Tieton Climbing - Royal Columns - Main Face 9.10.11

The last BEWET rafting trip of the season was scheduled for the Tieton as usual. We decided to do our familiar activity combination - climb one day and raft the other. Luckily this year the forecast for the weekend was much better. Last year we had the same intentions but got rained out of the climbing portion. The forecast for the weekend this year was sunny and hot - highs around the 90's. Oh right, it gets hot on the east side of the mountains in the desert. We left Seattle Saturday morning in two cars about 7AM and arrived in the parking lot at the Oak Creek State Wildlife area, making sure to have our Department of Fish and Wildlife/Discovery Pass for parking. I lathered up in sunscreen, we decided whose racks and ropes we were taking, and headed for the trail. We crossed the road to the bridge spanning the Tieton River, then followed the trail up to the rock. We had two gates to pass through, apparently to keep the wildlife out - rumor has it there are a lot of elk in the area.

The higher of the two gates along the trail

Aaron was the only one who had climbed there before and the only one with a guide book so he picked out a good starter area for us with a few 5.6's and 5.4's nearby. There are a lot of climbs rated 5.7 and under at the Main Face of the Royal Columns- almost too many to pick from!

Tieton - Royal Columns

One difference to me with this cragging area is that many of the climbs require a gear anchor at the top - they don't all have bolted anchors. Good thing I stuck my cordelette in. Sara volunteered to lead the 5.5 Rap Route so that we could have a rappel rope set up in the area to help facilitate climbing several routes. Lina decided to start on Level Head (5.6) and I started on Good Timer (5.4). A 5.4 sounded like a great route to warm up on. Good thing too as the route is a little harder than my normal definition of a 5.4. It just lacked some of the ledges I'm used to for an easier trad climb but it was a lot of fun and a nice long route. There were some good horizontal cracks on the way up to place gear in. I reached the top and saw a set of bolts a little ways over - a little too far right so I'd either have to set up a gear anchor or set up a redirect to the bolted anchor. I yelled down to Aaron to ask his opinion and he said just go with the gear anchor so that's what I did. I placed about 7 pieces in various locations before I decided on my 3 favorite and set up the anchor. I ended up using a high horizontal crack on the boulder with a #2 and #3 cam, along with a #8 nut. I lowered down and Aaron cleaned it. Sara made it down her Rappel Route, having some fun route finding adventures on it. Alyssa and Lina climbed that while Kevin top roped Good Timer.

Sara belaying Kevin up Good Timer (5.4)

Aaron leading Level Head (5.6)

Aaron then headed up Level Head to finish the lead. Lina cleaned it and Sara top roped it, before they talked me into leading it as well. Unfortunately when I was pulling the rope on Good Timer I didn't check the end and pulled it with a figure eight knot still in tact. It of course got stuck as I was trying to pull it so now I really had to lead Level Head to retrieve the rope.

The route had some interesting moves. They weren't too difficult but I just needed a little more confidence to pull them right away. I was glad to get up where the twin cracks narrowed so that I could stem a little. I was able to reach the rope so I untied the knot allowing them to finish pulling it and go lead another route. I placed a lot of nuts and a few cams. I placed a couple pieces of gear in the right crack (I had been protecting in the left crack) and reached the bolted anchor. I had placed 10 pieces and used all of my alpine slings - luckily I always carry a couple sausages (webbing) just in case, but I didn't need them. I lowered down and Kevin cleaned the route after me. As I was finishing Level Head, Aaron lead Entrance Exam, a 5.7 chimney.

Sara giving Alyssa a belay up Entrance Exam (5.7)

After Kevin finished Level Head and we pulled the rope, we ventured over to the chimney route Aaron and Lina had already climbed. It was early afternoon and the sun was high - it was hot out. Alyssa started on Entrance Exam first while Sara gave her a belay. I found a little cave nearby and hid in it to escape the sun. After Sara climbed the chimney I tried my hand at it. After the awkward start it wasn't too bad. I did a combination of chimney climbing, stemming, and crack climbing once inside - soaking up the shade. After everyone had their chance to climb the route, it was clear it was just too hot, squelching any motivation to keep climbing so we packed up. We made our way back to the cars with no rattlesnake incidences! (We did have trekking poles along in case we needed to politely move any). There is so much to climb at Tieton, we just need to go back when it's a little cooler out.

Tieton River valley area

Our hike from the parking lot at the Oak Creek State Wildlife area to the Main Face/Orange Sunshine areas of the Royal Columns at Tieton