Standing on the duck's bill. "The Fire Hydrant" i...
Description
This excellent line is one of the best easy pitches in the Sandias, and with a killer summit to boot!
Begin on the NE side of the tower, below a beautiful red dihedral. Jam the stellar corner (mostly hands) for 60 feet with perfect pro. When the corner peters out, traverse right a few feet to easier ground and corkscrew up to the summit.
There is no fixed gear on the summit, but its easy to scramble down the S side of the pillar.
Did this the other day. Super cool and right by the trail. Don't bother bringing anything small. #1 - #3 Camalots would be nice. Maybe 2 #3 if you want to sew it up. Don't bother with a #4. Good rock except for the loose stuff.
By Chris Wenker From: Santa Fe Jun 8, 2009 rating: 5.7
There are a couple of different big red dihedrals/open books on the north/northeast side; some are pretty brushy, and I was about to start up the wrong one until my partner saw the correct route, which is a shallower, clean dihedral on the (climber's) left end of the northeast side. Bulletproof stone! I used 2 #3 C4's and a #4 as well. It looks like people are rapping off a slung aspen on the east side? Not sure why, because the downclimb off the south side is still perfectly viable, except maybe the easiest line has been blocked by the top of a dead aspen that fell onto the 3rd class route. There's still an easy 4th class downclimb around that, though.
By Robin From: Albuquerque, NM Jun 11, 2009 rating: 5.8
Felt pretty hard for 5.6, unless we went up the wrong dihedral (see my photo). Felt more like 5.8 to me. Oh well... I would not want to go up this as a beginner leader thinking it's super mellow. There is plenty of gear though so...
Rack suggestions: You don't need any small cams, but I placed maybe a .3 and a .4 somewhere. You can place lots of #1's 2's and 3's. I could have used 4 #1's if I'd had them. You can place a #4, so if you decide to bring it you'll find a place for it.
A good climb with solid rock. Only one pitch but the summit is pretty fun. The downclimb to the south is not bad at all.
By Bill Lawry From: New Mexico Jul 19, 2009 rating: 5.7+
The broken-off part of the dead aspen has been removed. Can descend on either side of the part of the tree that is currently standing.
I agree about having lots of hand-sized pieces. Of BD C4's, I had two #1's, three #2's, and two #3's. I used them all. Could have used a #4 near the top of the vertical line.