7/28/08 to 8/04/08 - SoCal Climbing - The Needles

Our initial plans were to head to Tuolumne Meadows (in Yosemite National Park) to climb, then head to the wine country to road bike. Following the ride, we were going to head to Courtright Reservoir to climb.

**This entry has been edited to add text and photos**



Two days before taking off though, a big fire broke out near Yosemite Valley sending smoke into Tuolumne and surrounding areas. (After burning for more than a week, it appears the fire is finally contained, but only after destroying 28 homes and 90 outbuildings. Anyway...)

The day we were to leave (July 28th), we changed our plans completely because of the fire. We ditched the bikes and drove through Vegas heading to Southern California to climb at the Needles.



This place is located in the Sequoia National forest and sits at over 8,000 feet in elevation. There are beautiful views here. The granite is as white as I've seen and streaked with lichen the color of a yellow highlighter. It's really striking.

One of the best views comes from atop the Fire Watch Tower. According to this website (http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/sequoia/lookouts/lookouts.html) the "Needles Lookout was built in 1937 by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The lookout sits on a granite pinnacle. Access to the tower is along stairways and walkways that are suspended from the granite or across granite outcrops."



We hiked up to the tower on two occasions. Once to just check it out (though Dave had been there many times before, I'd not), and once to get cookies! On Sundays, the woman who lives in the tower makes cookies for climbers. We were first in line and the cookies were fabulous!



We arrived at the Needles campground on July 30th late. Happily we got the late campsite (and a level one) available. It was more crowded than Dave has ever seen it. Of course a crowd here means about 4 other parties in the camp ground.



The next morning (31st) we hiked the 3.5 miles in to the actual Needles. I'd long heard of the hike, and it was quite a hike. A custom here that is cool is that one hikes in their gear only once stashing at the rock. That means the rest of the hikes do not involve a heavy back pack. Yay.



Our first day climbing at the Needles, we did Airy Interlude (5.10a) on the Witch formation in three pitches because Dave linked some. I felt that I'd made some real progress on my crack skills though there was a wide crack that was quite testy. I didn't feel so competent on that part of the crack! After Airy Interlude, we climbed The Howling. These were both really beautiful climbs.



On our second day there, we did not rush since it was quite hot. We finally went in and goofed off a bit more waiting for shade. Finally it was time so we hopped on a climb called Thin Ice which is located on The Sorcerer. This climb is rated 5.10b and Dave climbed it in two long pitches. The second pitch involved a flaring offwidth hell pit. Suffice it to say, this was a complete grunt-fest for me. I did not feel elegant or graceful. Instead, adjectives such as thrutching, dry-heaving, and desperate clawing come to mind. :)



Next we rapped the notch between the Sorcerer and the Charletan so we could climb Spooky. After Spooky, we climbed up the pinnacle on top. This combination of climbs offered a variety of features: off widths, lay backs and weird fluted "things" to grab onto. Once done with Spooky, we climbed the weird shaped pinnacle. Very cool.



The third day there, we rested. I may suck at some wide cracks, but I excel at rest days. We slept really late. Then ate a multi-course breakfast. After that grueling activity, we had a 3 hour nap. Then we lounged in the sun and made dinner. This was a high-quality, five-star rest day. :)



The next morning, we hiked in got our cookies then headed to the Warlock formation to do two routes recommended by Herb Laeger (a developer of the Needles). I think one was called Moondrops and the other The Flying Warlock (though I could be wrong). One was a 10a, the other a 10b. Not much to say about them except that they were fun. After lunch, we hiked down a bit and climbed a route called Fancy Free (5.10c). The second pitch of this route was especially fun - a really great and technical finger crack. At the top, I exclaimed "I can't effing believe I did that!!!!" It was really great. It was an excellent way to end the day.



The Needles climbing is really amazing, and there are virtually no other people climbing there. Given the quality of the rock and routes, I'm puzzled why so few go there. Maybe it is the hike. The hike does get old (as everyone said it would). Still, it really isn't that bad a hike.

One day hiking in I heard the sound and saw the shake of a rattle. Instantly I flew through the air exclaiming "HUGEST SNAKE!!!!" That is not a typo. That is what I said. Hugest snake? Dave immediately followed with an elegant leap and odd noise. We looked back and almost on the trail was a huge rattlesnake. In the shade. Not where we'd expect to see one. Ick. Can't believe I didn't see it before hearing it. It was RIGHT IN FRONT OF US.



Our last day at the Needles was a short climbing day since we needed to get some driving done. We did one route called Spook Book. This route is rated 5.10+, has a lack of protection, heinous slab moves and some "scary golf ball mantel".



The climb was fun and hard. The slab was as heinous as I feared it'd be. The rest was just hard and fun. And it seems to go on and on. I believe we completed this route in five pitches. Topping out, we saw the worst weather of the trip - some clouds and a few rain drops. This was unfortunate since the descent off the top of this route was by far the scariest part. I didn't particularly care for some of it.



Once down, it was fun to sit and relax and have some lunch. Finally, we gathered our stuff and started our last exit hike. At the truck, we packed up excited to experience the Ponderosa - a restaurant nearby. We were bummed to arrive there and discover it closed. So, we drove back into the park a little ways, made dinner and had a great night of sleep.

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