BRC Smith Rock and Lava River Cave 6.22 - 6.24.12

It was another June 2012 weekend in the Pacific Northwest – weather wasn’t looking great anywhere. The BRC was headed to Smith Rock in Oregon for the weekend, and not finding any better weather, we decided to tag along and help instruct a day. Even Smith had a chance for rain starting after 11AM on Friday and most of the day on Saturday, Sunday was at least looking promising. Since it’s a longer drive, we decided to take off after work on Thursday and spend an extra day Friday climbing to make the driving feel more worthwhile. With the forecast as it was, we tried to find some alternate activities in the area in case we were rained off the rock. The prior year we had gone down and had a thunderstorm roll through after we had topped out on Spiderman – Aaron did not want to get hailed on again. I looked in the Bend area and found the Newberry National Volcanic Monument. One of the areas, Lava River Caves, included a lava tube over a mile long to explore. That sounded like a great rainy day activity. I also discovered it was the Bite of Bend that weekend, for something to do on rainy Saturday.

We left after work on Thursday, slowly making our way from Seattle. We stopped in Cle Elum for some food, both for the weekend and for dinner. I stocked up on some good driving snacks and we prepared ourselves for several more hour s on the road. As we neared the Oregon border, the lightning started. It was quite the show, almost constant. I was a little afraid we’d soon be driving into some big thunderstorms but we only drove through a little rain and still got to enjoy all of the lightning. We pulled into the climbers bivy at Smith about 12:30AM. We got the last parking spot – I couldn’t believe how crowded it was Thursday night, it did not bode well for the weekend. We found some open space among all the tents, set ours up, and were soon fast asleep. The forecast for Friday seemed more promising in the morning, so despite the late night I wanted to be at the rock by 7:30/8AM to try and get the best of the weather. Of course I promptly ignored the alarms at 6:45AM and woke up about 7:45AM instead.

Smith Rock State Park Friday morning

We got ready, grabbed our stuff, and got to the rock a bit before 9AM. Sara had given us a weather update that said it wasn’t suppose to rain until later that afternoon – chance really increasing by 2PM. NOAA was still saying 11AM so we stayed flexible with a lava tube awaiting us when the weather turned nasty. I had only climbed Spiderman and First Kiss so most of the Smith routes were new to me. Aaron headed towards the Dihedrals with me, and picked The Left Side of the Beard (5.6) at the Christian Brothers Area for me to start on. It was a short route but a bit awkward. As I geared up it started sprinkling. That happened faster than we expected, but we’d at least get this one route in before calling it a day. I lead the route but wasn’t a big fan. Aaron cleaned in his approach shoes and rappelled down. We had thrown our stuff under a rock overhang but the sprinkles stopped, so we continued east in search of another route. Next Aaron suggested Lycopodophyta (5.7) at the Dihedrals. It was a straight corner up with some stemming. I sewed it up pretty well but enjoyed that route a lot more than the first.

[Left] Aaron cleaning the anchor on Left Side of the Beard (5.6). [Right] Lead on Lycopodophyta (5.7).

In thinking ahead to instructing on Saturday, Aaron thought it’d be nice for me to get the first pitch in on Cinnamon Slab (5.6). There were people on it when we got there so I settled instead for Lichen It (5.8) sport route with 8 bolts. It was a really fun, face balancy climb. It has a high first step that reminded me of climbing the slab wall in the gym.

Lichen It (5.8) – sport climb

After I had finished that, the couple on Cinnamon Slab decided it wasn’t their day and backed off, so we jumped on it. Aaron warned me to keep my big gear until the top, so I ran the lower section out well with my small gear, and placed my #3 and #4 up high. I belayed Aaron up and we rappelled down from there.

[Left] Lead up the first pitch on Cinnamon Slab (5.6).[Right] Rappelling down from the first pitch.

The sprinkles would come and go, but luckily the rain had not yet found us. Aaron decided to head to Lion’s Jaw (5.8) at Morning Glory Wall. It was another fun stemming route with a roof near the top. There were definitely some tricky moves and was glad I didn’t let Aaron talk me into leading it. It was about 1PM and I was really hungry so we sat on the rocks nearby and ate lunch. We decided we had climbed enough and both wanted to go explore the lave tube so we packed up to head back to the car. Just in time as it was starting to rain on our hike back out, progressively coming down harder. It was about 1:45PM when we got back to the car – weather goddess Sara was correct that morning.

