The main right-facing crack system about in the center of the Dragon Arch Buttress. Dragon Arch climbs are a bit gritty and this one is no exception. This climb starts relatively easy with a tough 5.8 move (protects with #2 Camalot perfectly), then progresses into a lengthy lie-back sequence. There were 2 additional pitons below the 5.8 crux. The belay station has shifted upwards by about 10-15 feet from the Ruckman guide, so bypass the three old pitons, and instead stop at the slung flake. The upper pitch is wide and hard to protect if you don't have the larger gear; however, this is where the climbing gets better. Wide crack on your left, bottomed seam to your right, gritty face underneath. Do you chicken-wing up, face climb, or come up with another way to climb this crack? Barring the gritty rock, this climb is good. If more people climbed it, it would vastly improve. hint hint. Cleaned up, this route would rate two stars.
Protection
Bring a standard rack, heavy on the large stuff. Cams seemed especially nice in a couple of locations, otherwise hexes, worked fine.
Glad to hear the belay is moved. led the second pitch as a fledgeling 5.6 leader, and running it out above 3 straight up in ancient blades for, a hanging belay, scared the hell out of me. Thought if I blew it I was gonna factor 2, and send us to the deck. YIKES! Needless to say I buried myself in the back of this chimney and groveled to the top. Standing on the top-out chockstone I vowed to never climb it again!! Probably much better now though, I was just crazy gripped!
Lots of fun routes in the area, this may not not one of them per se.... There is good gear just above the first belay (BS detached flake covered in fresh rat piss). Rat piss all over the chockstone at the top as well. The chimney felt more like a jug haul on choss most of the time than a fun chimney or offwidth where you use some technique, no matter if you squeeze in or not. First pitch felt fun if you prefer laybacking with gritty feet to jamming.
Well, it definitely is a lot cleaner now (not just from us). Currently the chockstone is slung with a bit of cord that has been chewed halfway through probably by the same liquid guzzling rodent that urinated on the top of it. There is some stuff above, like some scrub oak on top of the chockstone, but pulling your rope after rapping looks like it would be hell from there, no slings there at the moment.
Maybe bring some stuff to sling the chockstone would be my recommendation, unless your thing is airy fourth-class scrambling on choss, may be possible to top out and walk off too (unsure) and better to do it in one pitch than hang out on that piss-sodden detached flake
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