[TR] Turkey Monster - Dod Route 8/25/2007

[fgw]

Trip: Turkey Monster - Dod Route

 

Date: 8/25/2007

 

Trip Report:

 

The Monster:

 

My wife Shirley, our friend Pat from San Diego, and I climbed the Dod Route on Turkey Monster last Saturday. Shirley and I have done the approach to base last October when upon laying eyes on the Monster I lost my desire to climb & we went home under the pretense of not having sufficient gear. As a bonus, I got tagged on the jaw by a yellowjacket. Given that experience the approach two days ago went quickly. The bushwhack to the base is not terrible though the very last part is steep and so we fixed a line and rapped in (figuring we'd be done late).

 

With the exception of the last pitch (low 5th slab), we aided the entire line. Aid was hammerless though I did use a cheater stick on P1 to get past a blank section (since my head was not into stepping out of the aiders). With exception of one new-ish looking bolt above the crack section on P1 and one very new bolt at P2 belay (Tyler? Much thanks!!!), all other fixed gear was as one would expect. We ran P1 and P2 together given the condition of fixed belay anchors atop P1. Rope drag was horrendous enough to notice even from the safety of the aiders. The crack at start of P2 proper does have some loose rock around it however it seems like you can get some bomber large cams in good rock. The real scary part was actually midway up P2 where the left side of the chossy crack is formed by a huge flake. Each time I'd gently step up onto a cam, I could almost feel it expanding (probably my imagination).

 

Monster's shadow from P2:

 

Nearing top of P1:

 

Shirley cleaned and Pat jugged a free rope.

 

 

We used the lower of two belay stances (can see both from Turkey Point on approach) atop P2 where much gear was used to supplement the old bolts. P3 is a super steep headwall on some very manky "bolts" (even by standards of P1) but none are missing. Highlight of the pitch is a 0.5" hangerless stud with a slight downward orientation. Cheating past this point is not an option really as the "bolts" (seems like nails with tinfoil hangers, some nicely oxidized) feature tiny openings and getting a biner through takes some finagling.

 

Leading P3 headwall:

 

Opposite view:

 

Bolt ladder:

 

Belay bolts at base of low 5th slab atop P3 were all old and so I continued to a sling belay 6 feet below the summit. Bleached tat was replaced - not sure when was the last time this summit had been visited but judging by the tat, it must've been a while?

 

Low 5th class slab of P4:

 

Shirley cleaned this pitch as well and Pat took a wild swing out of the belay into space when his turn to jug came.

 

Given our lazy start from trailhead, the slowness of my leading, and the cluster f..ks at belays (not used to climbing with 3 people) the sun was getting low by the time we started rigging the rappels on the summit. We used double 70 meter ropes. The first rap went from the summit back to our belay midway up the tower. Now this thing is really overhung - I expected to drop down below the summit slab and clip a few "bolts" on the headwall to keep myself near the wall. To my dismay, I discovered that I was not able to reach any bolts below the lip and (of course) the ends of the 70 meter lines were still dangling a significant distance above ground. I rapped till I was level with the upper P2 belay where I used a cheater stick to snag some tat and pull myself into the wall. This required some good timing as I was about 6 feet away from the wall and rotating back and forth like an idiot. I clipped the tat (as well as another piece or two below) and was able to then reach the lower P2 station where the mank had been reinforced by one new bolt. The ropes (thankfully) pulled without additional excitement. One more double rope rap brought us to back to earth.

 

Steep Rap:

 

It was dark by the time our junk was packed and Shirley started jugging the fixed line back up the slope. A moment of excitement came as the line dislodged a two-fist-sized rock and it came hurtling through darkness impacting two feet away from my torso. At that point I reminded my wife that we had a joint mortgage in our names and no life insurance policy. The uphill bushwhack was painful but uneventful. Thoughts of going to Smith on Sunday were nixed and we drove home stopping for a nap and breakfast at a Sherrys in Lebanon (?) at 3 in the morning.

 

As a side note, this was our friend Pat's first time climbing in the Pacific Northwest and (other than some 25 foot practice run up a tree in a Portland park) his first time using jummars. Also, I'm not sure what the modern aid rating for this line is - if I were to guess, C2F? But who knows which of the fixed gear is capable of stopping a fall. It felt more serious than the Northeast Face on Steins Pillar which has accumulated many new-looking bolts (another Oregon classic). In summary, I found this to be a great fun adventure outing but I've always liked these sorts of things.

 

Many thanks to Jim Anglin and Tyler here on cc.com for beta on this thing.

