As you follow up the main canyon trail, two drainages will be passed on the right. Just after the second and just off the trail is a clean slab with a tricky start. This little gem has a series of sharp edges and shallow pockets and makes a nice warm-up for the finger tweakers in the canyon. It is a bit run-out for 5.10.

Drugs Are Nice

Drug Test

Perfection

Jesus Liquid

The Golden Egg

The Working Hour

Prince of Peace

Horseshoes and Hand Grenades

Friend of the Devil

Woof

La Bruja

Rocca de Luna

Good Trouble

Gunks Pump

Razor Hueco Arete - aka Razor Blades and Whipping Cream

Show Her Your Stem

Weave Your Spell

Witches Eye aka Witching Hour?

Shortly after passing the second drainage system in the main canyon, you will come to a large, striking roof on the right side of the trail. Woof follows out the right side after negotiating a short, vertical wall. It has great moves on juggy edges with darn good position for a small rock. Just imagine that it is on some lofty peak.

This is in a side canyon off to your right just before

Drugs Are Nice

. It has pumpy jugs to a cryptic crimp sequence. Who knew you could get pumped in 30 feet?

Start low with your left hand in a shallow mono way out left and your right hand on a 2 finger credit card crimp out right. Get the good right foot hold down low to the right, and find a way to pull on (crux). Move through the obvious, bigger pocket higher up, sort out how to get to the jug lip, then pull into the bowl, before stepping back onto the face to the left, and topping out above the start holds up high.

The upstream side of the second fin-like structure after Woof hosts several nice, solid face climbs. Jesus Liquid is the middle of three, and may be the best of them. Expect good edges and thin pockets with some reachy moves between.

The route climbs the obvious crack in the middle of the face to two bolts and then the anchor. The crack is about 5.5 and the crux is a frictiony move or two at the bolts. The rock at the crux is of less than stellar quality but the worst rock is avoidable.

There is a decent route to the left of the Golden Egg that is easily toproped from the anchors. It's probably about 10a and has 3 bolts.

The crux is thin face moves over the bulge.

Prince of Peace is a bolted line that was put up in the traditional style, on lead with a hammer & hand drill while hanging from scary hooks.  It is located far down the main canyon in the same branch as Gunks Pump.  It is the route immediatel left of "The Golden Egg" 5.8, and shares the same top anchors.  This route has some flair and surprising variety to it!  Start on small edges and go straight up for 12 ft to the first bolt.  Climb edges over a sloping ledge to the second bolt and a "Thank God" pocket.  Continue up great slabby stuff to the 3rd bolt, then walk gently, keeping left (right gets manky!) for the thrilling runout to the anchors.  If it looks runout, well it is.  But there is no deck potential unless your belayer is slacking.  Everything is mathmatically correct so you can have a fun, thrilling, yet safe climb.  It's different from the common laboratory safe, bolt at yer waist, routes.  With that known, you can also TR it if you lead Golden Egg to the anchors.  But lead it before you leave or it will haunt you in your dreams!

This is a dyno/burly sustained route left of Drug Test. Broken??? It is not .12c, that is for sure.

Friend of the Devil climbs a brown and tan wall.

The route furthest right when facing the wall. Start in a small, right-facing corner up to the bulging wall. Do a cool, powerful move off pockets to a jug. Clip, shake, then undercling, crimp, and highstep past one more bolt to a 2 bolt anchor with Mussy hooks. It is slightly more difficult than its neighbor "

Weave Your Spell

" but much more straightforward IMHO. Quality.

This route is just right of Ubiquitous Confusion, which is a great, sleeper route in and of itself (although I think that line is closer to 13a than the given grade of 12c/d in the old guidebook). Anyway, this route was an old, abandoned Brian Mullin project from the 1990s that only had a bolted anchor on it. I replaced the anchor and sunk a line of glue-ins in it this past spring.

Begin on the slab just left of a widening crack that doesn’t quite reach the ground. Balancy climbing leads up to the bulging headwall and sustained, hard crimping past several bolts through the overhang. Finish on some mellow jugs just before the anchor. I thought this route was a ton of fun, and I hope others get on it soon!

Good Trouble is a cool route on small holds. The crux is getting to the anchors.

Gunks Pump follows a left-leaning crack to a bulge at the left end of the wall. The crack is mellow, the bulge is the crux, and the setting is killer. The rock is a little questionable at the crux, pull down, not out, on the jug in the headwall.

Razor Hueco Arete is a great looking line if you like jugs. It is slightly overhanging at the start, then it straightens up. The line does not go directly up the arete, but some outside holds are used. It has great protection and is wonderful for climbers wanting to break the 5.9 barrier into 5.10.

This ascends a beautiful corner crack with awesome stemming and sinker jams. It is one of the best trad lines in the valley. Climb up a thin corner to a roof passing an unneeded bolt, pull the roof, and jam your way to a 2 bolt anchor.

Immediately up-stream of

Razor Hueco Arete

(# 28) is another fin-like formation with several routes. Running up this dark grey wall is first,

Witches Tit

followed by Weave Your Spell. Both are good, Weave seems a bit more friendly (aka, a bit easier) and picks out some very sharp edges with very reachy moves on largely poor feet. This fine little addition suffers only from being way too short. The climbing was a bit better than on

Tit

because most the edges are very positive. This was a terrific line.

The crux is at the bottom, climb to the chains, or better yet continue through the "eye" and top out. Awesome route. It can go with gear.

Description

Protection

Routes in Main Canyon