Doan's Pills  5.9-

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Type:  Trad, 1 pitch, 75 feet Consensus:  5.8+ [details] FA:  fill it in if you know Submitted By:  Matt Westlake on Apr 5, 2011 You & This Route  |  Other Opinions (4) Your todo list: Your stars: Your rating: -none- [change] Your ticklist: [add new tick]

BETA PHOTO: The various upper ampthr routes in the vicinity. O...

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2013 Closures MORE INFO >>> Big Lost Cove Cliffs are closed to climbing due to the local falcon population This information is a public crowdsourcing effort between the Access Fund, and Mountain Project. You should confirm closures, restrictions, and/or related dates. Keeping climbing areas open and conserving the climbing environment

Description 

Fun in two parts - scramble up the easy slab to the appealing corner then finagle yourself off the ground into stemming/crack mode. It gets easier as you get closer to the top. You're halfway there. Go right.
Pretty easy going until you reach the double cracks that mark the top of the vertical section of Finger Love. Protect well here and stare down the unlikely looking next move around the bulge. Try to find the feet and summon the nerve to get off the comfy ledge. For the next part you will eventually a) learn why the route was named thusly and b) desire a shirt or jacket protecting your back. Quite an exciting section. Gratefully wrap your hands around the final corner and pull into the large landing/safety zone. Now get ready to belay a second who will face scary pendulum falls (and offer colorful suggestions regarding your mother) if you blasted out the last few moves and didn't take the time to protect.

All in all both sections are pretty short but make for a memorable onsight experience, at least for this guy.

Note: Place and extend gear carefully or use doubles b/c you'll be making a C shape with this route if your belayer stays put at the rap station area. Also, I'm a helmet wearing fanatic and this was about as close to taking my dome off mid-route as I've ever gotten; I don't think the fall without one would be clean but damn did it get annoying...

Location 

Like it's evil step sibling Zombie Woof (and less evil sibling Finger Love) this is located atop the landing where Breaking Rocks is Hard to Do, Stab in the Dark, etc top out. Several options for getting there go from 8 to 10d or so. You can get a fantastic view of the route from across the amphitheater atop Golden Earring or Raise Hell but it's nothing like staring out at the traverse from the corner mid-way up the route.

As of this writing there was a slightly dubious nest of rap slings with a ring and quicklink at the far right end of the traverse over a constriction. This drops you right down to the start of this pitch, atop the Breaking Rocks/etc anchor. If you continue past you'll find a great belay stance and gear crack and, a little further along, a second set of rap slings around a small tree. Not sure but I think two ropes are needed to make it all the way down from here (the top of Shit Hook most likely, if you were to continue all the way up instead of traverse to the Breaking Rocks/Stab anchor).

Protection 

Standard Moore's stuff - corner= BD mid-sizes, the upper area .75-2 sizes were nice but you might be able to find a spot for something big like a 5 (didn't have one myself)

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BETA PHOTO: Opening corner