The Walker Spur 

The R rating for pitch 1 is no longer an issue....that's all I'm going to say...and I was NOT involved.

Also I've heard that the bad bolt on Pitch 2 has been replaced..again I was NOT involved.

This is a VERY classic route...now that the R rating is no longer it will become a must do.

Spectacular climbing- really amazing climb. Definitely has a Yosemite feel to it, along with the rating!

first two pitches are bad ass. little hint to send easier, don't climb in 100 degree heat!

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

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.

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.

John Long, Lynn Hill, & Richard are badasses for putting this route up in the 80's! It is unfortunate that the retrobolt got added to the route, but I wasn't complaining while I was clipping it.

Pitch 1 - Easy runout 5.5/5.6 climbing with poor gear to the bolt, (40 ft) pull the bulge (5.10a/b) to a ledge where you can clip a piton. You can place a bomber nut a few ft above the piton. A few face climbing moves lead you into the finger crack with plenty of gear all the way up.

Pitch 2 - Thought this was the money pitch. Move left from the belay on exposed 5.8/9 face climbing with medicore gear for 15 ft. Pull the roof and crack/face climb for the rest of the pitch. If you wanted to place of plenty of gear, you could bring extra in 0.75-3" once you reach the bolt, traverse 10-15 ft to rap the route unless you want to top out on mescalito.

Sweet climbing. We found good gear on pitch 2 - small cam then slotted wires or RPs all the way up to the roof. Don't miss this one - it is a wonderful trad route.

Fantastic route with varied, thought-provoking climbing. I'm surprised it doesn't get climbed more. The "new" bolt on P1 turns 5.8 R into well protected 5.10a (the bolt is to the left of the 5.8R variation). P2 is wild and exposed. The crux is right off the belay - then it's a few moves of 5.easy to bomber pro. The 4rd pitch looked ho-hum so we rapped using the anchor to the right of the P2 belay.