The main wall of the Punchbowl, of which climbs ex...
Description
The cave occasionally has a waterfall that fills up the bowl at the base, hence the name.
There are 9 routes at the cave and to the right, from 5.9 to 5.hard. Left of the cave, in the trees, are some 10/11s, and some harder routes further left (perhaps a dozen or so routes). Not much is known about these lines yet, except that Luke Laeser and Co. put in a handful, and the rock looks really good, for the most part.
There are a handful of quality lines here. Right of the Punchbowl are five routes, one of which is an open project that may (or may not) be worth doing. Corporate Greed is a short, fun 5.9, ****. I've heard tell Spiked Punch (12c, ****) is a classic, I think Bovine Guidance (11d/12a, ****) is definitely a worthy route. Turds in the Punchbowl (12a, **) is worth getting on for the stiff crux up high.
Smoke on the Water (11c, ****) starts on the left side of the cave and is super fun, with a finish that arcs right over the top of the cave.
There are a couple of bolted lines on the right of the cave that look really hard. Are there any strong climbers out there? Sharma? Caldwell?
Getting There
At the end of the east access road, there is a trail that takes you directly to the Punchbowl, with a quick approach. This is the obvious cave.
Currently the first route on the left of the overhang, this amazing 11c starts from a sketchy belay, going to a large block that may fall off in 50 years. There is a glued hold just above the first bolt. The 3rd bolt starts the move to the right. A jug seems to magically appear whenever the holds run out. You may find yourself pumped out and epic-ing by the time you get to the somewhat of a downclimb crux near the last two bolts. Gain a good side...[more]
I was wondering who bolted the unnamed (I assume) projects, if anyone knows. There is a line a few yards to the right of Super Barnacle that climbs out the left side of the cave to the face above it. Also, I got on the unnamed #3 route. It was absolutely amazing. Maybe the best climb I've ever been on, albeit incredible dirty with loose rock the entire way up. It needs to see a great deal more traffic before it will be worthy of judging an accurate grade, since it could get easier or harder. However, things being as they were, I felt like the climb weighed in around 5.13c. I did hang nearly every bolt, though I pulled every move.