[TR] Exfoliation Dome- Sunday Cruise, Witch Doctor

[mattp]

Climb: Exfoliation Dome-Sunday Cruise, Witch Doctor Wall

 

Date of Climb: 7/22/2006

 

Trip Report:

(Saturday and) Sunday Cruise

 

I first walked up to the base of Witch Doctor Wall in 1985, planning to climb “Sunday Cruise" (III 5.9) but the view from below scared us off. Yikes! That thing looks steep and mean! I had climbed plenty of long and hard routes by then, but this thing just looked like doom, and the bushes hanging all over the route didn’t look inviting either.

 

Over the years, I’ve heard various things about it. “Not a recommended route” (aspirant guidebook author). “Nothing but choss and filth” (guidebook author). “Stacked flakes led us to bail from the first belay.” (experienced Western Washington cragger and bush master). “I didn’t think it was bad.” (member of the first ascent party). “A neglected classic; the crux pitch is really good.” (ardent rock climber with a taste for the remote and obscure). Figuring the truth lay somewhere in all of these statements, I just had to go. Catbird, his friend Jim, and my next door neighbor Jay signed on for the adventure.

 

Looking at the guidebook, we noted that there were two “trivial” pitches, 5.4 and 5.6, followed by three pitches of harder climbing, 5.8 and 5.9. How hard can it be? I asked Brian. So, setting out on one of the predicted hottest days of the season, we decided to make a late start of it, figuring we could stay in the shade by roping up just before noon for this east - facing route.

 

Right away, we figured out this was going to demand more of us than we had bargained for. The approach hike following a route scratched in the duff by David Gunstone as one of his last contributions to DTown before he was killed in a climbing accident in Squamish, but the devil’s club and salmon-berry got in some good licks and all of us were quite thirsty by the time we got to the base of the route. Then I realized that I had brought two left shoes, not a good way to start a climb. The first pitch, reported at 5.4, turned out to be more like 5.8. The second, reported to be 5.6, turned out more like 5.9.

 

A steep pitch on flakes and corners followed. I cautiously worked my way up, testing everything and trying not to smear too much on the lichen covered surfaces where they could be avoided, and found myself facing a difficult step-across that seemed to require yarding on a loose flake. I set a semi-hanging belay, and brought Jay up. Catbird and Jim, hot to trot, climbed through our station with Jim in the lead, and he found a way past the flake. My buddy Jay gladly accepted a belay from above as he left our station. On my way past, with nobody below, I sent the offending flake to its doom as it shattered into a zillion pieces on the slabs below and the resultant shrapnel peppered the area where our packs were stashed. Carborundum, anyone?

 

The upper pitches required a combination of bush pulling and wandering about on occasionally good rock, but with lots of lichen and the odd loose flake thrown in just for fun. At least three times, we climbed small trees and stepped back onto the cliff from their top branches. High on the route, Brian briefly aided on two pieces of gear to surmount a lichen-infested under-cling. We crawled behind a flake/boulder type thing, with a body chimney behind it. Never sure of where we were going, we felt we were in good company. Bail slings and even bail gear was strewn along the path. The last pitch actually turned out pretty enjoyable! Our late start and slow, meandering progress on the route led to a late top-out. It was just starting to get dark as we pulled over the top.

 

Fortunately, I had been on that side of the dome two weeks earlier, looking at the Checkered Demon line, and I knew the rappel route. We rapped in the dark, six rappels, back to the base. This left us with a short walk back to the water hole, and we each gulped down two quarts. We had planned the shade thing right, but it had been a long climb on a very warm day!

 

I mused, “You know, it’s like 1:00 in the morning and if we just sit here and nap for a couple of hours it'll start to get light and that hike out will be a lot more pleasant.” Jay agreed, and I think maybe Jim did too, but Brian was having none of that. March or Die! My wife is going to be worried, and we gotta go! We staggered back to the car at 3:30.

 

-------------------

Conclusion: Sunday Cruise is one of those climbs that you gotta do only if you are a Darrington buff or simply want to climb something on that side of the Dome and you don’t want to do one of the excellent aid climbs nearby. All of the information I had was accurate: it is a neglected classic, and not as bad as some of the stories, but there is a reason it is neglected and it is far and away the dirtiest climb in Darrington that is contained in any guidebook save, perhaps, routes like “Avoidance” on Green Giant Buttress, or “Bushy Galore, on Three O’Clock Rock. I'm glad we did it, but I'm not in a hurry to repeat the experience.

 

If you’re into this kind of thing, here’ a topo of the variant we did (we may not have been on the original line all the way):

 

[topo revised 7/27/06]

 

Gear Notes:

Because of the generally insecure climbing, the route takes a lot of gear. Doubles to 3" recommended, though you might use a 4" piece if you had it.

