orion_sonya

Thanks all for the info. We are planning on heading up there this Sunday or Monday. I'll let you all know where we ended up going.

Thanks for all of the feedback so far. As far as our experience, we are not gym rats (well at least not spring through fall;). We both were primarily sport climbers until a few years ago, so we tend to trad climb well within our abilities, and neither of us have any alpine rock or real aid experience. But, we are both solid climbers with are comfortable placing gear, building anchors ... Anyway, my goal is to climb a fun, not terribly commiting, reasonably protected climb so I can get "a feel for the place". thanks again.

The Wife and I have been here for over two years and still haven't made it out to Washington Pass, unbelievable. Anyone have any recommendations for our cherry pop? I'm thinking something around 5 pitches long and 5.10 or easier. Thanks all Orion

I'll second the recommendation for French's Dome. Other spots are: Pete's Pile off highway 35 towards Hood River. This is a nice little basalt trad crag right off the road and is easy to find. Bulo Point up Rd (44?) Lot's of moderates here both sport and trad and very pretty. This spot can be tricky to find. If you run into any locals you might ask about Area 51 near Bulo Point, The Swine in Rhododendron, and the Trillium Lake Crag near Government Camp. These are all fun little crags, but you probably won't get much beta on the internet about them. I bet you could get directions off of rockclimbing.com to some of these spots. Orion

The last time I was there was bout 3 years ago. It looked like most of the lines had been developed, so I can't imagine too much more recent development. Everything seemed to climb fine in my opinion. The hardest line there felt like 12+ and had some hard clips, but was do-able. I thought it was developed OK, and is a pretty good moderate crag.

I found a pair of climbing shoes on the trail to Midwall passed the Blues Cliff (above the Country)at Index on Tuesday May 2nd, 2006. e-mail orionwatson@yahoo.com and describe them to claim them.