A v-slot with very little gear. Slip slidin' climbs a difficult to protect dihedral. Good rock, except for the finish which has some dirt and gravel, and easier climbing.
Location
This dihedral is the first dihedral north of Angel's Ladder. It has one bolt, which is visble from the ground.
Protection
1 bolt and 1 piton are the fixed gear on this long pitch. Gear down low is marginal, with brass and the odd micro-cam going in purely as psychological protection. I believe I got one good piece down low. The Ruckman's give it an "R" rating, I would say this comes as close to "X" as you can get. Protection up high is better, with it getting wide. I used a Gold DMM, and walked it up the crack as I went. The first belay station is nonexistent, so continue on up to the slung tree for your belay. Bring extra bail slings for the anchor. Two rope rappel.
The guidebook mentions to bring large gear and a #4, 3 and 2 camalot are very useful. Also, blue yellow and orange TCU's - nut placements were hard for me to find. This isn't your average 5.8 lead as its pretty runnout. Excellent rock though. Stopping at the first anchor would be better because the upper part is funky. However, if you continued on there is a very large tree that you can use to access the huge face on the east side of the prow up there. That tree is the upper anchor for Pearly Gates.
That piton is gone now. I have no idea where it was but I remember clipping it before. This route is now even more runnout. If anyone remembers where it was I'd like to replace it because this would be a very mentally challenging lead for the average 5.9 climber as is. having a #5 camalot would give you a good pro option and take away some of the scare. Groove/slab climbing.
Just below the tree anchor you can traverse left to the anchors of Thoroughflare and rap to the ground with a 70m rope. That tree anchor needs some tat cleaned so bring a knife if you go up there.
Altered States Gully
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