St. Peters Dome via S. Face question?

[fgw]

Got to see the s. face of the dome up close over the weekend. Ran short on pins (and balls - mostly the latter) for an honest attempt. Dodge book rates the standard ("route 1") s. face route at II 5.6 A2 and describes a direct variation ("route 1V") to first pitch that makes the route III 5.6 A3 (these converge atop the 96-foot rock band).

Now for the question part. It looked as though the A2 pitch of standard and the A3 pitch of the direct were comparable in looseness/mossiness/seriousness. It also looked as though the direct would avoid some of the nasty free climbing (moss thrashing) of the standard route. Anyone got any experience with this route (variation)? It looked as though most clean gear would be useless (moss filled seams in between blocks) for either option - pins and more pins it seemed?

Thanks for any info!

 

PS I was surprised to see almost a trail (animal track?) on the approach to the s. side saddle?