catbirdseat Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 Trip: Castle Rock, Tumwater Canyon - Birdsnest Overhang, 5.8 Date: 6/20/2009 Trip Report: Crazy Mark and I checked out this rather obscure Beckey route on Lower Castle Rock today. We approached by climbing to the top of the Fault and traversing up and right on a grassy crack system. I wanted to head up towards Idiot's Delight, but it looked mossy and unappealing that way. Mark went to the right side of a big ledge and spotted a clean, white right-facing corner, which you can see in the photo in the guidebook, but which has no name. Mark led up this pitch which felt like 5.8 to a roof traverse and then a dihedral. We belayed at the bottom of this somewhat mossy feature. My pitch started with some face moves out of the dihedral up to some grassy ledges to the right of the overhang. Climbing up some blocks, I made a few mossy slab moves to another RFC system and followed this to Logger's Ledge, topping out below the start of Canary. This second pitch was familiar to Mark as Birdsnest Overhang. We are not sure what the first pitch we did was. We rather liked this climb. It protects well and features consistently 5.7-5.8 climbing. After lunch at Logger's Ledge we climbed Old Grey Mare, 5.8. I found it a lot less scary than I had anticipated. It really protects quite well. I found it to be quite enjoyable. I belayed right below Crack of Doom which Mark led. I did the final pitch to the summit which coincides with Canary. What I hadn't realized was that one can traverse over to Winder Solstice (5.6) from the top of Old Grey Mare, if not wanting to climb Crack of Doom. I think more people ought to consider OGM when Canary is busy. It's pretty nice. BTW, the bolt has been replaced. Gear Notes: Double cams from 1/2" to 4" and a few stoppers for Birdsnest. Small TCUs and Camalots to 2" plus medium stoppers for Old Grey Mare. Approach Notes: You can also approach by hiking up a gully from the road and traversing left to the start on a ledge system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostCamKenny Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 Was the approach painless, or relatively so? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crillz Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 The approach to the lower Castle Rock routes are some of the most grueling in the 11worth area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catbirdseat Posted June 22, 2009 Author Share Posted June 22, 2009 Was the approach painless, or relatively so? How does "about five or ten minutes" sound? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostCamKenny Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 The approach to the lower Castle Rock routes are some of the most grueling in the 11worth area. So, from the parking lot straight uphill for ten miles, huh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherri Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 Nice one, CBS. Good on ya for dusting off some old lines and reminding us that there's good stuff out there for those willing to look for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancegranite Posted June 22, 2009 Share Posted June 22, 2009 Uh, you guys know that it's frowned upon to climb anything but the trade routes at Castle Rock, lest you disturb the verdant carpets of moss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catbirdseat Posted June 22, 2009 Author Share Posted June 22, 2009 Shhhh....don't tell anyone, but most of the rock is quite clean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weekend_Climberz Posted June 23, 2009 Share Posted June 23, 2009 WTF?!? When did you come back! I've been out of it for too long apparently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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