mountainsloth Posted August 25, 2009 Posted August 25, 2009 Am thinking of taking the lady up there for some "safe sex" I have yet to visit this wonderful chunk of rock... What can I expect on the approach? How far am I walking on the road? Is the trail hard to follow? How long is it time wise? Quote
counterfeitfake Posted August 25, 2009 Posted August 25, 2009 Depends on how tough your lady is. I was up there in July. It's gotten lots worse since I first did it 3 years ago. Depending on your vehicle you can drive farther- a high-clearance truck will get you past a wash and then around the big tree trunk. Probably buy you half a mile farther than a car. We parked at the 3 o'clock rock (bridge creek?) trailhead because someone had taken up the parking spots a ways up the road. We walked probably 45 minutes on road, and then headed up the totally defunct road into the forest. The trail has become more overgrown and has been wiped out in one spot by a slide- stick with it and follow clues to re-find the trail after about 100 feet of bushwhacking. Cross the river then get into an open meadow, and boulder hop past an old pipe to the big creek. If you don't know the right spot to turn right and uphill, it's going to be tough. It's above a big hunk of rock by the creek, where a dry creek bed is completely covered over by a canopy of trees. You're basically 'shwacking up a narrow tunnel for a few hundred feet, before it clears out. This is as far as we went because it started getting cold and windy and it was clear it was going to rain. I'd budget 3 hours to get to the base of Dreamer/Safe Sex. A few hours with a machete and a bow saw could do a lot to make this trail easier. Quote
turn_one Posted August 25, 2009 Posted August 25, 2009 Was just up there yesterday...I wouldn't drive as far as my buddy did. Below are my best guesses: Drive as far as you choose past 3 o'clock, we walked the road for a 1-1 1/2 miles-ish but for most expect around 2. Just keep the trail in sight when crossing the drainages and don't make the mistake once encountering the first of the slabs down low of continuing past the trail that takes off to the right. I think there was a small cairn on a boulder here. I think it took us around an hour to get to the base. Quote
ken4ord Posted August 25, 2009 Posted August 25, 2009 turn one is more on the money time wise. 3 hours, means you did something wrong counterfeitfake. Quote
mountainsloth Posted August 25, 2009 Author Posted August 25, 2009 Thanks for the clues guys. is the road bikeble? Quote
counterfeitfake Posted August 25, 2009 Posted August 25, 2009 (edited) turn one is more on the money time wise. 3 hours, means you did something wrong counterfeitfake. When were you last up there Ken? I've done the approach 3 times, we didn't make any wrong turns or anything. Fenderfour was with me, maybe he will agree or disagree. An hour seems very fast to me, but what do I know. Road is somewhat bikeable until it quits being a road... might be pretty muddy depending on recent rain. Doesn't seem worth it to me. Edited August 25, 2009 by counterfeitfake Quote
fenderfour Posted August 25, 2009 Posted August 25, 2009 I think sometimes people either lose track of time or want to sound more badass. Parking anywhere past the TH doesn't really make sense. You can't drive a whole lot faster than a walk unless you really don't like your car. A bike wouldn't get you much farther. A few slides have come down and make it decent 'schwack. 3 hours at our leisurely pace that day, 2 hours if you were working. If you asking about the approach with concern for your lady, budget 3 hours. I bet offthehook could get it done in like 15 minutes. Quote
benmurphy Posted August 25, 2009 Posted August 25, 2009 yeah, i've been out there several times this summer and the fastest we've made it from the car to base of safe sex is about 2.5 hours, and that's with no route-finding issues... too many downed trees across the "road" to make a bike any faster. Quote
shapp Posted August 25, 2009 Posted August 25, 2009 (edited) You can make it in one hour in this fashion, set your watch forward one hour, hike for 2 hour (if you know where you are going) once you get there set your watch back one hour. Finally the approach to GGB is returning back to the stick up your ass FA conditios for maximum adventure. Now if we can just remove a few bolts and re-install a few more 1/4 inchers Edited August 25, 2009 by shapp Quote
turn_one Posted August 25, 2009 Posted August 25, 2009 You can make it in one hour in this fashion, set your watch forward one hour, hike for 2 hour (if you know where you are going) once you get there set your watch back one hour. Finally the approach to GGB is returning back to the stick up your ass FA conditios for maximum adventure. Now if we can just remove a few bolts and re-install a few more 1/4 inchers I can understand if one was hindered by a couple of extra pounds of unwanted 'shapp-fat' it might be difficult to conceptualize the idea of a 1 hr approach to GGB base but to credit Eban's lack of concern for his truck and phenom-driving abilities we did it in 'about an hour'...the 'about' opens up the possibility of 1 1/2 hrs. Quote
shapp Posted August 25, 2009 Posted August 25, 2009 Well said my friend, although the pounds are continuing to shed. Will be at the gym tomorrow. Quote
Drederek Posted August 25, 2009 Posted August 25, 2009 Its easily doable in an hour and a half but not with the wife. Especially if you linger near the waterfalls. Quote
Buckaroo Posted August 26, 2009 Posted August 26, 2009 watch carefully for the right turn off the river/creek, it's a rocky (usually)dry streambed. It starts about where the river ends it's steep cascade. Like already mentioned it's canopied by trees. If you miss that you spend an extra hour or two bushwacking. the start of Dreamer is inobvious, the dihedrals are left facing not right facing as shown in the Nelson books. The other climbs are tricky to find also. Quote
genepires Posted August 26, 2009 Posted August 26, 2009 It was a great adventure being in the back of Eban's truck as he plowed through the overgrown road to save some walking. Like a snowplow clearing the road. Made the crazy day even crazier and more fun. Quote
mattp Posted August 26, 2009 Posted August 26, 2009 I rarely ever made it to the start of Dreamer in anything much less than an hour and a half when we could drive to the end of the road. You must be running, TurnOne. Dreamer and Safe Sex are good climbs, and the two central pitches of Dreamer area as good as any two 5.9 pitches around here whlie that corner pitch on Safe Sex is also fantastic, but they are not "easy" approaches. Blueberry is easier to get to by a large measure and well worth it. Jacob's Ladder West Buttress routes The routes get generally steeper and harder and more varied from right to left. Westward Ho (not shown in the picture below) is pure slab climbing. West Buttress is slab and crack. Dark Rhythym has some face climbing mixed in. Rainman and Jacob's Ladder have the odd bits of real crack climbing and Jacob's Ladder has the most edging. Quote
mountainsloth Posted August 26, 2009 Author Posted August 26, 2009 thanks for all the info guys. It will probably take us 3 hrs. we are going to go out the night before and camp as far in as we can get since its me and the lady. matt thanks for the recommendation of exfoliation dome, but we already did the west butt a few weeks ago. actually, we did not summit because it was severely hot and we ran out of water, but... we are looking for something new and more exciting. Quote
catbirdseat Posted August 28, 2009 Posted August 28, 2009 Time to organize a work party for that trail. Ten climbers spending half a day would make a big difference. Quote
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