Edited August 31, 2007 by fgw

[wayne]

Completly crazy trip , It scared me all over again, Thanks for the TR Mr!

[corvallisclimb]

Nice work Radek! :tup: I put that bolt atop P2 about 2.5 years ago, plan to upgrade some more mabey later this year.

[fgw]

thanks Wayne & Tyler. And much thanks for that new bolt Tyler - reduced my stress last saturday

[dan_forester]

that's awesome, Radek. Not sure why, but I still want to get up there someday!

[fgw]

that's awesome, Radek. Not sure why, but I still want to get up there someday!

thanks Dan - adventure tower climbs are pretty magnetic

[ivan]

so seriously, how much longer you wager till that thing falls the fawk over and becomes a large assortment of bouldering problems?

[dberdinka]

Wow! I can't imagine the desert SW has anything on that. How tall and how wide at the base is that thing?

Edited August 28, 2007 by dberdinka

[ivan]

just based on the trees around it in the picture, it doesn't look like it could be more than 20 feet in diameter! maybe 150 feet tall?

[fgw]

How tall and how wide at the base is that thing?

on the uphill side (face in top photo) I'd guess it's in the upper 200' to low 300' tall. 70m ropes left me about a pitch shy of the ground when rapping from shoulder just left/below top of head. 20' for diameter of stem? probably right.

Edited August 28, 2007 by fgw

[markd]

nice job fgw, on a great looking climb.

 

tyler, let me know when you replace those bolts so i can safely climb it.

[wayne]

I would say 300' tall ,and the base is visually deceptive from that angle, The fin shape base is pointed down the hill for support, offering a 50' base in that direction, It also has a unreapeated nightmare aid route on the right side

 

Does anyone know any info about the FFA on that thing?, We did it in 87 I think

[corvallisclimb]

Jeff Thomas was the first to free the turkey in 70's by a variation to the Dod Route. Tom Blust freed the original finish shortly after. South West (Bauman bros 1968) was free climbed by Tom Blust and Kent Bennesch by a short variation. The unrepeated route is Wild Turkey 5.8 A4 Tom & Bob Bauman that starts just to the left of the regular route.

[retired]

Welcome to the club...it's pretty damn small. Be proud you monsters. Turkey on the downhill south side is a legit 400'

[fgw]

thank you very much Jim (& Mark).

 

I've exchanged email with Dave Jensen (who's a photgrapher, www.djensenphotography.com lots of sweet shots esp. stuff that cannot be taken by non-climber types...eg see his shot of St. Peters Dome) who was one of the 3 to do the FA of this tower in 1966. Dave had a couple interesting tidbits:

 

Eugene Dod is the guy who first found this tower. His suggestion was to name the tower "Turkey Necked Monster". That idea was defeated by Dave and the present name was settled on.

 

Also, Dave says: "Can't add much to Turkey Monster--mainly I remember the long approach through thick rhododendron thickets (the logging road hadn't been pushed to where it is now) and prussiking (no jumars then) on the stretchy goldline ropes (you'd prussik a mile it seemed and still be where you started--it was always scary to transfer from a hanging belay to the rope because you'd drop so far if you didn't get all the stretch out). Mainly I remember worrying about how we'd get down. Eugene really wanted it--I thought it too rotten and dangerous."

[wayne]

Great site, Thanks and the history as well. I didnt find the Monster photos though,

[XXX]

That thing looks gnarly. It will be intersting when it falls over.

[fgw]

Great site, Thanks and the history as well. I didnt find the Monster photos though,

Wayne, I'm not sure if Dave's got the Monster photo on his site but it does appear here:

 

http://www.tripcheck.com/images/SBsection/Over-the-River_T.gif

 

[Rad]

Holy turkey necks! Wayne, how hard is that free? Would the gear/hardware hold a lead fall?

[wayne]

5.11b with 2 cruxes, gear would probably hold.

[TeleRoss]

Hell yeah...that thing looks fricking rad

[Rad]

btw, what are the spires in the bkgd of the last photo? Looks like they are at least as tall and might attract both climbers and highline walkers.

[wayne]

The Rabbit Ears. Both are 5.9s- old school

[corvallisclimb]

South rabbit ear is more like 5.8+ (ha what ever that means) and the north rabbit ear is 5.10a both feat new bolts there has been a tyrolean set up beetween the ears and also one from the north rabbit ear to panorama point.

[fgw]

guidebook

 

If you like spires, the Menagerie chapters (by Jim Anglin, aka "retired" above) have a ton of good stuff.