Trail to China Bend Cleared / Onion Creek Guide

[keithrobine]

My friend Francois and I rebuffed the trail to the rock at China Bend today. The summer growth had made it difficult to follow. Great climbing day there today. Just about the entire wall stays dry in the rain.

I still need to finish the guide to Onion Creek, but I'm getting there. I'll be so bold as to say that I would put Birthday Crack as one of the top 10 5.11 crack climbs in the state. Visiting Mom is also pretty damn good, in the 5.12 range, and has yet to see a redpoint.

[leearden]

Thanks for the trail work at the bend.

I'm interested in Onion creek though, I got up there this spring and got on one of the best crack pitches I've seen in Washington, it had a sawed-off tree at about mid-height, was this the Birthday crack? Is the 5.12 route the one with the off-widthing for the first 30 feet?

Interested in any beta you could throw out here for me.

 

thanks arden

[curtveld]

If you're talking about the Onion Creek area north of Colville, I might be able to point you toward some FA details. A buddy of mine, Marc McCalmon was active during the mid-80s exploring and climbing several obvious crack lines. I could help you track him down, if you're interested.

[keithrobine]

Sorry it's taken so long to respond. I had a good excuse - Yosemite. Arden, glad to hear you also enjoyed Birthday Crack, 5.11b. I agree, but I'm biased. Visiting Mom, starts up the next crack to the right, and traverses left through various crack systems before shooting up and right through the final splitter finger crux. I imagine it's a 12. I've led with aid and TR'ed with help. I'd love to hear from whomever gets the FFA. I'll put together a topo over the winter and post a link.

Curtveld - if you could track down your friend Marc, I'd like to talk with him so I can give credit if it's due. All the cracks required extensive cleaning, but 20 years could do that.

Cheers,

Keith

[curtveld]

If you could track down your friend Marc, I'd like to talk with him so I can give credit if it's due. All the cracks required extensive cleaning, but 20 years could do that.

Sure, I'll see if I can track him down. I think there were probably about a dozen climbs put up during that era - hardest were mid-10s.

[drater]

Is Onion Creek limestone like China Bend/Marcus or is it quartzite like the stuff on the mountain behind Chewelah?

[curtveld]

No, it's granite, though a bit decomposed in places. Routes are mostly crack lines.

[curtveld]

Keith I sent you a PM with Marc's info.