Yes, I always solo up that to warm up whenever I am climbing at Disco - maybe change the name to Old Hat.
Is the line on your topo on the right bait for poachers?
He's right, we've walked below that for years. I've even thought about climbing that line, but I never did because, in my mind it was kinda out of bounds. Now, don't misunderstand - I think it's a legit route that is NOT in fact out of bounds, but subconsciencely it was out of bounds for years in my mind.
It was a no-go in my mind for years because the standard walk/scramble-off for Discovery Wall used to be just about where he drew the dotted line to the right of the 5.7 route (up until the mid-late 1980s). Then the NPS built the current (much better for wear and tear) trail straight back; they then tried to discourage using the old descent. For a while though it was a close call - would climbers use the new trail, or continue to descend as they "always" had, contributing thereby to trail and plant degradation?
I for one stopped using the old descent as soon as the new trail went in. Obviously, everyone else did too - eventually. And, not wanting to "encourage" use of the "wrong" descent, that area has been sort of outta bounds in my mind ever since.
And can we use the name "Old Hat?" It's perfect (even though we don't believe that J.C. has ever soloed it; we believe that D.E.S. has though).
