Yard Art is the approach for all the climbs on Peek-a-boo tower, and a worthwhile climb in its own right. Like many routes in Icicle Creek, it is a mix of bolt and gear protected slab climbing. Described as 4 pitches, easily climbed in 3. All anchors are bolted.
P1. Begin left of a small gully. A short rib gives way to easy low angle slabs. Follow a wide crack through a steep wall, then more slabs. Gear and a few bolts. 5.7
P2. A comitting and balancy move off the belay onto a friction face, then smear up past horizontal cracks to easier slabs above. 5.9
P3. A short pitch heads up a steeper slab. Smearing and nice edging, then a fun pull through a small roof. Easily combined with P2 using a 60m rope. 5.9
P4. Move the belay to the anchor at the base of Lawn Darts. Climb the pocketed groove/chimney/crack thing, which is much weirder to describe than to climb. A fun and memorable pitch. 5.8
Location
To descend: Rap the route (120' rappels)
Protection
A light rack to 3", including some small sized TCUs and 2 large cams for the final pitch (#3 and #4 camalot). Be comfortable on 5.8 for the final pitch, and look around a bit for the gear. There are 2 or 3 bolts on the final pitch, nicely placed for wide/hard to protect moves.
Pitch #4 is often wet and is not very fun. A nasty groove. A MUCH better fourth pitch is do to Lawn Darts instead. Another good option up there is too summit Peak-A-Boo tower itself via the nice West Face route. Bring 2 3.5 inch cams if doing this.
I wouldn't call the groove nasty. No weird slime, no moss, no debris, positive features and reasonable gear-- I think it's worth doing once, as it's not the sort of thing you climb often. Regardless, I heartily second the recommendation for Lawn Darts.
I'm new to the Leavenworth climbing area, so forgive me--is Lawn Darts in the guidebook? Does it link up with the third pitch of this route or is it just an entirely different route?
It's in the Kramar guidebook. After moving the belay on the ledge above yard art p3, you can finish with p4 or do lawn darts (or both). Probably pretty cold up there this time of year.
Peek-a-boo Tower
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