08_2014 Northwest Climbing Trip Part III

After about a 5 hour drive across the border and through the endless urbania of Vancouver, we finally arrived at the star destination of our trip – Squamish B.C.! :)

Quinn at the parking area for the Squamish Chief, his first view of the 2000’ wall of fine granite!

We got a pretty nice campsite at the local RV/campground that was spacious and had some nice views of the Howe Sound. Now, if we could only convince all the other campers they DON’T need a campfire if it’s 70 degrees we would be even happier ;-)

Our first climb at Squamish was a nice 5 pitch 5.9 called Snake on the Apron. Here is Quinn making the first moves off the ground.

One of the thin corner pitches on Snake. Cool and continuous climbing on small features.

Belay selfie at the top of Snake. The town of Squamish is in the background.

Quinn coming up the very classic crack climb “Exasperator”, maybe the best 5.10c thin crack climb at the Chief.

Another shot looking down Exasperator.

The crux second pitch of “Peasant’s Route”, a really nice 5 pitch 5.10c with lots of thin and technical corner climbing.

Looking up at the madhouse on the Split Pillar on the Grand Wall. We were very happy to have Peasant’s Route all to ourselves.

Belay selfie.

Quinn leading the 3rd pitch of Peasant’s Route – another cool thin corner crux.

Me leading the last pitch of Peasant’s Route. More cool thin corner climbing followed by an interesting arête section higher up.

The view of the very industrial Howe Sound in Squamish. A large logging operation keeps your climbing day filled with lots of industrial noise ;-) Really unlike any other major climbing area that I’ve been to – an interesting mix of wild and urban in the same corridor.

Rapping down Peasant’s Route into the forest below. The forest is so thick that it takes your eyes a few minutes to adjust to the relative darkness after being up on the cliff.

Another really fun thin crack route called Arrowroot, very nice 5.10b

Next door to Arrowroot is a 2 pitch route called Rutabega, this is the 5.10b first pitch. Good stuff :)

Squamish is land of the van! There are so many van rigs roaming around the cliffs and town, this one had a very creative paint job eh?

The Howe Sound Brewery is just a few minutes from the climbing areas and makes for a fine post climbing beer and grub destination.

A fine Hefeweisen at Howe Sound – yum! An excellent anti-inflammatory ;-)

Downtown Squamish view.

A panorama composite of the entire Squamish Chief massif – more than a mile wide and almost half a mile high – that’s a lot of granite!

The 800’ Shannon Falls, across from our campground – nice view eh?

Our campground entrance with the Squamish Chief in the background.

Fun road sign in B.C. Too bad the locals all drive like maniacs on the coastal highway, so much for saving gas, eh? ;-)

A fun rest day activity is to watch the kite boarders on the Howe Sound, very entertaining!

08_2014 Northwest Climbing Trip Part II

After the long drive from City of Rocks ID, we finally arrived and made camp in Icicle Canyon outside of Leavenworth. The eastern Cascades are an interesting range combining alpine type weathered rock at low elevations. This area is also generally in the rain shadow of the Cascades.

A view of the approach hike up to the crags on our first day of climbing in Icicle Canyon. Steep but relatively short trails lead to the base of 200-400’ granite formations.

Me leading the crux 3rd pitch of Heart of Gold, a very cool 4 pitch 5.10c climb. Temps were nice early on, but it got hot fairly quickly. By the top pitch it was quite toasty and we were wishing for some shade.

Quinn following the crux pitch of Heart of Gold. Edges and bumps keep you on your toes, literally :)

On the summit of Heart of Gold – nice view, nice weather, although a bit on the warm side.

Our next target was a 3 pitch route called “Mexican Crack”, 5.10b. Some folks were on it in this picture, but they were basically out of the way by the time we got up there in mid afternoon.

Cool thin crack climbing on the crux 2nd pitch of Mexican Crack.

Quinn heading up the long 3rd pitch of Mexican Crack which leads to the top of the formation.

By the time we were high on the route, the wind had kicked up to a nasty howl – check out Quinn’s hair!

Our objective for the 2nd day of climbing in Leavenworth was a route called “Hyperspace” on the Snow Creek Wall. This 800’ high alpine wall is guarded by a somewhat strenuous 1.5 hour approach hike.