 

Many long slings needed.

 

Approach Notes:

The approach is not bad, but it is definitely not a sandals affair. An hour and a half to the base.

[olyclimber]

Wow matt!! Sounds like quite an adventure!

 

I definitely want to get out there with you, but when that happens lets stick to the more classic, less dirty routes

I'm finally finishing this class that I waited till the last second to work on, hopefully Darrington will still be there when I finish.

[catbirdseat]

You were right, Matt. We should have just taken a nap for a couple hours, what with the failing headlamps and all. My wife was sound asleep when I got home and wouldn't have even noticed I was missing for another couple hours.

 

I slept a couple hours until hunger motivated me to get up. With the act of doing that I got one of the worst hamstring cramps I have ever suffered. It was like being stabbed.

[mattp]

Here are a couple of shots of the pitch I show as pitch 4 on the topo:

 

 

[Rad]

Nice work. I'm glad to see you're getting Jim out beyond X38 sport clipping.

 

Remind me to bring my pocket weedwhacker when we head out together.

 

Cheers,

 

Rad

[bwrts]

any shots of the wall from afar? tia.

[catbirdseat]

Picture, courtesy of AlpineDave

[catbirdseat]

Matt and I went back to Witchdoctor Wall yesterday to look at variations to Sunday Cruise. We came equipped with a large rack and some aid gear, just in case, but we never used it. Boy that pack was heavy though. Even with our leisurely pace and cleaning we were off by dark.

 

Roboboy followed us in and snapped a few pictures. He even watched my little leader fall on Pitch 3.

 

We ended up doing quite a bit of cleaning, which consisted mostly of cleaning out cracks to improve options for protection and also trundling loose rocks and flakes. The route is pretty safe to climb I would say.

 

Matt discovered a much better route for Pitch 5. Instead of going straight up A0 from the belay, you step left along the top of a flake, stand on a small tree and make a cool step left around a corner. There are some cool moves, I thought. Not only does this go free at about 5.8, but it completely eliminates the unpleasant bush crawl we'd done before. See topo, above, where it says "Original Route?"

 

I would suggest that people ought to give the route a go and see what they think. It's a really cool place to climb, easy to get to, and no one goes there. The decent goes really quick, thanks to the rap route that Matt put in.

 

To find the start of this rap route, go west (from the top out) staying to the north side of the ridgetop about 30 meters. Look for an approximately 8 ft. tall symmetrical alpine spruce tree on the edge of a flat area with blueberry bushes and heather. The slings are hidden under its low branches. There should be two slings and a quicklink.

Edited August 22, 2006 by catbirdseat

[MCash]

Sounds like fun. I thought stepping on a tree was aid climbing. 5.8 A0 maybe?

[roboboy]

Pics from yesterday

 

 

 

climbing 2nd pitch:

 

 

climbing 2nd pitch (closeup):

 

 

 

3rd pitch:

 

 

 

Tough guys discuss climb strategy (or make up your own caption):

 

[chucK]

Sounds like fun. I thought stepping on a tree was aid climbing. 5.8 A0 maybe?

 

Paraphrasing quote from Fern, I believe:

 

Stepping on a tree is aid only if you planted the tree.

[catbirdseat]

If the tree is growing smack-dab in front of the crack you want to climb, you gotta climb the tree. It's de riqueur for Darrington.

[mattp]

Catbird, lets not get too excited about the tree climbing.

 

Climbing trees is a big part of the experience on Sunday Cruise, and that is one of the reasons why I stated above that this is a route that I would recommend only to someone who really wants to climb that particular wall and doesn't want to do one of the aid routes nearby, or someone who is a real Darrington buff in search of new DTown experiences. If these sound like good reasons to do a climb, you may enjoy Sunday Cruise - otherwise, there are a half dozen better ways to get to the top of Exfoliation Dome. One thing about Sunday Cruise, though: it has the advantage of being shaded after about 11:00 am and this can be nice on hot days.

 

Climbing trees is definitely not what I consider de riqueur for climbing in Darrington or, for that matter, anywhere else except sub-alpine peaks of the Cascades or similar ranges. Despite our best efforts yesterday, Sunday Cruise remains one of the dirtiest routes I have climbed anywhere.

 

That said, here's another Darrington gem (and this is the cleanest pitch on the route, a top secret project on Upper Three O'Clock Rock):

 

Here's another:

[mattp]

Here are the triumphant tough guy tree climbers, atop Witch Doctor Wall:

[Blake]

Sounds like fun. I thought stepping on a tree was aid climbing. 5.8 A0 maybe?

 

As Far as trees go, I figure if you can fall and hit it, then you can use it for the climb.