lean into the rock and balance on the smallest bit. There were a couple big friendly jugs though, jugs as in big holds. I felt like it was a really solid 5.8, not too hard, but still fun.
(That’s me looking at Ant Line, wistfully)
I’ll be honest, I did not finish Ant Line. I plan on going back and finishing it, but that day, with one thing and another, I just didn’t want to push myself so terribly hard. I did make it to the crux though, and the under-cling bit is really fun. You start off almost in a dihedral with some cool body positions, pushing against the rock with a drop knee move. Then around a tricky bump from having your feet in the dihedral to real face of the climb and your hands to the under-cling.
Footing was a little tricky, but if you trust it, it’s there. I really like under-cling climbs generally, they’re like doing a lie-back, where you hold on and put your feet against the rock and move up that way– I pretend I am like batman doing a lie-back, that’s how my brother taught me. Under-clings work the same way but you’re upright with your feet under you, your palms up. I think if I had continued in that vein maybe I could have finished, but I’ll have to get back to it. If you have a cool beta, please leave it in the comments!
Showing off my hands after a day climbing around!
Then the sun was starting to dip, and we certainly did not feel comfortable trying to hike out after dark. Part of safety is knowing your own limits! So we packed up and wound down the trail… I was proud of myself as I set up a bunch more cairns coming down the trail. I knew it was the right way because we had already made it up. Next time you climb there and see some of the cairns, maybe some will be mine! Oh! ALSO I should mention; we had not seen ANYONE during this whole time.
The whole freaking day we were 100% alone. Look at the picture, you can hear the wind whistling right? Nothing else. It was pretty nice, but sometimes it would have helped us to be able to ask someone where we were and stuff. Being ALL ALONE is nice and a little scary at the same time.
We made it back to the Horse Flats campground only to remember that we had parked a mile away at the parking lot! We kept trying to convince each other to hike up to the car and come back to us. We were so pissed to forget about that last hike! But we both made it back to the car fine, and drove back to hot hot HOT Los Angeles.
We went camping at Holcomb Pinnacles!
Well, really we camped at Hanna Flat campground, then drove to Holcomb. But it was still awesome! Our group arrived on Friday afternoon/evening and set up our camp, and had a nice night before starting our actual climbing trip on Saturday.
Saturday morning (-ish, we slept in for a while and had a nice breakfast) we drove six adults in a small SUV up the Van Dusen approach. It was quite an adventure for a bunch of Angelinos! That road is intense for a normal sedan, but with the SUV we were A-OK. Normally I drive a Prius, and there were two parts that I seriously doubt my car could get over- a medium size hump that would bottom out a low car, and two BIG puddles. I have seen it done by a fairly low car, but it felt a lot more badass to cruise over it in a bigger vehicle.
So we got to the northern parking area at the end of the road, and saw that there were already a ton of people there! Maybe twenty parked cars and several groups of people camping there. If we were more serious about climbing than camping I think it would be worth it to stay there, but they couldn’t make campfires. And we wanted campfires.
This was the second time we had gone to Holcomb Valley Pinnacles, but the first time we were meeting up with another group, and we had to pass up some climbs that looked fun to be with them. This time we could go wherever we wanted! So naturally we stopped at the first available climb, the Lost Orbit Wall East. (We didn’t know this at the time, we had to ask other climbers. A bunch of them didn’t know either, but finally someone did. Climbers are generally very nice people)
On the Lost Orbit Wall, we did Lunar Eclipse (5.11a), and sort of an accidental mix of Love At First Bight (5.8+) and Slacker(5.10c). None of us could make it all the way up Lunar Eclipse, we got stuck at the crux, but I- the usually weakest climber in our group- managed to get up on top of the bulge, but I continued to fall trying to stand on it. This meant I got the highest in the group! HAH!
*this was not the peak height achieved.
