West Ridge Rock Climbing

The current herd path diverges from the hiking trail about fifteen minute's walk up, at a small hemlock on a dirt bank on the left (south) side of the trail. Cut off here, maintaining elevation (occasional cairns may help) until you've passed under a series of small ledges. Look for a cairn on a large flat slab, walk up past it and continue south, dropping down near the first significant (>50' tall) cliff. At the lower corner of this cliff, you will have to work through a short bit of rockfall to avoid walking on a private inholding boundary, but soon public land includes the level bench below the slope. You will pass an attractive boulder and a minute later, see the Whaling Wall, a cliff nearly 100' tall, on the ridge to your right. The path continues along the plateau, crossing a major drainage, diverging from the steep ridge and continuing through easy, open woods before curling west to a gully that leads downward to the eastern end of the Rods'n'Guns Wall.