Tieton Cragging and Rafting 9.14 - 9.15.13

During our trip up to Canada for Ben and Chris's wedding, we stopped at MEC and found neoprene Chucks. Sara and I both got a pair so we had to go on a rafting trip to try them out. Tieton was still coming up so we picked the first trip weekend in September so that Aaron could join in the fun as well. Following our normal tradition, we headed down on Saturday to get some rock climbing in, then camped and joined in the potluck on Saturday night, and rafted on Sunday. We had gone to the Royal Columns - Main Face the past couple of years, so we decided to try to find something new. There wasn't much on Mountain Project but Aaron asked about good beginner areas on Cascade Climbers and got a few suggestions. After checking them out in the book we decided to go to The Bend - North area. It was just a little ways down the road from the Royal Columns with what seemed like a similar approach. The forecast was calling for a high near 92 so I wanted to get going early so that we could get some climbing in before it got too hot for us. Wanting to stick around Seattle Friday night, that meant I was the bad guy and made Aaron and Sara wake up to leave by 5am. I drove though so that they could nap on the way. We packed Vinni full of climbing, camping, and rafting gear and hit the road, via I-90 to 97 to 12.

The Bend - North area at Tieton. We climbed at the far left side of the columns, in the shade all day!

Sunrise was pretty over the desert and we made a quick stop in Yakima to get some breakfast and gas. We passed the turn off for The Bend at first but circled back around to the metal arch building described in the book. No one else was parked there, it looked like we should have the place to ourselves. We grabbed our gear and followed the trail to the footbridge a little after 8am. It was quite an interesting bridge over the rushing river. If you looked down at the water, it made you feel like you were moving left. Once on the other side I felt super dizzy and literally could not walk straight, I kept stumbling to the right. Aaron took the rope from me and I staggered on. Luckily the approach was pretty short over a nice trail and not super steep so we reached the rock before too long.

Footbridge over the Tieton, a picture from the end of the day when we went back across

We decided to start on the far left side which had a 5.6 and a couple 5.7's at the same anchor. We dropped our gear by the big pine tree and figured out who wanted to lead what. The 5.6 had no stars, one of the 5.7's had one star, and the other was an offwidth. Remembering the climbs generally seemed pretty stout at Tieton, Aaron led the 5.7 one star climb, Wild Beast. It was a pretty nice hand crack that took protection well, ending with a mantle onto the ledge on top. At the back of the ledge was the shared anchor between the four climbs, the 5.6, two 5.7's, and a project now listed as a 5.10c on Mountain Project. Sara followed and cleaned the route next, while I got my tape gloves and rock shoes on. I started up the climb and was up to the mantle when my foot slipped and my shin hit the rock. It hurt to say the least, and when I stepped up onto the ledge finally, I immediately saw the big scrape and large bruise. I lowered down, clipping the rope into the #1 Sara placed at the top of Unfit (5.6) so we could redirect to climb that next. Once down Sara and I fished our first aid kits out so that I could cover my shin to keep the dirt out.

[Left] Aaron leading Wild Beast (5.7). [Right] Aaron lowering down after climbing Unfit (5.6)

Aaron went up Unfit (5.6) first, followed, by Sara, and I was last up. I pulled the #1 and lowered down the other side of the pillar so that we could climb the 5.7 offwidth, Reach Deep. Since I was tied in, I got honors of climbing the route first. The crack was big so I mostly stayed out of it on the face and stemmed a lot. There was one section of the crack that was hand/fist sized. Up high I had to get more in the crack with the left side of my body though. Just below the top, there were some good little ledges for feet and we could easily pull up onto the top.

Climbing Reach Deep (5.7), an offwidth

There was an anchor just over a few pillars at the top of Microcosm (5.10b). It seemed close enough that we should be able to move the rope over to top rope it. We figured we could climb up from the top of Reach Deep (5.7), traverse over a little, and then downclimb to the top of the pillar with Microcosm (5.10b). Sara volunteered for the move-the-rope shenanigans so Aaron climbed Reach Deep (5.7) next, followed by Sara. We weren't exactly sure how to get the anchor back from the top of Reach Deep (5.7), but the first step was Sara moving the rope to the next anchor. She climbed up from the top of Reach Deep, traversed over, and then had me help lower her down/down climb onto the Microcosm Pillar. She set up the anchor, flicked the rope over to the front of the pillars so we didn't have horrendous rope drag, and then had the fun challenge of getting back onto the rock. The ledge was a couple feet above the bolts so she had quite a swing down onto the face. It would be an even bigger swing after taking the anchor from Reach Deep so I lowered Sara so Aaron could head up with some pieces of gear to help protect it.

