North fork crag

[lancegranite]

I was talking to a friend about the north fork crag ...

Anyone ever get out there and climb?

He describes a huge cave, 90 feet tall, filled with sick hard routes.

Edited December 23, 2004 by lancegranite

[Jens]

Yeah, I climbed there 3 or 4 times when it was newly opened. It was the craze at one time I think but now doesn't see much traffic, but I could be wrong about that.

OK rock quality (not anywhere near as good as ww1) some seepage and some sharp edges (I'd recomend long draws). I bailed off one route "the goods" a long time ago because if you were to fall at a certain point, the rope runs at a bad angle over a razor edge.

There used to be a cool rope swing and people used to make bonfires. Kind of a cool hangout. Worth checkin' out but I don't think you'll be going there a lot.

[dstu]

I tried finding the North Fork crag last weekend but I couldn't follow the directions as described in the old Exit 38 guide book. The trailhead is theoretically about 1 mile downstream of the last bridge at blazed stump, triple blazed tree and "possibly" a road marker. We found a trail that heads out to the river but it doesn't match the landmarks that are described in the book. Does anybody have any hints on finding the trail to the crag? The crag is visible from the bridge so it could be reached with a little bush wacking but a trail would be a nice perk.

 

DSTU

[Peter_Puget]

I became lost getting there to but just kept on going and found the place. The bushwacking was pretty easy. The rock leaves much to be desired and the cave will most certainly be drippy right now. A few years ago a friend and found this great looking crag that turned out to be a choss pile. We named it “Our North Fork.” North Fork is neglected because there are better places to climb.

 

[edite] I should add that the cave while very deep is no where near 90' high at its opening. I would guess closer to 30'.

Edited June 27, 2005 by Peter_Puget

[Matt_Anderson]

I went out there with some people who had been there b/f. Calling the most efficient way to get to the crag a trail implies that the trail is a whole lot more permanant and helpful than it is. You won't lose that much time schwackin, just be ready to get your toes (and calves) muddy.

 

My memory is that the cave is significantly larger than PP remembers. It didn't seem to me that 90 feet was so far off.

 

That said, the place will primarily appeal to people who climb solid .12 and have climbed out the local cragging opportunities at their level. There are better and more convenient sportclimbing oppourtunities in the area.

[Peter_Puget]

Regardless of the height of the opening, the truly remarkable attribute of the cave is its depth. The route going out the middle of the cave is pretty close to horizontal for quite a ways.

[lancegranite]

One of the developers thinks that he encountered sasquach on a early foray.

While hiking up to the top to instal anchors, something above him made a huge ruckus, tearing off thru the brush.

When he got to the top, where a" huge human looking pile of still-steaming poop" greeted him.

Freaked out, he beat his own hasty retreat.

The route he rapped that day turned out to be "a sweet 5.12."

[dstu]

Thanks for the info. It sounds interesting but given that .12 is more than a significant stretch I'll likely be putting the whacking off for a while.