mattp Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 The climbing season in Darrington started late this year but climbers are getting out on a variety of climbs. There were two parties on the Blueberry Route yesterday, two on Dreamer, and we met climbers headed for 3:00 rock. The main road is passable in a normal car at least as far as the 3:00 rock trailhead and climbers are driving beyond there heading for Dreamer but I'm sure the road didn't get any better over the Winter. Somebody recently did some cutting of the avalanche debris blocking the spur to Exfoliation Dome so we were able to drive within 1/3 mile of the traditional parking spot for the Blueberry Hill routes. It looked as if two small snow patches remain on the approach to Dreamer; we couldn't see it but I bet some remains at the base of Total Soul and perhaps Silent Running at 3:00 rock (the rest of the base looked dry), and there was a small snowbridge at the base of the Granite Sidewalk approach up Blueberry Hill. Snowpatches linger below the Witch Doctor wall, and the stream over there is in full flow so water is available right below the climbs. There were no real bug problems yet. The first 200 vertical feet of the Granite Sidewalk approach to Blueberry Hull is littered with avalanche debris and a broom could help make it less treacherous. Builder 206 and I climbed to the top of the Dome July 20. The rappel route for the standard descent survived the winter with no damage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shapp Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 Climbed Dreamer yesterday, Hanman lead all pitches to get stoked on a 3 day climb coming up soon. He is a manimal. The trail into dreamer is not in good shape at all, much worse than just a couple years ago. With the extra length and blowdown, figure twice as long to hike in, around 2 hours for a midget, quadrapalegic, and a caveman. Shapp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turn_one Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 Was in D-town yesterday as well, too bad we missed you. Climbed Total Soul as a party of three...that aforementioned snow patch did blocked the traditional start but can be easliy bypassed to the right with some thin gear in the corner then by traversing left to the first bolt. It was suggested to start the first pitch from the snow patch, I thought otherwise when I saw the bridge thickness...or lack of...and was satisfied w/ my decision when while clipping the 2nd bolt a 1/4 of the snow patch collapsed and slid down the gulley. Pitch 1 and 2 could use some more sweeping and the pitch 4 crack has some minor vegatation taking root, other than that the whole route is in good shape. Gotta be one of my favs in D-town. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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