We only climbed the 3rd pitch, but this pitch is easily 2 stars alone. It was a blast, albeit a full body struggle at times. It was still a blast. From the anchors on Del Tongo, go right until you gain the end of that ramp, and climb up the flakes to the tree. Then the fun begins, as you crawl into the belly of the beast. Going up and under the chin, is an amazing part of this climb. Beautiful fist jams keep you up in there, a flake on top of you helps you make progress up, the protection forces you deeper in. Don't grovel up this sequence, but strategically use what is at hand, and the fingertip ledge that saves you will soon be at hand. From here, you can attack it the more secure feeling way---squeeze your way out, or you can turn the 5.9 crux as an insecure lieback off of that slope-y c'head. Either way, your struggle is not quite over, as you now need to work up the 6" crack. Foot jams and fist/cupped hand jams galore. This pitch was a blast, and I will have to go do the entire route now that I know where things are located.
Protection
Pitch one has a one pin anchor to get you started. Pitch 2 and 3 have 2 bolt anchors. Pitch 3 used a lot of "large" gear to tackle the infamous Wizard's Chin. Also beware of rope drag. We used #2 Camalot's on the left facing crack and large hexes. Up under the chin a #4 Camalot, and to help with rope drag, he back-cleaned partway through the "chin".
Altered States Gully
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