The Oculus

This is a mixed line with mixed styles of climbing. What is unique here is the sustained sections of good chimney that seem to be so rare in the area.

Find the base, where 2 bolts low to the ground are on the left-most toe of rock on the main central buttress. Climb past these bolts to reach the face to the left of the arete. I did not bother clipping the first of the bolts, which was so low as to not offer much more than drag potential in exchange for protecting only easy moves. Continue up past some gear into a wide crack to the right of a broker vegetated corner and do a few wide moves (5.8, OW) to a spot where you can move left and into what more resembles a chimney. this is the only OW climbing on the route, but more wide sections for protection will present themselves - so don't dump the wide stuff yet if you don't need it. Continue up the corner, chimney, and associated cracks for a long way, passing a 5.8 section at a huge chockstone, which is an optional belay according to Gillett. We removed some loose chunks of chewed-through webbing which once served as a belay here - my partner later gave an obscene and funny name to it, but I digress....

Continue onward with minimal drag or other reason to stop up past a few smooth sections (5.8 again) and 2 bolted sections, flipping left-side-in or right-side-in as necessary to keep the grade within reason. If you are not wearing long pants, this is where you will wonder why not, as your knees are getting scraped up by now, but your long-parts-wearing chimney-climbing partner will be happy as a clam... and I digress again. I chose wisely. Continue up and top-out of the chimney. Clip a 2-bolt anchor for a belay and directional, then step uphill over the gap to a stance and single bolt anchor to belay there and thus avoid the otherwise nastily hanging belay.

The view down the hill and across or up the canyon from here is pretty amazing.

To descend, DO NOT rap the chimney. Go up the slab 15' from the belay to the summit of the rock and find a second anchor. Rap 85' or so to the chains atop of '

Stem Cell Research

' and then 90' more to the ground, significantly uphill from the base now.

This route ascends the chimney feature formed between the main central buttress and the huge flake/arete of '

Bury The Hatchet

.' Start on the left-most toe/arete of the central buttress past 2 bolts on the corner, and ascend upwards to the top.

This climb requires a standard rack and certainly can use a few large cams (

i.e.

#5/6 Camalots) to supplement the protection. 6 bolts in total along the way help keep runouts to within reason, but there still are sections without protection that might make a newbie leader consider their position carefully.