This crag in the Sawtooth Range can honestly lay claim to being one of the biggest granite walls in the High Sierra. Essentially the culmination of the north ridge of Eocene Peak. It is separated from the towers to the south by a significant notch, which forms part of the standard descent route (see below).
Hike west along the Robinson Creek Trail to Little Slide Canyon - about where the Hoover Wilderness sign is. Negotiate boggy terrain and a couple of tributaries (sandals recommended, cache on other side) to the south bank of Robinson Creek, go right (west) and pick up "The Switchbacks" which are steep but short. Continue to follow the trail on less steep ground to the talus. Stay left of the creek; follow cairns up to a ramp with trees which passes beneath a waterfall. Here the trail is less obvious, but cairns do mark a way up over granite benches, and ledges to a flat area west of the Hulk and east of Maltby Lake.
About 6 hours with backpacks, 3 hours without. Some people mountain bike to the wilderness sign, some people do the Hulk in one long day, some people camp beneath the climbs - it's up to you, and how you view the mountains.
Descent from the Routes From the summit, and after paying homage to the Superball - make a steep and exposed Class 3 descent (nervous solists need not apply) of the south ridge, about 300', near its terminus go left and descend down to the rappel anchor, where a single rope rappel will deposit you in the notch mentioned above. Go right (west) and descend steep and loose scree to a small tower and a branch. Take the left branch and Class 5 down climb the overhanging chockstone - very worrying. A little further you'll reach the main gully beneath the Incredible Hulk's wall - stagger and stumble down some of the worst scree I've ever seen back to the start of the climbs, and then down the final scree fan. Some may take 45 minutes to do this, I've seen it written up as "trivial" - IMHO it's more than both of these.
This long strenuous route is a back country classic, and one of Peter Croft's "Big Four Free Climbs" of the High Sierra (see Peter's book here).Free topo at http://www.supertopo.com/freetopos.html#redStart early, or move fast, or both. A very popular climb for the High Sierra.Start on the right side of the west wall - close to where the descent gully emerges. Class 3 ledges lead left across the face.P1 - Class 4 ramp/cra...[more]
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