mountainsloth Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 Trip: Spring Mountain Crag - Other Side of the Tracks & Pastor of Muppets Date: 3/6/2010 Trip Report: Cragging in 60 degree March weather seemed like a sin, especially with no one around. I knew plenty of people would be savoring this slice of nice weather at the more popular crags so I took it upon myself to convince my friend Salz to check out Spring Mountain to avoid the crowds. Crowd free climbing on fantastic granite is exactly what we got. Upon reaching the main wall, it reminded me of Goose Egg mountain in Tieton not for its rock type, but its shape, angle, features, and height. The rock, however, is WAY better. The main wall is devoid of cracks, but venture out further and you can find all types of climbing including crack. The particular route we climbed, "Other side of the Tracks" is a 5 pitch 10b/c that is mostly bolted. We found the climbing fun and very unique. A good portion of the climbing including the crux 3rd pitch features waves of granite with sloping riblets, small chicken heads, and rounded bulges. The rock is super grippy! Pitch 1 of "Other Side of the Tracks" Pitch 2 Pitch 3 Later we checked out a couple of climbs around the left side of the wall. Here we found great looking crack climbing. We tried to get on a 145 ft 5.10b called "trophy wife" but found it very dirty and had to back off. The climb looked amazing! Flakes and techy slopers, leads to a long stretch of crack. Next door we found an amazing 2 pitch climb boasting flakes and a large off-width corner, but we lacked large gear. Both of these climbs looked fantastic! Bummed we got turned around on "trophy wife" we headed back to the base of "Other side if the tracks" and did a 2 pitch 5.10a variation start to it called "Pastor of Muppets". The first pitch was dirty and the gear a little sketchy (TCUs would have been really helpful for the many pods we found) but luckily it was mixed with some bolts. Although fun, "Pastor of Muppets" was not nearly as aesthetic as The first 2 pitches of "Other side of the tracks". 2nd pitch of "Pastor of Muppets" Although we had the wall to ourselves all day, we did end up running into a few people at the trail head. It ended up being a few of the guys who have been developing this nice piece of rock. It was good to meet you guys, and thanks for all your hard work. If you ever need an extra hand I would be happy to help. Spring Mountain is a truly unique and fun granite playground with tons of potential in a beautiful setting. Go get some, and bring a scrub brush! Gear Notes: We used 14 double length draws and a single set of cams and nuts to 3. TCUs and tri cams would be helpful for pod placements and horizontal cracks. Approach Notes: 20 minutes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilchuck71 Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quarryographer Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 That's obviously not the spring mtn crag in Eastern OR I've heard about... Care to share some beta? I'd love to go check this place out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilchuck71 Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 I could not get the link to work as a clickable link, but if you copy and paste the url it will work. http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/download/Number/4074/filename/Spring%20Topos.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-spotter Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 Is this the one near Mt Vernon? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilchuck71 Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 Darrington - Towards Bedal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete_H Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 Nice jorb gettin a lot of pitches in off the beaten path while I was fighting the crowds at Index. Not that I'm complaining. That was rad too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shapp Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 Of significant note is that nearly every pitch at Spring Mountain (WA) requires at least 1 or 2 pieces of trad gear. All lines were put up using natural gear where available. You should always carry 1 set of TCUs (00 to #2) and pink tricam and preferably double TCUs. This in addtion to a light rack. You need at least 1 #6 camalot to climb the offwidth, but 2 is better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dberdinka Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 A little more than 2 years ago "Trophy Wife" was a beautiful clean streak surrounded by deep, deep carpets of moss. Given its isolated location it's not surprising it' gone back to nature. What a shame considering what a great pitch it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riley81 Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 (edited) Awesome to see you guys up there. We spent all weekend putting up a new route left of Romamtica, which also got a scrubbing up top that turned a 30 foot runout into a protectable climb with tcu pockets. The rock is Tonalitic Orthogneiss which is why you get so many varied features. It's a great area with lots of potential for new development. Edited March 8, 2010 by Riley81 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hanman Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 TW is on my cleanup list this spring if noone gets to it first. Also, there is a 5 pitch line that Greyell started about 100 feet left of Tracks that will be likely viable later in the year with a "bit" of effort Glad you had a good time MS! Nice to meet you guys out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quarryographer Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 Thanks for the beta Pilchuck71. It was much better than I expected! Hopefully I can return the favor someday! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hanman Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 Here's a couple shots Mattp took 2 weeks ago- TickTock pitch 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilchuck71 Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 (edited) No problem, but the real Kudos should got to the crew that have done all the work out there. Cheers fellas and thanks! I went out scouting late in the fall and am looking forward to the chance to actually get on the rock there. Edited March 9, 2010 by Pilchuck71 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattp Posted March 9, 2010 Share Posted March 9, 2010 For Erock and Tracks, I have a more up to date TOPO. PDF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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