Twin Cracks Right (and

Twin Cracks Left

) begins with the first half of

Twin Peaks

and goes right into a separate crack system at the undercling (where the other goes left). The crux is somewhere along the crack (you decide). The crack itself is solid rock, mostly fingers. Recommend: skip the bolt just beneath the undercling and place pro out right (where you are going anyway). A steep finger crack then leads to a low-angle, V-shaped dihedral.  Step right and lower off from the anchors for

Glennevere

.

Twin Cracks Right

Twin Peaks

Twin Cracks Left

Minas Tireth

Second Breakfast

Road to Isengard

The Memory of Trees

Dark Tower

Glennevere

Lothlorien

This is a new sport line just around the corner to the left of

The Memory of Trees

and right of

Dark Tower

. It is the left of two lines on this steeper buttress, and starts in the same spot as

Glennevere

, the route to its right.  It looks harder than it is, too.

Climb an easy slab to a right-facing flake with a wide crack behind it. Ascend the flake past 2 bolts.  Move up to a steeper face with an obvious undercling.  Get situated on smaller face holds above this.  Find a first crux here where you stretch (for those 5'10" and shorter) up and right to a left-facing flake and walk your feet up.  Move up, catch a breath.  Find a thin, balancy finish (2nd crux) up and left without a finishing "jug" to the anchors.

Twin Cracks Left (and

Twin Cracks Right

) begins with  the first half of

Twin Peaks

and goes left into a separate crack system at the undercling (where the other goes right). The crux is somewhere along the crack (you decide). The crack itself is solid rock, mostly hands and fingers. Recommend: skip the bolt just beneath the undercling and place pro out left (where you are going anyway).

This is a short route that climbs an arete and a roof between Road to Isengard and Lothlorien.  About 15' of hard climbing on slightly crumbly rock.

Start in the same spot as for

Road to Isengard

. Move up and right to a slab.  It's a long way to the first bolt, but the climbing is easy. You might want to clip the first bolt on

Road to Isengard

and then move right.  Clip two bolts on the slab and continue up to a steep headwall.  Work up the left arete and move right onto a slab below the roof (crux).  Clip the last bolt above the roof and turn the roof on the right.  The 2-bolt anchor is just above.

Climb the corner, then follow the arete. Small cams and nuts are helpful in the first twenty feet, which is the crux. I found more gear placements on the upper arete then expected, but there is a bit of a runout if toward the top if you stay on the arete proper. The climbing in the runout is quite easy, maybe 5.2.

I belayed off a giant pine tree. You could step right use the

Lothlorien

anchor, but it was occupied when we did it.

This climbs just to the right of the enjoyable

The Memory of Trees

.

Start up the face 5 feet right of

The Memory of Trees

by a left-facing corner.  Then scramble up to a small overhang and the second bolt.  For the next couple bolts, the objective is to have as much fun as possible staying high on the face, avoiding the large tree and class 4 corner on the right.  The best part of the climb is near the end, when the quasi-traversing ends and you fire straight up to the two-bolt anchor shared with The Memory of Trees.

The crux may be found at the start  or high on the face near the 6th bolt.  May be easier than 5.8 if "cheating" and finding the easiest line....

This is the route to the left of

Road to Isengard

, beginning at the base of the arete.  Climb past two bolts to the first of two small roofs.  Clip the third bolt before turning the roof.  You can turn the roof on the left side or the right side/straight up; the left side might be a bit easier.  Climb an easy slab to a second roof.  Turn this smaller roof on the right and finish up past 2 more bolts.  The climb tops out on a ledge with a 2-bolt anchor (shared with

Road to Isengard

).

Dark Tower is found on the second arete from the left of the Watermark formation, an area developed by Richard Rossiter during a particularly Tolkenian period in his career.  It's easy to see where that influence was inspired, the forest around the base of the shady cliff is primordal.  And if my experience is an indication of this route's karma, approach with caution, Traveler....

The start of the line consists of crossing a slab to gain a crack that angles up onto a rib, which then angles left to the arete.  The crack may be intimidating, but a fine, fun lead.  As the crack arcs left above a roof and dies on the face before the arete, the psycological crux is encountered as you must traverse  over exposure on the face.  Pass the large tree on the right (I found the crack above the tree afforded better protection to save rope drag.)  Interesting climbing continues up the face.  You can set up a nice belay on a shelf at the top.

Be aware: as I brought my second up, I happened to notice a (large!) red ant colony swarming all over my rope and over my legs.  It was aweful.  Nasty buggers were biters too.

You can sprint off the shelf left and scramble down the gully east of the Watermark and then traverse back to its base.

This is a sport line just around the corner to the left of

The Memory of Trees

.  It is the right of two lines on this steeper buttress, and starts in the same spot as

Twin Peaks

, the route to the left.  It looks harder than it is.

Move up, clip a bolt, move into the pod, wiggle left, up left of the cavity/roof, find bigger holds than you would expect, and pull right over the roof.  Fire past a few bolts on to a steeper headwall.  Here you can move right (easier) or left (slightly harder) and then find a optional fist jam to the 2-bolt anchor in a little pod.

The upper headwall is a wee bit fractured and a mite lichen covered currently, but it may improve with age.

This is the farthest right of the routes.  Scramble up the hillside from the creek about 50 feet to the base of the crag.  The route, named after an enchanted forest in "The Lord of the Rings", follows five bolts up a great slab, with perfect, 2 pad deep incuts up its length.  This is a great beginner lead, with the bolts just far apart enough to give one a little thrill, yet easy enough to clip from stable stances.  It is one of the better 5.8s I've climbed when looked at in this manner.  The route tops out on a ledge with a 2-bolt anchor.

Description

Location

Protection

Routes in The Watermark