BETA PHOTO: Good Medicine Area. Good views are the other way....
Description
This wonderful quartzite crag has mostly sport routes, but also the occasional trad and mixed route. All routes are single pitch with a good mix of grades from 5.7 to 5.12, and beautiful views of the High Uintah.
Getting There
Park at the signed parking area for the trail to Ruth Lake, which is several miles past the top of Baldy Pass. Hike up the good trail to a cairned junction. Take the climber's trail left over some quartzite slabs to a short talus field. No bushwhacking is required, and the approach takes about 20 easy minutes. Good Medicine Wall is the first major wall the trail comes to.
Legend is another fantastic route on the Ruth Lake Wall. Lots of stemming, two roofs to pull. Very pumpy moves on rock with good holds and friction....[more]
Sigh.... So the secret is out now on what I consider to be the single best climbing crag out there.
Imagine, a beautiful alpine setting, out of the heat and smog of SLC. When it's 105 in the valley, it's 75 at Ruth Lake. You will be belaying in your fleece in August here, since the crag stays in the shade.
And the routes! 24 climbs on this wall and nothing sucks. Everything is well protected with new hardware. In fact, there are at least three, 3-star routes, all of them good enough by themselves to make the trip.
You may find it a bit crowded, since the Uinta Rock guide by Smith and Tusting is available. This great guide has actual photos of all the crags -- no looking at line drawings and guessing about routes.
Good Medicine Area
Print a Mini-Guide - Includes Routes!
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