Aaron leading Lion’s Jaw (5.8), at the roof move

We drove south past Bend and found the Lava River Cave. It closed at 5PM so we’d have just enough time to explore. The parking lot was full but after some patience a couple came back and directed me to their parking spot. Aaron went and bought a pass, unknowingly since our Northwest Forest pass would have work – lesson learned. It was raining pretty good. We changed into our hiking boots, put a few more layers on, and went to hear the bat talk and get our hand stamp. We started down the sidewalk into the tube – we couldn’t move fast enough to escape the rain outside. There were several groups coming up so there was a bit of a traffic jam in the beginning where the path is narrow. We got our headlamps on and started working our way down the tube. I’ve been to the Mt St Helens Ape Caves several times so I was anxious to see how this would compare. This was Aaron’s first lava tube experience. We passed by a lot of fallen rock in the beginning along constructed pathways.

Aaron walking past the fallen rocks near the entrance of the tube

Past that we walked along the tube floor, surprisingly covered with a lot of sand. There were lots of people around, unfortunately, since I think it detracts from the experience, including a large herd of children running around and yelling. The tube had some interesting features – the difference in size as we went, including the sand castle area. It was a bit wet down there, although drier than outside at the moment.

Tube varied in size as we went

The erosion on the floor created some interesting patterns. Overall I was surprise at how fairly level and clear the tube was, not many rock chunks that had fallen from the walls. Aaron tried climbing some cracks but found them to be filled with slimy stuff. We reached the end of the tunnel, swapped pictures with another couple people, and started back.

Aaron and I at the end of the lava tube

There was a ranger so I asked him a few questions and he talked a bit more about the tube. It was a little quieter on the way back so we had fun exploring the tube in the light of our headlamps and checking out all of the unique features. We found several flakes. When we emerged from the tube it had stopped raining. We stopped by the visitor center although it was closing soon so only stayed a few minutes before taking off for dinner at the Deschutes Brewery in Bend. After that, we drove through some rain back to Smith. It was raining pretty well but I was supposed to run 4 miles. I decided to nap in the car to see if the rain would blow past as there was some clear sky in the distance. After a half hour or so the weather cleared up so Aaron and I changed and set off on the road. I had mapped out a route but we could never find one of the roads so we just went two miles out and back. When we got back, Sara informed me that they had forgotten to pack a tent. Luckily we were talking with Brandon and Urban who had each brought a two man tent so they left one for Matt and Sara to use when they got there. After things got figured out, I went to bed after quite a full day of activity!

We woke up Saturday at 6AM and headed for breakfast with the rest of class. The forecast called for rain most of the day and it wasn’t looking too promising. On our adventure Friday, we found a fun center just off the road with bowling, mini golf, go-karts, and much more. As we ate, it started pouring outside. We found out the fun center opened at 9AM - it sounded like a good alternative. Since not everyone was at breakfast, we drove back to the rock and quickly decided to go check out the lava tube and then meet at the fun center at 1PM. Aaron and I jumped in the car with Sara and Matt and headed back down to the lava tube. It was much quieter Saturday morning which was nice.

Part of the BRC class at the end of the lava tube

After we emerged the rain had passed and we were trying to decide if we should go climb. The weather goddess weighed in with the forecast as Matt tried to get a hold of everyone. Finally we connected and decided to head back to Smith to climb. The weather stayed fairly clear as we got to Smith, so everyone geared up and we hit the trail. I was with Aaron, Alex, Brandon, Urban, and Ram. Larry and Rusty were also going to join us. We decided to head to Cinnamon Slab (5.6).

[Left] Urban belaying Aaron as he leads the first pitch on Cinnamon Slab (5.6). [Right] Alex leading the first pitch of Cinnamon Slab (5.6).

As a precaution, we shoved our packs under a nearby rock and Aaron started up first with Urban following. As Alex lead up, it started to rain. As I followed it poured, and even hailed a little. Luckily Cinnamon Slab is protected by the rock overhang above so I just hung out, protected on the route for a bit until it passed. Aaron had decided to try and lead the second pitch and was met by a waterfall, rappelling down to the top of the first pitch completely drenched. Larry and Rusty also got drenched on the nearby Left Slab Crack (5.4).

