[TR] Peshastin Pinacles - Martian Diagonal, The Tunnel 7/5/2009

[Alpine_Tom]

Trip: Peshastin Pinacles - Martian Diagonal, The Tunnel

 

Date: 7/5/2009

 

Trip Report:

oooh -- my very firstest ever rock climbing forum TR!!

 

I was in Leavenworth for the weekend of the fourth of July with family and friends, so I brought along my rock shoes and the book to spend a morning someplace climbing. I decided to go to Peshastin Pinnacles since I'd never been there, and there were easy routes listed, and I figured they'd be easier to locate than someplace on the Icycle.

 

I got there around 6:30, slightly hung over from King Ludwig's, and was the only one there; I had the whole park to myself!

 

This was my first time on sandstone, and it's kinda different, so it was a learning experience. I did The Cave on Orchard Rock, a cool tunnel through the rock, rated at 5.6. One problem I ran into is that I didn't bring a rope, so I spent a LOT more time downclimbing than actually climbing.

 

Then I went wandering off looking for Sunset Slab, which isn't quite where the diagram on Leavenworth Rock shows, and it's damned hard to figure out from the book where the different lines are. I climbed (I think) Sunset (5.4) but I'm not really sure, and again, spent 20 minutes downclimbing a five minute climb.

 

On the walk up looking for Sunset Slab, I passed Martian Rock, and thought that the Martian Diagonal looked easier than the 5.6 that it's rated, so I decided to finish up on that. It's a scramble up to a nearly-horizontal crack that's pretty easy to do, if you don't mind the exposure, but there's an awkward (for me) bit getting up from one crack to another one about ten feet higher. I managed it, but I was awfully slow, and took my time managing my emotions. (Alex Minnev says, if you're not scared, it's not climbing. I was definitely climbing!) Looking at the shiny bolts there at the crux (and the rusty old piton) I was feeling a bit sorry for myself.

 

By this time there was another party of two guys there, scoping out another route on Martian Rock. After I got to the top (the last third is no problem) I figured it was just an easy walk-off and downclimb, but it turns out there's about a ten-foot drop that's pretty stiff. I guess it's a 5.8 climb up, but there's no way *I* could downclimb it. I thought I might be able to just jump down and land on the rock below, but since those guys were there, I called over and asked them if they could help me out with a rope.

 

There was an amazing rap anchor there: a half-inch bolt with a big steel hanger, and a pear-shaped rap ring, made of, no lie, half-inch steel. You could have hauled a pickup truck up on that!

 

So after the rescue (I just hand-over-handed down the step) I headed off back to family and breakfast.

 

It's an interesting place. The sun was hot as hell even at 9:00 AM, but in the shade it was perfectly comfortable. I suppose a bit part of climbing strategy there is planning your routes for shade.

 

I took a bunch of photos (including of the marmot there at the top of Martian Rock who scrambled right up the side of the rock, and then stood there like he was going to block my descent) but they're nothing exceptional. Really interesting looking rock, cool swallows flitting around, and even a couple of hummingbirds showed up to buzz me.

 

Gear Notes:

rock shoes, helmet. Shoulda brought a rap rope.

 

Approach Notes:

Walk 30 feet from the parking lot, through a garden gate.

[telemarker]

You know, if I came up with a list of all the areas where I would want to free solo, Peshastin Pinnacles would unequivocably be at the very bottom. In fact, it wouldn't even be close to making the list...

 

Downclimbing swauk sandstone is a lost art I've heard.

[G-spotter]

That tunnel route is a great solo actually. You can downclimb the 5.0 route on the other side of the tower and run around for another lap.