[TR] Beacon rock - this and than 7/5/2008

[cycling_mike]

Trip: Beacon rock - this and that

 

Date: 7/5/2008

 

Trip Report:

So my buddy Tyler and I have been amping for Salathe wall late this summer, and since I've been clipping bolts all spring and he's been occupied with other adventures we figured it was time to kick the wall training into gear.

We did bit of adventure climbing around lost warriors, then hit Free For Some where I took a couple of falls before figuring out the pinky-finger-killer crux as I have decided to call it. After a few laps on FFS we did windsurfer before heading back to PDX for beer & BBQ. Saturday we hiked in a stupid amount of food, gear and beer and Tyler aided up pipeline while I worked on wall training (basically pushups, crunches, squats, lifting big rocks, tagging up beers to Tyler, etc.) while occasionally tending the grigri. I did a couple laps on Pipeline to get a pump going then we had to make a beer run. Armed with more beer we planned to haul two bags up to big ledge and bivy. I took both our racks and the haul line and lead up free for all to dod's jam, intending to make a rope-stretcher pitch up to the anchor by the tree on dods. Pushing through the 10c off-width on Dods was a hell of a lot of work as the rack(s) got tangled in the haul line and the damned #4 got somehow wedged in my crotch as I grunted and bled my way up. On the ground, Tyler was getting chewed by mosquitoes and was wondering what was taking so long. Eventually I untangled everything, placed the #4 and pulled onto the belay ledge like a gasping beached whale. Sweet!

Then the true crux kicked in. I'd forgotten my ascenders and pulley so planned to haul through the grigri. Surprisingly enough, this method is even worse than it sounds! Since I was out of slings I used my belt as a prussic to get a 3-to-1 going on the haul line and through mucho grunting was able to lift the bags a few inches at a time. whew! Fortunately Tyler was in a cheery mood and after he jugging up to the belay we replaced the prussics with ascenders and both got to work on the hauling. Somehow we managed it with more suffering than I would have thought possible. Another 50 feet of handcrack got us to big ledge where we were able to enjoy a luxury rarely seen on the wall: beer in bottles and plenty of 'em.

The next morning we were informed that Tyler's car had been ticketed for "overnight parking". Not letting this ruin the day, we hung out on the ledge bullshitting with whomever stopped by (i.e., Ben and Mike) before cruising Dastardly crack and rapping with the bags to the ground.

Anyway, about the parking ticket: We talked to a couple of rangers who were very understanding and informed us that, while is is O.K. to bivy on the wall, we needed to pay $10 and get an overnight parking pass. They are working on a climber specific overnight pass, but for now are requesting that climbers use the envelopes from the campground and write a little note explaining that the car is being left overnight due to a planned bivy so that they don't call for a rescue. Anyway the upshot of the whole deal is that they wanted us to pay the $10 and spread the word, and they weren't actually citing us for the $125 "violation".

All told, it was a good weekend and awesome to get away from the bolts and crowds of smith, ozone, etc.

Edited July 7, 2008 by cycling_mike

[pink]

10c off-width

[JosephH]

Mike,

 

Thanks for the word on the overnight parking. I'll have a chat with the BRSP staff as this is a change from the policy arrangement we've been working under. It's legal to bivy up on the rock and parking was free under those circumstances - you did have to leave a note visible on the dash saying you are bivying and how many bodies are up there. No one is keeping track of anything, they just need to know that everyone who isn't bivying is off the trail and off the rock when cars are left in the parking lot. Sounds like that informal arrangement has now changed for some reason and we are back to the normal WSP regs. Again, I'll check with them about this.

 

Also, the woman Ranger is Vivian McNeil and the younger man is Ben (don't have his last name). They are actually both relatively new to Beacon, very nice, into the climbing at Beacon, and looking forward to a run up the SE Corner themselves. Erik Plunkett, the BRSP Head Ranger, is currently on temporary assignment up at WSP HQ in Olympia for the summer. Introduce yourselves and say hi if you run across them.

 

P.S. Oh, and when up on Big Ledge, please wiz over one of the end edges and not in the main wide column crack in the back - it was the source of some complaint today and is one part of Valley heritage which could stay down there.

 

P.P.S. There is a Valley-style four-bolt anchor at the base of the columns under the Ground Zero roof and the columns flatten out there; it was left this way so folks aiding Ground Zero as training for the Valley could practice with their ledges.