Actually, because none of our usual lead climbers could finish it and set up a top rope, I had to lead it, even though I did not originally want to. So I am still proud of myself for attempting it! Love At First Bite was weird, I think partially because of user error. We started Love At First Bight, traversed to Slacker, then some how used the anchors for LAFB. This is why it is important to have a book with you, or at least have done some research before hand! Haha, we were going in totally blind. It was very exciting to just push ourselves and not worry about it, but it meant that we didn’t know all the routes!
Because we couldn’t finish Lunar eclipse, we left two of our group to swing from the top of LAFB to get the quick draw. They were finishing that anyways, and as a rule, we don’t like to leave booty!
Our next climb was Deer Lick on Thunderbird wall. I did not finish this climb, it freaked me out too much. I was trying to lead it, and after a bit of a scare almost decking Ken (who weighs a bit more than me) on the first clip, I was not in the mood to fall and scrape myself up. The first part of the climb is really fun though. I managed not to fall on the first crimp holds, but then to get over the first lip and then to walk over to the first clip on the second buldge was scary to me. I think it was because if you tripped and fell it would mean rolling over and having a lot of slack on the line. Obviously it is a personal preference thing, but I like to climb for the challenge, not really for the danger. It’s like on a roller coaster- it feels dangerous, but it should not actually be all that dangerous. So I bailed on it and lowered down. * Also before you give me crap, my buddies already did. But I stand by what I did.
By this time the rest of our group had caught up with us so we had lunch! yum!
After this we wandered around a bit, thinking about what we wanted to climb next. Well, what we WANTED to climb was one of the long classic Holcomb climbs… but there were so many people there that they were all taken. There were plenty of other climbs that are lesser known and less used. So we wandered around to the right and found a place to top rope. Two short little routes that we could belly crawl to the anchors to. So we did!
I looked up it up and they was on the Rose Red Wall, but on Mountain Project it doesn’t have any names for the routes. The two climbs were both fun and easy, a little pump-y to start with then very balance-y at the top. They couldn’t be more than 40’.. .maybe 5.9s. After that we decided that we were hungry, and the rest of the group all wanted to go run before the sun set. Personally, I could have stayed and done a couple more and hiked out during the evening. But we had to drive all the way back to hanna flat and cook dinner. Basically I got out voted.
So that was it for our Holcomb Valley adventure!
I totally want to go back to lost orbit wall and finish Lunar Eclipse, and try the one to the left of it- the classic of that wall; Lost Orbit. I think if we went again I would get a propane grill and just stay at the climbers camp in the parking lot. It really seems like that is the way to go. There are so many people that go to this place that you have to get there super early and stake out the climbs you want. OR as we were leaving, Veronica saw a friend who was just leaving to go and do some night climbing. That could be fun I think, but you probably should do a lot more research, or have climbed there many times so that you know where all the bolts are.
Hanna Flat review
Pros:
Loud neighbors make it seem ok to be loud
Fire pit so we could cook on a fire, as none of us has a propane grill
Running or hiking trails
Cons:
Lots of neighbors, pretty close together.
Distance from the crag.
Medium:
Porta-potties are terrible, but I do feel bad crapping in the woods. that could be someone’s home!
I would say that what I like most about Pinnacles is the mix between really nice friendly crimps and slabs and really fun balancy delicate moves. I can’t wait to go there again!
***My friend Ken Lee corrected me that he did climb Slackers- 5.10c, not Love at first Bite-5.8 because LaFB is a trad route at the crack. Sorry for the confusion!
I want a space to review all the climbing places I go to, and to talk about all the new climbing things I find out about along the way. This should be fun!
A little about me: I climb mostly Top and Sport, actually I am only now learning to lead climb. It scares the crap out of me! Hopefully I can become more comfortable as I lead more routes. I also just got some new equipment for Trad climbing, which I hope can be put to use soon. I top out on 5.11a difficulty, but am hoping to keep pushing myself onto harder climbs.
Top and Sport 