This is a fun, little moderate which favors balance over power, grace over brute. This route has evolved over time. It used to sport less bolts, a few odd bits of hardware. As I recall, a good piece of protection used to be a sling over the large flake before the face moves. This is a nice warmup.
To start, you can ease into a few balanced, opposing sidepulls past the first bolt. Then continue up easy but less-protected terrain. Move right to a large flake. Balance up, find the correct sequence of balance and semi-slopers, high step, find a combo mantel/pull/heel hook sequence and you are nearly done. Easy moves with a jam bring you to the anchors. Rap.
This is my favorite 9 at N Table. Fat side of 2 stars...it is Table.
Thanks, Ken!
Myke, I took responsibility for the description, since there was no description for the route.
This route is great fun. The bolts are a little run out at the beginning (for North Table) though you can bring along a set of the small tricams or Aliens to fill in the gap easily. This climb gets really fun up at the top on smaller edges and vertical climbing.
Definitely a 5.9. After the 3rd bolt, the hand and foot holds tighten up. Really fun climb. It was my first lead, and I didn't peel. Know your ability, because it is true to its number.
Some magazine once warned people against adding more bolts to the chossy sandstone at Naturita, Colorado: "This ain't Shelf Road pilgrim!"
I first did this with just one bolt, #4. Once I figured out that Table wasn't just for 5.11 climbers anymore, I added more bolts, with some help from Mark Rolofson too. One of my results was that bolt #3 crowds #4. But removing #4 just seemed like a lot of rock-scarring work for no good reason.
An old Access Fund Bulletin photo of a grooved Fixe ring on Naturita's anchor may have helped start the rappel-cleaning preservation endeavor. We determined that it was a flawed hanger. The flaw was a pocket in the rings weld that held it in a fixed place on the hanger for countless threads. Normally the rings flip around and get evenly worn all around. I've seen a lot of Fixe rings getting heavy use and see very little sign of grooving. My conclusion is that these rings have a much longer life than was realized back when the ring on This Ain't Naturita Pilgrim was photographed.
The winch hooks were placed on the anchor 12/15/07.
By Mike Epke From: Denver, CO Nov 8, 2004 rating: 5.9
Fun route right at the top of the trail. The moves on the face are exciting. What is the story with the two bolts so close together?
Overhang Area
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