[cycling_mike]

okay pink, so someone told me it was 10c. It felt hard for me and it can be for you too: First have a weeks worth of late, debaucherous nights, next rack up with haul line tangled with double shoulder slings containing all the gear you and a partner own, mix with a bullshit cocky attitude that comes from doging up a couple of overbolted quote-unquote 5.12's, put on some painfully sporty slippers and make sure to jam a huge cam in your nuts while thrashing awkwardly. I'm sure you can successfully turn 3rd class into 10, hell, even 11c if you follow this recipe.

[cycling_mike]

Re: Joseph

Thank you for maintaining a good relationship with WSP.

We spoke with Vivian and Ben, both were reasonable, professional and supportive of climbing.

 

About the Big Ledge: I totally agree with you; my buddy was shall we say, in crisis mode as people were milling about at the base of the crag, so he aimed where he wouldn't immediately ruin someone's day. In keeping with a self-sacrificing climbing ethic that would make Messner proud, we used all our drinking water (3 qts.) to "flush".

 

[ivan]

quite the busy day 2day at the big b - folks climbing blownout, stephenwulf, bluebird and top-roping on excalibur and flying circus. blood sweat n' smears needs someone to go pull out all the new grass - i did my bit of 'wulf!

[DavidNeves]

Glad you guys had fun and managed to get the beer to the bivy. Fun shooting the shit with ya at the base. Later that night was fun too, when I was at the boat with El Diente and he shined the big flood light over ya'lls way. We all cheered when we saw you guys light up your headlamps after that. Hope we didn't wake you up.

 

[JosephH]

Mike, glad to hear you and Tyler were thinking about it and watered it with a flushing. It probably would have been worse if you hadn't.

 

In general, if folks are going to bivy and need 'real' facilities, you'll need to treat Beacon ledges like a big wall and bring something so you can carry out waste. Thanks.

 

Ivan, I'll be giving BSS a thorough cleaning this week sometime. Flying Swallow cleaning and Flightime anchors shortly thereafter.

 

If anyone else wants to clean out one of the other South Face column routes let me know and I can set you with a range of variously rigged cleaning implements to do it. You'd likely need a paper breathing mask, two ropes, a means of stopping to work (I use a Petzl Shunt), and a day, or even two, to do the job right if it has a lot of plants in it.

[kevbone]

Biving on Big ledge.....how uncomfortable. There is no flat place to lay down.

 

 

[eldiente]

We saw your head-lamps up there while we sitting on the boat Saturday night. We tried to blind you with our large boat spotlight but I'm not sure if it worked. Glad you had fun.

 

 

 

[JosephH]

Mike, yeah, a lot of Beacon lines can seem a couple of grades harder until you get accustomed to the rock and figure out the nooks, crannies, and stems. That 'offwidth' section up to the business can be made infinitely harder any number of ways and easier only a couple. Once you have it down it feels more like 5.8, until then it feels very hard and intimidating. It also protects a variety of ways, I normally do it with two #11 HB offsets nuts placed at 1/3 and 2/3s of the way up it.

 

Don't mind pink, he's a good guy, but pinned down in CO away from Beacon where he should be a hard climbing lizard, not a pop-up one. But, he still likes to keep a claw in all things Beacon.

[mofomojo15]

Thanks Mike for posting. Sorry to the two guys we shared the ledge with while climbing and the odor. Sorry for any others that came up there. I didn't want to p*ss on anyone down below.

 

Sucks about the ticket but I am happy to support WSP...

 

Thanks for the hello from the boats, we got a kick out of it.

t!

[pc313]

Been climbing it for 40 yaer's,like the veiw!!

[pink]

Been climbing it for 40 yaer's,like the veiw!!

 

 

'68, holy shit dude. you frickin old. is you name charles manson. that would be good press for beacon

[pink]

btw, you should spray more , because more or less that's what your doin anyway

[billcoe]

40 years? Damn dude, you're like.....old. Whats your name? I think I know everyone else who has posted on this thread so far. Anyway, welcome to the cc.flamefest:-). I see you finally found how to work the caps lock and get it off! If you click the smily face above, you can add lil things to your post like that rolling smily face thing I just put in there. Pink goes a few steps beyond that and finds all kinds of stuff to pop up inside his posts.

 

Mike, love to see a Salethe TR when you guys get her done!