OlympicMtnBoy Posted August 1, 2005 Share Posted August 1, 2005 Climb: Index Town Wall-Town Crier Date of Climb: 7/26/2005 Trip Report: Headed out with Nomad for Index on tuesday morning. We got a bit of a late start after I missed the Edmonds Ferry, getting to the parking lot around 11:30, fortunately we didn't have that far to climb. We loaded up the haulbag and my backpack and hiked up to the base of the upper wall. The first pitch turned into a slimefest with the sun beating down and making the rock downright hot, but Nomad made it up, hauled up the pig, and then belyed me. We sort of skipped pitch 2 (moving across the ledge) cause it didn't make much sense. I set out on the chimney pitch and grunted my way up and through the 5.9 exit. I wandered up and passed the ledge with the belay and built an anchor right below where the aid starts. The haul bag hung up briefly at the top of the chimney but was quickly freed. Nomad got the first aid pitch and had some fun with a few camhooks and the tiny pendulum. He fixed the rope and I got to remind myself how to follow a penduum as I took my time cleaning. We left the rope fixed and moved all the gear up to the really big ledge and made camp. We hung out watching the sunset until we managed to drift off to sleep. I greatly regreted two things at that moment. 1. not bringing my bug spray (what the hell are mosquitoes doing at the top of the 3rd pitch anyways). 2. not bringin my other sleeping pad, the one I had was slippery and I kept sliding down on the sloping ledge. It was still a pleasant night on a nice big ledge though. We made a leisurely morning of it, my watch was in the bag so I don't know when we started climbing again. I ascended to the top of pitch 4 and started up through the roofs on p5. I think I placed three pieces of gear on the whole pitch (mind you, this is aiding), the rest was fixed. It was still fun though with some nice exposure. I don't know what happened to the bolt ladder listed on my topo at the top of the pitchheading right, but I made the belay anyways. Nomad came up and started the next pitch. He took his time and it got pretty damn hot up there, especially with an uncomfortable hanging belay. That was when we realized we hadn't brought enough water. With only a pitch left we pressed on. I left the belay on p7, made a few moves, and then gained the brushy ledges. It was a bit of a pain getting up the next few moves through the brush with all my aid gear and russian aiders on but I made it and scrambled up the last gully bit to the top of the cliff. We hung out on top (in the shade) for a few minutes before rigging a rap off a tree and heading bag down to the ledge where we left the haulbag and extra stuff. We had a liter of water and some oranges which we quickly downed and then finished with the last two raps. Once back at the car we threw the gear in and immediatly hit the Index general store. I drank a liter of gatorade, some chocolate milk, and a liter of water to quench my raging thirst. It was a fun climb for both of our first times to Index. I can't wait to go back and do Green Dragon now. Maybe Nomad will post some pics. :-) - OMB P.S. I found some car keys right below the last dirty crack/gully at the top. PM me if you think they might be yours. Gear Notes: Aid gear to 3 inches with a couple bigger pieces we didn't use. Cam hooks and ballnutz were handy. Approach Notes: Hwy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spicoli11 Posted August 1, 2005 Share Posted August 1, 2005 west nile is well above the third pitch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlympicMtnBoy Posted August 2, 2005 Author Share Posted August 2, 2005 Yeah, you're right, but like I said, I pased the normal bolted belay at the top of p3 and went up to where the aid climbing starts. From there the big ledge is only a couple short moves up past one more step. It wasn't too bad to haul the bag up there and then once we'd unloaded the aid hardware we just hand hauled the bag to the ledge. I was working off the topo in selected climbs and it wasn't too clear about that spot (ie: where the big bivy ledge is). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cycling_mike Posted August 3, 2005 Share Posted August 3, 2005 I was/still am known as nomad but since I wasn't able to log in under that name for a while I signed up for this one. Anyway, OMB is right about that heat. Jesus christ it was hot up there, and without even the slightest breeze. I got so dehydrated I didnt have to piss for two whole days. Come to think about it, after the first day I didn't even sweat that much! The route was pretty cool, but since it was the first time I've stood in aiders in over a year I was moving kinda slow; we started climbing around 2pm on tuesday and got back to the ground around 6 on weds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAFO Posted August 3, 2005 Share Posted August 3, 2005 Anyone know of a speed record on this route? I didn't enjoy the haul up to big honker. It seems if you ditched the bag and took the fast and light approach it could go much faster. There's gotta be some of you out there who have tested it. Just courious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corvallisclimb Posted August 3, 2005 Share Posted August 3, 2005 is this an easy route to knock out in a day, or do some people fix the day before or bivy on route or something. also how are the crowds on the weekends. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olyclimber Posted August 3, 2005 Share Posted August 3, 2005 I've never been to the Index Town Wall in the North Cascades. How do you get there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomtom Posted August 3, 2005 Share Posted August 3, 2005 I've never been to the Index Town Wall in the North Cascades. How do you get there? Practice. Since the Index Town Walls are north of Hwy. 2, they belong in the NoCas section. Mt Index is south, so it goes in Alpine Lakes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olyclimber Posted August 3, 2005 Share Posted August 3, 2005 So Castle Rock is in the North Cascades? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCash Posted August 3, 2005 Share Posted August 3, 2005 What if I do a hike on highway 2 like the mounties with my nice helmet? Where should I post that TR? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter_Puget Posted August 3, 2005 Share Posted August 3, 2005 Well being on the N side of #2 doesn't seem to be the issue. What matters is being N of Stevens Pass. I say all these would be better placed in the NEW ROCK CLIMBING FORUM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomtom Posted August 3, 2005 Share Posted August 3, 2005 Well being on the N side of #2 doesn't seem to be the issue. What matters is being N of Stevens Pass. I say all these would be better placed in the NEW ROCK CLIMBING FORUM Pfft. It belongs in the NEW AID CLIMBING FORUM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyree Posted August 4, 2005 Share Posted August 4, 2005 Anyone know of a speed record on this route? I didn't enjoy the haul up to big honker. It seems if you ditched the bag and took the fast and light approach it could go much faster. There's gotta be some of you out there who have tested it. Just courious. Here is a TR of our linkup, not sure if its a speed record but who knows for sure? UTW Trifecta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Frieh Posted August 4, 2005 Share Posted August 4, 2005 is this an easy route to knock out in a day, or do some people fix the day before or bivy on route or something. also how are the crowds on the weekends. Easy in a day for any non newbie aid climber. Some still take 2 days to practice ledge life/hauling. I've never seen another party on it but I don't climb at Index that much. Special objective hazard: BASE jumpers flying over you might scare you enough to fall out of your aiders (I know someone it happened too). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corvallisclimb Posted August 4, 2005 Share Posted August 4, 2005 thanks jon, ive been meaning to resopond to you but have been extremely busy trying to get my life in order. but i will be up in pdx soon mabey i can drop the cds off to you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Frieh Posted August 4, 2005 Share Posted August 4, 2005 I hope so Ty! Need a fix soon! Too much madvillain can make a man mad! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.