June 16-June 23, 2012.

School’s out! It was time to hit the rock. I was able to spend 8 days climbing and hiking in this beautiful park. It was my first trip there, and so I hit many of the classics. It took a few days to warm up to granite slab climbing, which is much unlike what there is to climb in Oregon.

I took some pictures on this trip, and I also went for a hike.

My favorites:

Bloody Fingers (5.10a)—WOW. Here’s a climb that lives up to its reputation. A strenuous start leads to sweet hand and finger jams above. Just when you think you’ve got it nailed, the crack disappears into a friction slab with some minor stress-inducing moves to the top. Very enjoyable route. We toproped it; I think it would be a scary lead down below. Trad.

Classic Route on the Lost Arrow (5.7)—I was glad Tom led the first pitch, because it would have been very heady for me. The second pitch was exciting on lead as well with an airy step around the corner to reach the slab. I bootied an old #1 Camalot from the upper crack. In fact, I wasn’t even expecting an upper crack but it came in handy to protect the so-called runout finish. Great views from the top followed by a nice free rappel make this a definite classic. Trad.

Columbian Crack (5.7)—If you asked me while I was leading this, I wouldn’t have but it on my favorites list but in hindsight I think it was a stellar route. It begins in a wide to narrow chimney, then you pop up onto a block before stepping into the crack. Minimal crack skills are required since there are holds and ledges all over the face. Scary runout on top unless you bring the right gear (duh)–think, WIDE.

Double Trouble (5.8)—Slab to hand crack to chimney. Varied and enjoyable, albeit soft for an 8. It was nice to finally get some crack moves in as they are pretty hard to find in the moderates here. Trad.

Night Vision (5.9)—Really interesting opening sequence made me think and grunt a bit. With the right counterbalancing and body position, you can get up to the more straightforward slab. Toprope.

Sinocranium (5.8)—Super fun, 5 pitch bolted multipitch route on Stinefell’s Dome. Most of the slab is easier than 5.7, with one 5.8 pitch that follows a dike full of quartzite crystals. There are a ton of bolts, so you can skip some to make things more interesting. This was definitely worth the hike. Sport.

Raindance (5.7)—This very well bolted route has a traversing lower pitch and a long slab for the upper pitch. It was an excellent introduction to the type of climbing here. I really enjoyed the second pitch. Sport.

Snack Break (5.9)—This is a very sparsely bolted route with a spicy opening sequence. There was a lot of reaching up and feeling around for jugs that weren’t visible. Mixed.

Snack Break Direct (5.8)—Same feeling as Snack Break, but considerably easier. Mixed.

Tennish Anyone? (5.10a)—Easy lower half gives way to some thoughtful, balancey slab moves on the upper half. Enjoyable route with very minimal 10 climbing. Mixed?

Triple Roofs (5.7)—The roofs aren’t the hard part. My crux came much higher, and it took a long time to commit to the moves to bypass it. This one made me think! There were a couple of bolts that may or may not have been for this route; I clipped one somewhere below the large roof. Trad.

Wheat Thin (5.7)—Followed Nate up this mellow flake/crack. Pretty straightforward and fun! Trad.

White Flake (5.8)—This would be my favorite climb if it wasn’t for the strange, smooth bowl in the middle of the route beneath the triangular rock. I had no idea what to do or how to protect it, so I stepped left onto the adjacent sport route and clipped a bolt before delicately traversing back right. The white flake at the top of the climb provides fun climbing, and I was so happy to jam my hands into a great crack at the top. Spectacular route! Trad.

And the rest:

Adolescent Homosapien/Homosexual (5.7)—I hated the opening chimney, which colored the rest of the route for me. It was incredibly windy and I was stressed out the whole time. I’d forgotten the beta for a “difficult to protect upper crux” so it took me a while to work through that. Not my best effort. Trad.

Cruel Shoes (5.7)—I wanted to do Dikes of Gastonia but my partners preferred this route. Nothing special, just another long, well-protected slab with remarkably uncomfortable belay stations. Sport.

Eastside Groove (5.6)—A not-so-memorable climb on the east side of Bath Rock. Trad.

Finer Niner (5.9)—This route is a bit contrived, but we did the best we could. The roof move is excellent and not that difficult, and the rest of the route is much easier. Sport.

Fledgling (5.7)—A really awkward leaning crack led to more interesting, but easier climbing on top. I was not happy with the bottom. Trad.

Fred Rasmussen (5.8)—This climb seemed to only go about 40 feet, unless we missed something. Too short to be much fun. Trad.

Funky Bolt (5.9)—I really wanted to like this one. I don’t know if my feet were trashed by this route or before I started, but my feet were in raging pain by the end. The sequence at the “funky bolt” was really reachy and stressful, even when following. The anchor is a ton of slings wrapped around a gigantic horn. Trad.

Intruding Dike (5.7)—Maybe because this was my first gear lead at the City, or because of the lousy walk-off, this was not one of my favorites. I wished I had more than one 0.5 Camalot. Trad.

Pure Pleasure (5.6)—Longish slab leads to a shortish crack. A reasonable warm-up if you’re in the area. The coolest part was exploring the window arch and algae-filled potholes above the top of the climb. Trad with one bolt.

Theater of Shadows (5.7)—I thought this was so easy and devoid of interesting moves that it was a waste. I’d never recommend it to anyone besides a first time climber who wanted to get on a multi-pitch. Yawn. Sport.

Too Much Fun (5.8)—The tricky move at the start for “short people” was definitely the crux for me. I had to deadpoint to an undercling before being able to reach up to a jug. It was good, but not sure what all the fuss is about this route. Sport.

Twist and Crawl (5.8)—Long, runout start. Tom put a big cam in a horizontal crack before the first bolt. Slab climbing leads to a crack at the top. We climbed this route to set a TR on Bloody Fingers. Mixed.

Overall, I must say I was a little intimidated by the City. I did not push my climbing grade at all, since I felt humbled by several 5.7 leads. Climbing on granite is a different experience, and I felt like I improved my footwork considerably over the course of the trip. I was happy for the opportunity to place a lot of gear and travel to a new destination. Back in Portland, I’m already sick of the weather and desperately missing Idaho’s sunshine.