flashclimber Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 Trip report 07/01/09 Area: Three O'Clock Rock, Darrington Area Route: Total Soul 5.10B So after staying in bed for the past 3 days with a head cold, my buddy Kevin decides we should still keep with our plans to do Total Soul at Three O'Clock Rock. I woke up around 7:45 PM with my ribs hurting from coughing all night. He stopped by at 8 and we drove up to Darrington with minimal traffic. We arrived at the trailhead around 9:30. This was my first visit to the 3 O'Clock Rock area. We had unsuccessfully attempted Dreamer twice in one year. (Another story...way too HOT that summer!). So I really wanted to complete the full route. We arrived at the base of the route around 10:30. My lungs were burning from the hike and the cough that would not go away. There was a small amount of snow at the base that made a great refridgerator for our spare water and food. Kevin took the first pitch rated at 5.6. It was a short and dirty. Besides the bolts, it took a few pieces of gear. The anchors on all the pitches are sport anchors except pitches 7 and 8. I took the second pitch 5.9. It was clean and fun. Kevin took the 3rd pitch 5.7. (The following 3 pictures.) I took pitch 4, 5.9 again. A nice piece of slab, very well bolted and gear placements are abundant (nuts or cams will work). The picture is Kevin coming up to the anchors of Pitch 4. Kevin took the First hard pitch (#5) on the route 5.10B. He cleared it with ease. The only real difficulty on this pitch is on the belay. The top of Pitch 4 is a hanging belay. If you have a belay seat, bring it! The large bush on the right is called the "Batman Bush". I took pitch 6. Another 5.10B. We both agreed that Pitch 6 was much harder than Pitch 5. There are a few moves you must really dedicate to. The picture is looking down Pitch 6. The belay on top of Pitch 6 isn't that great either. A belay seat would be nice there too! Kevin took pitch 7, a 5.8 dirty slab. It looks like most people bale after pitch 6. Kevin completed the pitch in style and I followed. The pictures are of the anchors and belay stance on top of pitch 7. The anchors are just 2 bolts and an old sling with no rap ring. It kind of forces you to move on to the next pitch or leave gear. Don't know why someone would do that, when all the other anchors were "sport" rap anchors. huh? I took on the last pitch. Another 5.10B. I found it quite fun. It was more face climbing than slab. You get to stand on a few "chicken heads" while reaching for small edges. The top of the route was quite dirty. I have to thank the person for putting in that last bolt. It would suck to have to clean out the crack to place a last piece of gear. The picture is the lower part of the route. We found the rap station. Well at least the two part rap station. It appears you rap off the top tree to the right for about 30 feet, then you rap off a second tree to the chain anchors below. I guess you could scramble down the little gully to the second lower tree. Here are some pictures of our rappel and some scenic pics. Well we made it in great time and had a lot of fun. Quite a fun route on a beautiful day! Only one injury to report. A small scrape to my arm when my foot slipped on the rock. Got home in time to play with the kid! This is a great route. If someone gets a chance maybe they can add a chain and rap ring to pitch 7's anchors! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocky_joe Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 Great TR, haven't seen that one yet. Looks super fun, and nice photos! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountainsloth Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 nice work! i've had my eye on that one for a while, but its hard to find a good slab partner. Darrington slabs kick! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountainsloth Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 how did the superly variation look? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jshamster Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 Nice! I really like that route. Try the Superfly next time. .11a and super fun moves with bolts in yer face. If I remember correctly, you don't rap from pitch seven anchors. Probably why it is not equipped as a rap station. The D-town season has been a good one so far. Great weather and not too hot. nice work! i've had my eye on that one for a while, but its hard to find a good slab partner. Darrington slabs kick! Sloth, anytime you need a slab partner let me know. D-town is some of my favorite climbing in the state. Cheers. JImbo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashclimber Posted July 2, 2009 Author Share Posted July 2, 2009 The superfly variation looked pretty clean. You're right. The bolts were very close and it didnt look to intimidating. Maybe next time! Our ultimate goal was to finish Total Soul and then move on to Silent Running 5.9 if we had time. Rapping took longer than expected. So we called it the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jshamster Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 I've often thought of doing both routes in the same day, but my toes never really want to cooperate. Glad you had fun out there. Go get the Dreamer! Cheers. Jimbo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrogdortheBurninator Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 I actually thought that some of the traverse moves on Superfly were pretty tense, but maybe I did em wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrygunJim Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 I'm not familiar with the area enough to recognize the fin in this shot. Name? Routes? Choss? Sublime? Bueler? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattp Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 Exfo Dome has the best of the best: a half dozen good routes on this side and several on the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrygunJim Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 I thought that might have been a foolish question. The only retribution for my ignorance is to visit the dome and provide offerings of skin and blood. Any other heathens need a slab partner next week? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountainsloth Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 I'll keep that in mind Jimbo Hampster. Haven't made it out there yet this year and I am itching all over! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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