Bird on a Wire 

Only one bolt was placed on the FA.

The first time I did this route was in the late 70's, early 80's and there was only one 1/4" bolt.The doubled bolts that are there now are in about the same vicinity, thus the comment on not belaying there.

hell, when I first did this route in the mid-90's there was only one bolt.

Is it OK to add bolts anywhere and everywhere now?

Climbed last Sunday...my first 10a...awesome route! The bomber hold at the end of the runout crux made me giddy. highly recommended. I used lots of passive vs. cams.

The crux isn't runout; there's a reason the route's called "Bird on a Wire".

Well I did place a wire shortly after the belay, which I assumed as i climbed - and you so brilliantly pointed out - was the "wire." I would also posit that one would not be a "Bird" unless one were at risk of taking flight (or to put it more clearly, a long fall, aka a runout).

Hence the name "Bird on a Wire," an appropriate tribute to a long fall on a small stopper. Thank you for sharing your keen insights with me. I can now climb in confidence knowing I've benefitted from your wise confirmation of my suspiscions regarding the name of the climb.

You're certainly welcome. Anytime I can help, just let me know.

Climbed this last week - stellar route but we kept on checking the guide to see if we were actually on the route since we couldn't find anything near a 10a section.

Belayed at the bolts - did it in 2 pitches and couldn't quite decide between 5.7 and 5.8 and figured a good bit of overgrading kept the route avalable for the locals.

Maybe with plastic boots the short slabby bit after the bolts might feel like 10a. And yes, it is perfectly well protected at this point.

Sounds like you missed the crux on the first pitch. After the bolted belay it certainly is an easy finish.

I did it again for the umpteenth time last week; and, as usual, I fiddled with the crux to find truely good pro. This time I put in the smallest tri-cams in a couple of spots that seemed appropriate. I think they might actually work. Of course, I didn't jump off to test them. Does anyone know who put in the bolts and why they weren't set side by side? This has always seemed a bit strange to me--one of the great mysteries of life.

Woody - If you read the first comment, the "belay bolts" are actually a retro job. There was only one bolt on the pitch, and it wasn't a belay.

I always short the first pitch at the bolts; if I fall on the crux, I may be lucky and my belayer will be a crashpad.Thanks for the info Murf.

Only one dinker bolt when we did it in 98(?)

I agree with AC - couldn't find a 10a move. I thought the crux was supposed to be passing the bolt just above the first belay - did I miss something? One 5.9 slab move in an otherwise nice 5.7 line.

Great climbing, forget about the grade. Many fun moves and sections - I particularly liked the steep, featured handcrack above the thin section.

This is a great climb for all of your roped-soloist needs - true of the entire Lost Horse wall.

"Is it OK to add bolts anywhere and everywhere now?"

Yes, didn't you know? Apparently, reading posts on this and other sites, the burden of justification has shifted to the party wanting to remove the added bolts. Apart from the griping, a fun route with a nice adventurous feel to it.

good route, did it in two pitches (the second was 205'), belayed at the bolts. didnt bother with the wire at the crux, nothing looked that good when it got hard, and the bolt was at my feet, so i just went for it.

that said, bring a pile of stoppers for this one, it eats them up!

also, just because i'm curious- we walked off climbers right without much trouble, but is there a faster way back to the packs from the summit?

Awesome route! Climbed this route for the first time on Saturday. We belayed about ten feet below the two bolts using gear in a pair of cracks and standing on a small ledge, somewhat uncomfortably, but very tolerable. Doing it this way, having two bolts seemed unnecessary, and none of the crux moves felt poorly protected or runout. We made the second pitch very long (~170 feet), and the third pitch was only about 40 feet. It may have been easier to combine them, but by that point the wind was making communication difficult with my belayer. Anyway, make sure you utilize your wires on pitch two, not only to conserve cams for the belays but also to honor the name of the climb ;)

Go climb this route! Highly recommended. Use the bolts - ignore the bolts. Whatever - just get on it and enjoy.

After the crux leaving the bolted belay, I stayed left instead of crossing over Dappled Mare. There as some interesting slab in there that made me nervous when the wind kicked up. Protectable the whole way and ran to the top with a 70m rope. Anyone else done that? It was worth doing, for sure.

One 5.10a move off the bolted anchor. Protects very well with a medium sized nut. Everything else is pretty chill. Probably a good first lead for those just breaking into the grade.

If you feel you didn't get enough (or any) 10a on this one, do it again, top out, call it a warm up, and drop into the Rock Garden for Pop Rocks for an exciting 10b - you won't be disappointed!

WARNING: My guidebook, "Classic Rock Climbs No 1: Joshua Tree", Vogel 1997, has the topo lines for the routes on Lost Horse Wall superimposed about 20' left of where they should be on the photo. Unfortunately I only discovered this after climbing the line of Bird on a Wire shown in the book, which led to a huge runout, but a good adventure. 5.8R+ish :)

Used the 2 bolt belay and was able to reach the easy terrain at the top of P3 in one 60m rope length with not much rope drag. Agree that this is soft for the grade.

A more logical way to split up the pitches is to lead the short easy crack to the broad ledge. From there you can lead a nice long pitch with no FF2 issues to where this climb hits Dappled Mare. Then do another pitch to the top. Easy, reasonably comfortable and no silly hanging belay right in the middle of the face.

Belayed at the big sloping ledge and did a 200' pitch to an uncomfortable belay about 40' from the top. If traffic allows, do yourself a favor and belay where the route hits Dappled Mare. Once above that, it is a quite a ways until there is good enough gear an anchor. Definitely a fun pitch though, soft for a JT 10a.