We got to the east side yesterday at 9:30 and it was even more packed than last weekend at the Rockpile. There was no parking in any of the upper lots. The closest one open was the High Peaks view lot. We opted for the campground and the dreaded shuttle. It actually wasn't that bad. We only waited about 5-10 minutes on the way up and less than 5 on the way out. We were flabbergasted as we walked past the Monolith and there was not a single climber in sight. Our plan was to do some new stuff on the Sisters - since there is such a high concentration of routes there and we knew Clint and Bruce had done some recent rebolting. We were also curious about the new routes Munge had mentioned last weekend. We did the new 5.5 first and then KC led the 4th Sis N Rib 5.1R.
KC comes up the upper section of the new Sister routes
KC leads the 4th Sister North Rib 5.1R*
We did the 5.6/7 next and then the 3rd Sis Approach NW Face 5.0. I wanted to do the other approach chimney too - but could see some PO about halfway up and knew the rope would drag right through it unless I just soloed the whole thing - and that wouldn't have been fun for KC. We took a peek at route 241 on Fifth Sis from a slanting notch between the 4th and 5th sis - but it didn't look 5.6 - lots of lichen and moss with no evidence of a "path" and it's a definite death drop. It might be possible to rig some gear in a few spots - there is a flake below and a rotten looking crack a few moves above - OR we were looking at it wrong and it starts from lower down. We didn't walk around the other side to check it out from the base. There's still a bunch of stuff to do around there, so I'll have to take another look at it. Does anyone know the history on this route?(FA is unknown). The North side topo is vague and with no pro...it's anybody's guess.
KC still had her lead head on - so I suggested she lead Sinbad. We headed up the Rim trail and down towards the climb. I didn't hear anyone - but called down the slot to check - and sure enough there was someone starting it. No big deal. We had never done The Camel - South Face 5.3R* so we roped up and I headed up that. The book says no meaningful pro - but I got a couple of decent sling knobs and the rock was really nice.
JC leads The Camel - South Face 5.3R* - slinging a knob.
A fun way to end the day. I wanted to do more - but it was getting late and we didn't know how the shuttle would be - so we headed out. It was a little after 4:20 on 4-20 when I thought I smelled something sweet and skunky wafting up from the trail below...yeah...those days are long gone for me...I've got a new drug these days...it flows through my veins every time I get on the sharp end...