Crossing the creek before heading up the ramps/slabs to the base of Snow Creek Wall. Very different from your typical Rocky Mountain alpine approach.

At the base we were greeted by the locals – some fairly bold mountain goats. These guys were fun to watch, especially with their babies, but they were also a little aggressive. It was kind of weird that they liked to visit your pee spots post use for a little goat hydration…

The view towards Leavenworth from near the base of Snow Creek Wall.

This is the 5.11a/b thin finger crack on pitch 3 of Hyperspace. I had a little trouble with this pitch as the crack seamed out and forced you to do some committing off balance face climbing to reach better holds near the top of the pitch. Can you say “all warmed up now”? ;-)

Quinn leading the 5.9 4th pitch of Hyperspace – cool and airy climbing ending at a very exposed and small belay.

Me leading the 5.11a 5th pitch. This pitch had a bunch of tricky and strenuous corner climbing as well as some questionable rock – it kept my full attention! Good position, exposed!

For the 6th pitch, I opted for a 5.10b or so variation that climbed out of the Hyperspace corner system, around an arête, then traversed across a steep but knobby headwall to the amazing splitter crack pitches of “Outerspace” – probably the most popular route on the wall. This is a pic of another party coming up the crack on Outerspace.

Quinn leading the 7th pitch crack – really fun climbing and it leads to a really nice belay ledge!

Me coming up the 7th pitch – very cool position and views!

Leading the final and long 5.9 8th pitch that leads to the top. By the time I got to the summit, it was beginning to rain lightly, not exactly what we wanted since the descent is a somewhat complex series of ramps, slabs and gullies…

Quinn coming up the final section of the route. The approach trail can be seen way down behind him.

On the summit! With some wacky weather moving in quickly, there was no time to relax on top, time to get going on the descent!

The descent takes about 30 minutes if you make all the right choices, not too bad but not totally casual. The rain was very light so no problem there J

When we arrived back at the base, the goats were really checking out our stuff. Here is Quinn getting ready to fend them off ;-)

Cute goat family at the base!

On the hike out, the rain got quite heavy at times but a nice rainbow formed over Leavenworth…

Since it was raining when we got back to the car and town is only a few miles away, the clear choice was to go to the brew pub for dinner J It was a good choice as it rained almost all night at our campground. In the morning we would head for Squamish, our 3rd and final destination for the trip. :)

08_2014 Northwest Climbing Trip Part I

Quinn and I headed out on a northwest climbing road trip in late August. First stop was City of Rocks Idaho since it’s a great place, Quinn had never been there and it provided good timing to avoid the wet weather that was currently in the Squamish BC area – our final destination. Here is Quinn and I on top of Morning Glory Spire after his first climb at “The City” :)

Quinn leading the first 5.10a pitch of “Morning Glory”. Some thoughtful slab and face climbing to get you going.

Quinn coming up the crux 5.10d second pitch of “Morning Glory”. Cool and continuous climbing.

A view of City of Rocks National Reserve to the south from Morning Glory spire.

Quinn finishing up the crux second pitch.

Castle Rocks State Park, the lower elevation portion of City of Rocks, just after sunrise.

Quinn on the approach to the Yellow Wall to the north of the Twin Sisters formations.

Very cool climbing on the classic 5.9 route “Yellow Wall”. Steep, but good holds and nice stemming.

Quinn on the summit block of Yellow Wall. No other people anywhere near us despite the nice weather and a weekend day. Must have been the brutal 15 minute approach that kept folks away ;-)

A cool 5.10c crack climb on the Yellow Wall.

Quinn pointing at our afternoon objective, “Eagle Crack” on the Eagle Wall. A little bit of thrashing up the hillside gets you to this very cool steep and featured crack climb.

Me leading the Eagle Crack, 5.10a/b. Good stuff! Steep and fun.

On the summit of Eagle Rock with Twin Sisters in the background. Note the nasty wildfire smoke from various fires in the Northwest at the time.

Just after leaving City of Rocks on our way to Leavenworth WA we drove through some pretty agricultural areas with the southern Idaho mountains in the background. We had about 600 miles to drive that day to reach Icicle Canyon outside of Leavenworth WA.