[TR] Acid Baby- 8/7/2005

[TeleRoss]

Climb: Acid Baby-

 

Date of Climb: 8/7/2005

 

Trip Report:

Acid Baby sounded like an intriguing route, sustained 5.10 climbing for 6 pitches, with lots of corner cracks and an interesting exposed ridge, all in a super scenic setting. So Jason and I left Seattle early Sunday morning for the Stuart Lake TH.

We left the car shortly before 8 am and made our way up the long hike towards Ass Blaster Pass. Finding the route was no problem. It's just around a rock toe, and near a small grove of trees. The first pitch dihedral is easy to spot from below.

I led the first pitch and it gets things going right from the get go, nearly 70m and very sustained. A nice crack leads up to a big ledge below the large dihedral. The dihedral crack was stout and sweet! Challenging climbing in what felt like a slightly overhanging corner...yeee haw!! Awesome.

The route kinda wanders on the next pitch, but the third pitch again kicked it up with a spicy face traverse. This is followed by another killer dihedral, this one we kinda had to lay back a bit before traversing right under the roof. We found some rotten rock on the next pitch but it was pretty minor. The last pitch took a fun little corner and then up onto a wild, exposed knife edge. We kind of hand traversed this section...super fun. The descent is super easy, just walk down the meadowy boulder field towards Ass Blaster Pass. We were back at the car at 8, and welcomed with a nice parking ticket...F*ckers...

We took the last, peg-the-contrivometer pitch to another level, and did a long lead all the way to El Caporal in Cle Elum for some cadillac margaritas and to meet up with my wife and her friend who had been skinny dipping up at Spectacle Lake all afternoon.

Damn, a fine route. The rock is good for the most part, although there is looseness in areas and the rock on the face sections tended to want to slough off when trying to smear the feet, as the outer layer of crystals seemed to be kind of decomposed in areas, again this was only minor. The exposed sections on the ridge crest were spectacular. And the first pitch alone is worth the price of admission.

Nice work eyeing this line Mike! Yeah Sweet!

 

 

Gear Notes:

Lots of cams, nuts and hexes up to a #4.

Rice crispy treats.

 

 

Approach Notes:

Near Aasgard pass, just around a prominent rock toe, turn up and left and there it is.

 

 

 

 

[Dru]

my wife and her friend who had been skinny dipping up at Spectacle Lake all afternoon.

 

i don't believe it. post photos of said dipping.

[TeleRoss]

They said a boy scout troupe passed by the lake, maybe they took some

Must have made those boys' day!....Boobies!!!

[Dru]

Well it would be a Spectacle anyways.

[larrythellama]

mike didnt scope the route...he was just allowed to come along.

[TeleRoss]

well whoever eyed it...nice.

[thelawgoddess]

[Bug]

Way to go guys.

I met you on your way up Ass Passer.

Did you see the bear on the way out?

He was a 200 lb cinnimon with a fly bitten butt about a mile and a half up form the trailhead.

[layton]

see, i'm not always full of shit. nice work. All 3 of us spotted the line BTW.

 

did the topo work for ya? and what'dya think of III 5.10? sounds 'bout right?

Edited August 10, 2005 by michael_layton

[TeleRoss]

Topo . Yeah III 5.10 seemes right.

[Blake]

Pete H and I took a lap up this one today. Very fun, should see more traffic! Good pro and good rock, no schwacking, and sustained climbing. The first pitch is 60m, and probably up there with pitch 1 of Gorillas in the Mist or P3? on solid gold, as the best enchantment pitches at that grade. P6, the 5.9 fin, is also ubber-classic.