Sara on top of the pillar for Microcosm (5.10b) after flicking the rope down across the face of the pillars

Aaron got a #0.3 in the next crack over, but needed something bigger for the top of Reach Deep. He lowered down and I went up with a bunch of gear. Even though I had already climbed Reach Deep (5.7), it took me a little bit to find all of the little ledges and stems I had used. I placed a #2 in the crack as I decided how I was going to remove the anchor. Aaron and Sara offered a bunch of advice from the ground, including placing a higher piece. I removed the #2 and found a higher but marginal spot for a #3. I put a sling on the #0.3 and clipped it to the #3 so I had a little hand rail across the first pillar. I gained the ledge, found a better placement for a #2, and took down the anchor. I lowered myself over the ledge and had to figure out what to do next to avoid shock loading the #0.3. Aaron suggested stepping in the sling I had attached to the #0.3 so I did that and pulled my #2. I found a decent handhold so I could unweight the #0.3 and pull it. Luckily there was a nice flake so I grabbed that to control my swing onto Microcosm. Finally we had the rope on one anchor on our desired route. The whole process took about an hour since it involved all three of us climbing Reach Deep before we could complete our tasks.

Since Sara had to deal with the most shenanigans, she got the honors of climbing Microcosm (5.10b) first. It followed an arete up the pillar. Aaron went up next, with me heading up last. It was a crimpy face climb, and without having spent much time in the gym in the past few months, my fingers tired quickly. The feet were very small edges that you had to look for. I learned that while my alpine shoes are comfy for all day climbing, they're just slightly too big for good edging. Eventually I made it up and cleaned the anchor, this time sans shenanigans.

Climbing Microcosm (5.10b)

It was just after noon and we were still in the shade, so we checked the book for the next climbs we wanted to do. We decided to head to Eat a Peach (5.7), a two star climb that shared an anchor with Living for the City (5.10c), a three star finger crack. The book described Eat a Peach as a fun, easy crack with a dirty start that got better the higher you got. Sara and I debated who was going to lead it, and in the end Sara got the honors. The route took gear up to 3", and since we had Aaron's giant rack, Sara took doubles through #3.

Sara led Eat a Peach (5.7), a very fun crack climb

The start was a little broken up but after a couple of moves, nice jugs were within reach to get up to the crack. As Sara was leading, she noticed some booty off in the trees. I told her I'd grab it when I followed so she didn't have to mess around while on lead. Sara found good protection and soon topped out on the broken pillar. She set up the anchor and lowered down so that I could clean the route next. Once at the tree I had to make my way through the leaves and branches to get the booty, a new single alpine draw with a nut. Eat a Peach (5.7) was the most fun 5.7 climb we did that day. It had some great sections of crack climbing. After Aaron climbed Eat a Peach, he lowered down the other side of the pillar and was the first to try Living for the City (5.10c).

Climbing Living for the City (5.10c) a challenging but fun finger crack

The book described the route as a finger crack with technical stemming. The first part of the route was definitely the most difficult. There were lots of small finger pockets and not much for feet either. It was a good challenging climb, but Aaron and Sara made it up. The finger pockets were small and I did a lot of smearing for feet, slightly liebacking a couple sections. There was a nice ledge about half way up for a break. Finally I pulled onto the top of the pillar and cleaned the anchor. It was about 2pm and we were still in the shade. However, we had all done 6/7 routes and Sara and Aaron were ready to call it a day so we packed up and headed down to the car. Overall The Bend - North was a great area. We got on a bunch of fun, challenging routes and stayed in the shade the whole day. I made sure not to look down at the water on the way back across the footbridge so I wouldn't get so dizzy. A&M was playing Alabama so we drove back to Naches to catch the second half of the game and enjoy some food and drinks in the A/C.

Saturday night we hung out around the campfire at the potluck, and Sunday we hit the river. It was a warm day but I still wore my farmer jane wetsuit and rash guard, with my new blue neoprene chucks. The three of us were in Bob's boat with another three girls. There were only a few passenger boats that day.

All geared up and ready to get on the river. Sara sporting her new purple neoprene Chucks

We seemed to paddle a lot and we hit a few trees, but we made it down the river. Sara sat in the front on our side and made a great splash guard for me in the middle, while Aaron was in the back. We hit the dam a little farther right than I'm used to with a bigger drop. I fell into the boat while our guide was also popped into the middle of the boat. We didn't lose anyone, although one of the girls almost popped out of the boat another time. I grabbed her hand to steady her, as Aaron retrieved her paddle from the water. As a bonus, there were no wildfires in the area this year!

Rafting on the Tieton with BEWET

It took us 1 hour and 45 minutes to run the river. The Tieton is always a fun, fast moving river that isn't too cold. We got off the river and headed for home, as the forecast was calling for thunderstorms. Overall it was a fun weekend at Tieton, climbing in a new area and trying out our new neoprene Chucks on the river.