This route is as close to climbing in Yosemite as you can get in Red Rock.The climb is located on the east face of the Mescalito. Hike in as if you are going to Cat in the Hat, shortly before you turn the corner of the SE buttress head up hill on a climbers trail. Pick your way thru the terrance above by going up it's right side. You'll head back left(south) across the top of the terrace, the start of the climb is a flat area of dirt and rocks in between some bush's, it is very obvious. You will be below an obvious, hanging, flared chimney that is orange/white in color, this feature is located on the second pitch.
Pitch #1- Head up the plated face aiming for the left side and a bulge leading to an obvious thin crack. Surmount the bulge(on the left) at 5.10a R. It is very important to locate good gear under the bulge...and you will still be looking at a slab/ledge fall if you blow the moves (but they are solid). Once on top of the bulge you will be at a very good stance. There is a fixed piton in the crack above. Ascend the finger crack (5.10c) to a small, good stance directly below the chimney and the bolt on pitch 2. There are 2 stances here and you want to be on the lower of the 2. You'll need several 1" piece to belay here. The crux moves aren't as obvious as they sound...look around. (5.10c, R-110').
Pitch #2- Start up the chimney and clip the bad bolt(there is very good gear available to back it up). After clipping the bolt traverse left onto the obvious varnished face. DO NOT CLIMB THE CHIMNEY! Climb up the face at 5.9, there is at least 1 good gear placement on the face but it is not super obvious. At the top of the chimney there is a roof and there will be an obvious place to step across the chimney to the crack on the right side of the roof. Follow this perfect finger/hand/fist crack for another 100'. When the crack becomes a bombay chimney look up and left for an obvious stance on the outside wall. There is a very good bolt here with a brown hanger, this and a very good nut are the belay. Warning!! There are a couple of inobvious, loose blocks at this stance, watch what you are kicking! (5.9, 150').
Pitch #3- Continue up by face climbing either side of the chimney until it pinches back down(which is not very far)then follow the crack system up and left as the angle ease's off and the climbing turns back into Red rocks style. There are several option for belaying/descending from here. If you'd like to climb the last pitch of cat in the hat you'll want to watch for a "cavey" area directly below the obvious crux pitch of CITH. There are sling's around a boulder on a ledge, it's about 200' between the pitch 2 belay and this spot. Then continue on CITH and descend as for the same. If you want to skip the last pitch of CITH you can easily traverse in to the "pancake" belay and start rapping. This is about 210' from the pitch 2 belay and will require some simul climbing. A third option exists, however I have not done it. Apparently you can head up and right to the obvious tree in the rock. From this tree you can rap onto the route "Pine Nuts" and then use the anchors on this route to rappel the east face landing you back very near your pack. This option is less then 200' from the pitch 2 belay. Regardless which option you choose pitch 3 is about 5.5. This route is truly amazing.
Protection
A standard Rack, to a #3 Camalot will suffice. However you should also bring a couple of extra 1" pieces as you need them at the Belay on the top of pitch 1. There is a bad bolt at the start of pitch 2 and a brand new bolt at the belay on top of pitch 2. If you want to really sewn it up bring a double set of cams from a green Alien thru #3 Camalot.
FYI! At the top of pitch 2 when you find the new belay bolt, there is also a rap anchor 20 feet directly right of the belay station if you choose to rappel instead of finishing the route. Once again, rappelling from this station requires 2 double rope rappels and brings you back to the base of the Walker Spur. Have fun!
YES!!!!!! It was one beautiful route! I found the bolt on the first pitch very smart. Without it could be a disaster to a leader fall. Also it enables one to do the harder more exposed move on the left side instead of the 5.8 version described in the Handring guide. Awesome positions and good crack climbing. We rapped off the anchors 20 feet right of the belay ledge on top of 2nd pitch. The third pitch looked short and uninteresting.
Bolt added to the bulge on P1 eliminates the r. Two bolt anchor at the end of pitch 1 eliminates the need for a gear anchor. You can also traverse right at the P2 anchor and do two double rope raps off of bolt anchors to get back to the ground.
Low bolt makes sense, but I'm still skipping it when I go back to lead. Respect to the boys who put it up, too bad history's being blurred, if not rewritten. Climbing above the gear's becoming a lost art around here...On a positive note, the second pitch is MONEY. Enjoy. Found plentiful gear 8 ft from the belay. Would call the first pitch a "soft" R if you skip the bolt. Not really staring death in the eye on this one, if you catch me drift.
So Obviously there have been some changes to the route since I first posted the description.
There is now a bolt protecting the low crux, which will allow more people to enjoy the RR classic. There is also now a bolted belay on top of the 1st pitch. This one I don't really agree with since it was no big deal to build a good anchor before. But it's there now so no need to carry extra 1" gear for that anchor.
Glad to see some folks are enjoying this route as much as I did.
josh
By Andy Laakmann Site Landlord From: Jackson Hole, WY Oct 15, 2009 rating: 5.10b PG13
Engaging and fun climb. We did the first two pitches and rapped Pine Nuts.
P1 (10b) - Not a whole lot of good gear until the bolt, but the climbing is easy. There is OK gear available prior to clipping the bolt, which is good as it is a reachy clip. The crux is right at the pin (10' past the bolt)... which doesn't inspire alot of confidence - particularly with the ledge fall potential. Someone taller than I could place a nut above the pin, but I couldn't reach it! Off the ledge the climbing is tricky with slick feet. Be solid at the grade. After the crux, a really fun finger crack leads to the anchor.
P2 (5.9) - The climbing off the belay is somewhat spicy. You can get some pretty good gear about 5-6 feet off the belay, and then not a whole lot until near the roof. The step across is cool! Plenty of good gear and fun crack climbing (often with jugs) to the one-bolt and wired nut anchor.
You can't see the Pine Nuts rap anchor from the P2 belay, but it is at exactly the same level and about 20' right. Two raps (first one is > 35m) down.
Gear : nuts, including small, and a double set of cams from small to #3 camalot.
I think this route definitely warrants a PG13. A fall from the crux at P1 would hurt (ledge fall) and the climbing is tricky. P2, although easier, is somewhat spicy off the anchor. The climb is very reasonable and highly recommended for someone comfortable at the grade, but I wouldn't recommend it to a budding 10b leader.
I followed this route. At the piton, I couldn't reach it from the ledge. I had to unclip it in the middle of the crux moves. So I agree, if you want to lead this route, be solid at the grade. We climbed this route until we joined Cat in the Hat. And then rapped Cat in the Hat. The third pitch is nothing special. I would recommend only doing the first two pitches and then rapping to the right. Thereby avoiding the traffic on Cat in the Hat.
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