Climb up the left side, right-rising diagonal crack, grab a few good holds and step above the bulge. Follow the crack and face to the right-angling ledge, passing a pine tree to your right. On the face above that ledge, step left from a left-facing, right-rising small corner (5.8 R direct up that corner) to reach a crack system through the bulge above. Work up easy slab and steps to a tree belay.

Lab Rat

White Mice

Slaboratory

Dependent Variable

Guinea Pig

The crux is getting through the initial overhang; once past that, it is easy sailing to the oak tree. Tackling the final overhang above the tree is also quite sketchy, but pro can be had to the right, and it's also easy to slide right and climb much more securely through that second obstacle using essentially the upper section of Lab Rat. Climbing the slab to the first overhang is dicey, and while there are pro cracks along the slab, the gear dies out at your feet until you have holds above the overhang. This is not a pleasant position to be in while struggling to place good gear above you. Be careful, don't fall here! Once through that move, the climbing settles down to easy fifth class until you get to the oak tree on a right-sloping ledge. Another overhang above this presents another rough bit; originally taken between the two opposing corners 4' apart, that particular move can be avoided by moving right a little bit, to access the last moves of Lab Rat.

Cleaned up, this might be a worthwhile run. In its present state, not so much. Climb up the slab, avoiding any/all unstable blocks perched every-so precariously, clawing in the dirt and grappling tree roots and plant shoots, to the lowest point of the headwall, where it becomes a broken set of steps at the base of a right-rising ramp. Ascend the ramp as it steepens to become a left-facing corner behind an oak tree. Climb the corner (smaller cracks on the right face provide "normal" gear; the wide crack would take #6 Camalots - or bigger) to its end, and scramble up a set of steps to a pine tree. The initial slab is sprinkled with loose boulders and blocks lying at an unnerving angle. Don't touch them. The slab is also quite dirty, though it is also easy.

No gear for the start makes for a jittery launch. The route utilizes a difficult and dirty start in order to reach the attractive system of parallel cracks in the headwall above. The filthy slab between these two sections of good climbing and the poor pro for that start are serious detractions. If the upper cracks are your goal, they are 5.6 and can be accessed by wallowing up the easier parts of the slab to the left. Climb up through the parallelogram notch and make a difficult move to a rounded stance ledge. Work up a vertical seam/very thin crack onto a filthy, cluttered, easy slab. Scramble up and right to a cluster of right-leaning vertical cracks. Climb up one or more of these to a couple easy steps leading to trees on a ledge.

Climb up the crack/seam/corner line, making a few layback moves to pass the crux (good holds on the right settle this down a lot). Reach a good hold above a small overhang and pull up on a ledge. Scramble up stepped face, passing right of the pine tree. Clamber up on a ledge, traverse right 2m, and climb a left-facing, right-rising corner through a final headwall to easing slab. Belay at an oak tree.

This is the lowest tier of cliffs, closest to the stream.

Description

Location

Protection

Routes in Bottom Tier