The Lizard's Mouth 

I just put out a guidebook on the iPhone for the Lizard's Mouth with 60 problems, each with a photo and GPS navigation. Anyone new to the area and/or having trouble finding problems should check it out. Hope this helps.

$2 is a bit steep for a guide to 60 problems... I think I will stick to wandering until I find my problem.

Way to take initiative on the App! Whether or not visiting climbers or die-hard locals find it useful, I think it's admirable when fellow climbers devote gobs of their own time to purpose of guidebook paraphernalia. I personally thought the App a good idea overall—particularly the close-up picture of each problem. The big "overhead" shot look blurry, though, and possibly confusing.

Hey I feel you Jonathan. That's why I'm working on adding more problems to the app. I should have a dozen or so more added within a month.

I appreciate your enthusiasm Andy-especially since it is coming from a guy who has devoted a lot of his time to improving the SB climbing scene. The overview shot does look pretty chaotic when you see it on my website, but in the actual app you can zoom in to get a clearer view. I'm certainly still working on improving the app's functionality though and I'll keep your comment in mind for the upcoming version. Here's the app site for anyone interested:

unbouncepages.com/lizards-mouth-bouldering-guide/

Andy is right, thanks for all the time devoted to that! Sometimes I comment from work and that usually means I am in a bad mood haha. Looks like that rubbed off on that comment my apoligies. I will keep checking back on the app. It would be nice for newbies and even for those who go often to find new problems.

Sorry for the curt post... Will try to be more friendly in future.

Showing that there is no end to the degree to which humans can be hyper-lame, some jackass thought that the best way to get rid of graffiti was to chisel it out. This is at the base of Double Indemnity, it used be a wall of hard patina:

Chiseling Submitted By: Bob Banks on Jan 6, 2013

Hey Bob, I commented on the photo but thought it might get noticed here better. That isn't purposeful chiseling, that is clearly a pressure washer set at too high a pressure compared to the rock hardness. I would recommend checking with other local and active "land groups" and asking them who was active in that area recently. The person probably was out there "trying" to make things better and didn't know how to use the pressure washer right. Makes other local areas at risk as well if they think what they did "helped".

Yeah Aaron, I'm sure you're right about that. I was perhaps a bit too pissed off to notice the obvious. What galls me is that it was a technique that obviously did more damage than the graffiti, yet they did it on another boulder (at least). Maybe not a climber, but good intentions or not, they're a complete dumbshit. Hopefully we can track them down and put a cease to it before they do any more damage.

Is this a recent event?

I am aware of an occasion more than five years ago when a Forest Service ranger (one who cares deeply about Lizard's Mouth and who has worked closely with climbers for many years) hired someone to bring a power washer up to Lizard's Mouth to experiment with its use for graffiti removal. After employing a large team of individuals to haul a generator and compressor into the site, the experiment was shut down after about 5 minutes. It very quickly became obvious that the rock is too soft to hold up under power washing. As I recall, the experiment was conducted on two different patches of rock.

Could the depicted damage be a relic of that isolated incident, or this a new and ongoing problem?

Yeah, Matt, it does appear to be a recent event. I noticed it within the last year. This is right across from Steve Edwards Project V5 I believe.

This is recent, as in within the last couple months. These are problems that I do every single time I go to The Mouth. My previous visit was maybe October(?), there was fresh tagging (big colorful shit) at Brigid O'Shaughnessey and Sunset Boulevard. I don't think a climber did this removal, but someone possibly well intentioned who after botching one boulder, made the genius decision to carry on with the project. This is categorized as: EPIC FAIL.

If this person decides to continue, there is enough graffiti up there on existing boulders that numerous problems could literally be destroyed.

The damage was there in August, so I started Googling around...

Fucking bingo right here: thecollectiveexp.org/uploads/3/1/1/2/3112583/5248756_orig.jp>>>

The culprits: thecollectiveexp.org/

More: www.thechargeraccount.org/?p=8214

If you go through the pics, they did hit some other areas---and from pic #4, Larry must've known, but he obviously didn't learn the lesson from 5 years ago, Matt.

Well that explains everything. Someone put Juggalos in charge of cleaning up graffiti. Who is Larry and can someone PM me his phone number or email?

Holy sh--! This is seriously awful. Not only is Larry in one of those photos but there is at least one long-time local climber who should know better...

Wearing five fingers and holding a rave outside does not make you a "healing environmentalist". Idealism is not an excuse for ignorance.

Jan

Okay, EVERYONE stop what they're doing right now and email these guys. I haven't finished my coffee yet, so I'm possibly not in the right frame of mind, but this has got to stop.

Here's some contact info for one of the dudes: www.facebook.com/alanavila08

Another patch of obvious erosion from pressure washing is just to the right of Breathless. And whaddaya know, there's more graffiti right on top (the old stuff wasn't even fully removed), but now there's tons of deep pressure washing gashes there too.

Saw some people out there today grinding graffiti off of some rocks. I tried to politely let them know that their efforts are appreciated, but to ensure that what they are doing isn't permanently adversely affecting the area. The graffiti will dissipate, but if you destroy the rocks they won't come back.

Enjoyed reading everyone's opinion here, as most of you are my friends. I agree with these comments and have seen the damage too. There are a couple of things that I would like to add here for the record. Pressure washing has been going on at clean ups for many years. I have a very strong background in geology too, and yes the rock does not hold up under high pressure very well. What was once smooth, becomes coarse. Although after time, physical and chemical weathering tends to return the rock back to how it used to be. I have personally witnessed several clean ups that a professional street cleaner volunteered his time and top of the line equipment to remove grafitti . He had a special ceramic bit that kept the pressure down and did not leave marks. Only a fine layer of sand was removed along with the paint. I was very skeptical and followed him around to make sure he stayed away from the boulder problems.
Obviously the people who did the last pressure washing job were not climbers, and they had their pressure washer turned up way to high. I believe they thought they were doing the right thing, although what they did has made me sad. Please do not get mad at Larry the ranger, he is not a climber, and has always been supportive to the local climbers. Lets continue to protect and educate the less intelligent .