Of course it started to rain when we started climbing, luckily I was protected on the first pitch of Cinnamon slab by the overhang far above

As we rappelled down the first pitch, the rain stopped and the sun came out, so Brandon and Ram headed up the first pitch of Cinnamon Slab. I lead Lichen It (5.8) again, as Larry lead Right Slab Crack (5.6). The students all took turns top roping Lichen It while Alex lead nearby Night Flight (5.5). In the mean time, Brandon and Aaron went over to Lion’s Jaw so Brandon could lead it. As students finished up at the Dihedrals, we sent them over there.

[Left] Alex belaying Urban as he climbs Lichen It (5.8). [Right] Larry belaying Ram as he cleans Right Slab Crack (5.6).

The clouds were blowing back in and it was close to 5PM (meeting at the cars at 6PM) so I packed up to find the crew at Lion’s Jaw. On my way over I found Sara as it started raining, so we went and found a great little rock to hunker down under to keep out of the rain.

Luckily there are lots of little alcoves in the rock at Smith to escape the rain

We watched as various people from class passed by. Finally the guys passed by and let us know it had let up so we joined them for the final hike back to the cars. We regrouped, talked about the day a little, I got a basic aiding lesson (in anticipation of climbing Monkey Face) and we went to the Depot for dinner.

Aaron and I skipped breakfast Sunday in attempt to get to Monkey Face early before a bunch of people were on route. We hiked up over Misery Ridge with all of the gear. 20 quick draws, a light rack, a few more slings, aiding gear, two ropes, and our normal harnesses. We made it to the base of the route in just under an hour.

Aaron and I at the top of Misery Ridge with Monkey Face in the background before we descended to the start of the route

As we started gearing up and putting things in the follower pack we realized how unrealistically heavy it was and decided to come back another time with a second team so we wouldn’t have to lug quite so much up with us. We continued down and started heading towards Spiderman Buttress. I found Sea of Green (5.7), a sport route at Pleasure Palace so we did the hike back up, almost to the top of the ridge. The climb was ok, with a few airy moves, but not worth the hike up for just that route. Aaron cleaned it in his approach shoes and then we continued on. Aaron suggested I lead In Harm’s Way (5.7) so we headed for that.

[Left] Sea of Green (5.7) sport climb at Pleasure Palace. [Right] In Harm’s Way (5.7) mix trad and sport at Spiderman’s Buttress.

I geared up as Aaron told me some of the past strategies for climbing the route. It starts up a large flake with a few ledges. Once at the top of the flake you start a face sport climb to the anchors above. I was able to place a few pieces in the crack by the flake on my way up. I figured I’d sew it up more but those placements were the only real opportunities that presented themselves. Just below the most vertical part of the flake, I plugged a #2 in and sort of half hung on it. I had some serious elvis leg going as I was trying to figure out my next moves. I finally got a good hand jam and was able to work my way into the crack and up to the first ledge. After that it was easy climbing to the top of the flake. The sport climb was fun but challenging. It was a balancy face climb up the chicken heads, but with a good amount of rope drag from the route below. The climb is just shy of 30m. I reached the anchor and happily lowered down. Brandon, Eddie, Sara, and Urban were climbing Spiderman around the corner and hadn’t yet started, so both Eddie and Urban took turns top roping and cleaning In Harm’s Way. After the route got cleaned up, we went over and watched the teams start up Spiderman while we ate some lunch.

Both teams on Spiderman, Brandon and Eddie at the start and end of pitch 2 while Urban belays Sara on pitch 1

I decided I wouldn’t mind doing a little more climbing, so Aaron and I hiked over Asterisk Pass and started for The Christian Brothers to try and get on Dancer (5.7). Unfortunately it was much busier on that side of the rock so we continued on and found Rabbit Stew (5.7) just right of Lycopodophyta open with a few familiar faces on Bunny Face next to it.

Rabbit Stew (5.7) on the left with Bunny Face (5.7) on the right

I lead Rabbit Stew, another straight up crack with lots of stemming. The move to the anchor was my least favorite part as it requires you to leave the crack and go out on the face. I plugged a couple pieces in and then made my way over to the anchor. If no one was on Bunny Face I would have rather used that anchor. Andreas cleaned Rabbit Stew while I jumped on top rope on Bunny Face (5.7) and cleaned that. It was just about 2PM, our meeting time for the day, so we packed up and hiked back to the cars. Overall it was a good weekend at Smith. The weather foiled some of our plans, but we still got in some good climbing.