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TR: Exfoliation Dome/Blueberry Hill


dberdinka

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CBS is being a little bashful about details on the late start. He failed to mention that we picked the wrong granite sidewalk to start off on... we passed the camp and drove up the road till it abruptly ended a couple hundred feet up the road. The avalanche debris seemed to fit the description, and we saw what appeared to be a granite sidewalk... yep, that must be it. An hour later, unwilling to admit that we could possibly be wrong, we found ourselves skittering precariously over sketchy slime covered slabs. The route description did say "and try not to slip", this must be it. We finally tossed in the towel once we began battling BW3 devils club.

 

Note to others, it's the wash you just drove over, silly. Look "up" for a hubcap that marks the spot.

 

Whatever the case, the wait was well worth it. Darrington is worthy thumbs_up.gif Now go get some!

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catbirdseat said:

The 5.9 move came in our second pitch which was my lead. There is a good cam placement immediately before the first bolt, so that one is really pretty redundant. The second bolt may need to stay. I don't remember any good pro near it.

 

I found an empty aluminum can of Guiness Stout on the third pitch... What's up with that?

 

Interesting.

 

The Guinness can is the home of a small lizard that lives there; I hope you left it.

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"...an empty aluminum can of Guiness Stout on the third pitch and a bottle of Mountain Dew down at the bottom of the Granite Sidewalk..."

 

Wow! I wondered where I left that garbage. Can we arrange to meet up somewhere so that I can get these items back from you? Thanks for picking them up for me, I missed them. tongue.gifwink.gif Or perhaps they were yours Matt?

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Greg_W said:

catbirdseat said:

I almost forgot. I found an oval carabiner marked with purple tape next to a half gallon jug of water.

It was sitting right by the stump that marks the start of the climb. Someone else must have found it and set it there. I'll give it to you at Pub Club if I can manage to remember to bring it.

 

'biner is mine. I dropped it cleaning the undercling on Pitch 2. You can booty it or bring it to pub club.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Iceguy and I went back to Blueberry Hill today. We did the West Buttress. I led the pitches that Toast had done on our previous visit. On the fourth pitch, I took a different variation on a crack that starts out as an offwidth, narrows to fists, then hands, then fingers and finally fingertips. It is all on one enormous flake. I figure the crux, where it gets down to fingertips is about 5.8+ or 5.9. Anyway it was very enjoyable.

 

On the third pitch, which is the one protected with the two bolts, we paid close attention to potential cam placements and discovered that the section can be adequately protected using two yellow Aliens and an orange (#0.5) Clog cam. Go ahead and pull the bolts, Greg, especially the second one. Not everyone would have the two yellow Aliens, so the first bolt might need more thinking. There was a yellow sling on the second bolt, evidence that someone had recently bailed down the route using a single rope (that must have taken forever).

 

We made good progress, so we decided to go to the summit, since I'd never been there before. The first pitch was hard the way Iceguy went. The last part had to be 5.10a, at least. The second pitch wasn't hard at 5.6, but there were terribly run out sections. I've never run anything out 50-60 ft before at 5.6, so it scared me a bit. The topo suggested that you could rap the west side, but we saw no indications of anchors so we rapped the ascent route to Blueberry Terrace then went down the rap route that finishes on the sloping terrace. We found that you need a 60 meter rope to get to the third rap station without stopping at the manky intermediate station we used last time. We also noticed a set of anchors about ten meters below the tree that was our starting point, so you can do the rap route with a 50 m rope, but it will take you longer.

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catbirdseat said:

...Go ahead and pull the bolts, Greg, especially the second one. Not everyone would have the two yellow Aliens, so the first bolt might need more thinking. .

 

It's called Exfoliation Dome for a reason. The rock sheds it's skin like an onion. Maybe your yellow alien placements won't be so good in a few years. Just something to think about...

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Dru said:

the signature quote about bivouac equipment is particularly effective in juxtaposition with picture of second with huge pack... tongue.gif

 

yellaf.gif

he's got you there eric wink.gif

 

I agree though, leave the bolts. That TCU placement before the 1st bolt (the one in the little cracks of the overlap) was pretty manky IMO. If someone does pull them, give Matt and Mark their hangers back... those guys spend enough already putting up quality hardware in d-town.

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  • 10 months later...
  • 5 weeks later...

Fern is correct. I was there last Sunday. It appears that a soccer ball sized rock completely sheared the chain station. As I was solo, I didn't have replacement equipment, but ok gear may be had in the gully 10' left. I will try to replace within the next couple of weeks. Looks like Exfoliation Dome is living up to it's name!

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  • 2 weeks later...

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