The Quest

The oldest description I recall was from the Hackworth Guide, which referred to the route as epic.

The first Bronaugh guide stated:

"An epic, regardless of the outcome."

Bronaugh's second book said something more like:

"Seek and you shall find- your epic."

In my opinion, the word adventure is more appropriate, and the route is much maligned by any association with danger or such. The word "epic" in climbing is too loaded for this association. The route is actually quite good! Still, the details on this route have always seemed somewhat slim, in books, by word of mouth, from friends, etc... perhaps to preserve the adventure of it, and I'll leave that as such.

I showed up for a few days in Y2k and had not ever done this route. I recruited a friend, "G.I." Jeff Dul to go do this with me. Although I liked the route a lot, his conclusions were significantly different:

1. "That had nothing to do with climbing."

2. "I bought the ticket, so I took the ride."

The latter being a Hunter S. Thompson Quote, I believe.

P1: Climb a few cracks to reach a shallow left-facing corner just right of a slot, progressing up and left to join the most obvious crack system through steep territory with long reaches and complex jams (5.10+) for a pitch to just below the large roof.

P2: Traverse out right below the roof to the lip and pull the lip to get up into the crack above (crux, 5.10+) and forge your way to the trees at the top of the cliff.

The grades on both pitches might seem a little sandbagged if you are expecting to compare this to area sport climbs where endurance is the key.

Just right of the approach trail's arrival at the cliff there is a large dihedral capped by a looming roof and a wide crack to a flaring slot above, and approached by a pitch of intermittent and parallel cracks through a steep wall on the left, below. Climb these to the top of the cliff in 2 pitches.

A standard rack up to an old-style #4 Camalot.