The second pitch of G-M goes up the corner right o...
Description
A fun route with great rock and varied climbing. Walk right from the clearing in front of the tunnel and turn left when the trail allows. There is a ledge 15-20 ft. up. There are a couple of boulder problems that go up the face, or you can scramble around up and right to gain the ledge, then traverse back left to the bolts where the route begins. P1 (5.8+) Climb up the corner past a bolt to a long ledge. Traverse to the left end of the ledge, where you will find a bolted belay by the tree. P2 (5.9) Continue directly up the corner and then up an easier flake section. This pitch requires big gear, especially to protect the easier section. The moves between the corner and the crack/flake above can be hard. P3 (5.9)Head left and then up a crack to bolts at the top. A fun variation is to follow the crack up and right from the belay (Heart of the Country, 10b). Descent: Rap the route. You can reach the ground from the top of the second pitch with 2 60-m ropes.
Protection
Standard trad rack to 4 or 5" be sure to bring at least 2 big pieces (e.g. #4 and #5 camalots) for the second pitch. All belays/rap stations are bolted. Make sure to have runners for the first pitch to help reduce rope drag.
There is a great varition from the top of the 5.10b pitch on heart of the country that continues for about 40 more feet. The Cramer guide calls it 11a, but its not any harder than 5.10 with great gear.
I don't think the big gear is all that necessary on the 2nd pitch. I think I placed a #3 and #4 camalot on that pitch. If you look around there are some options.
If the right hand start is wet, I'd suggest scrambling around from the left. We climbed the right hand side and the ledge was wet, leave covered, and downright scary for both the leader and follower.
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