Mt Washington Rock Climbing

Mt. Washington is one of three major areas at Exit 38 off the I-90 corridor east of Seattle, the nearest to the exit. A Discover pass is required to park in the trailhead parking lot. It has never been as popular as Deception Crags or the Far Side, probably because of the longer approaches and the lack of a beginner crag like Write-off or Gritscone. The climbing here is all on metamorphosed andesite aka rhinostone, but is unique from the rest of X38. It tends to be slightly overhanging, with crumbly / grippy to very slick texture, unlike the blocky jugs at Deception or the angular flakes of Far Side diorite.

The area consists of several groupings of crags on and around the Mt. Washington trail; Crag of the 20s, Bob's Area & Salal Point Crags. Bob's Area & Salal Point are characterized by grippy rock that is often more solid than your average Exit 38 choss and is home to many of 38's most classic routes. Lost Resort might be the highest quality 38 crag in the 5.10 - 5.12 range, Valley View West excels in crimpy vertical 5.12s and splitter Index like cracks. There's also some of the best 40ft crags in the Seattle area Alpina & Chainsaw Wall with mega classic lines on bullet proof rock, those alone are worth the trek. The newly developed Rabbit Hole is a great place for varied 5.11s and almost all the crags mentioned above are perfect summer destinations. The semi-newly developed Crag of the 20s off the Iron Horse Trail has many very interesting routes mostly in the 5.12 range, it's home to probably the proudest line at 38, Apex Predator. 

Lower on the Mt. Washington trail there are a couple popular and not so popular stand alone crags; Semi-Wall, Windwall Wall, Amazonia & Club Paradisio / The Actual Cave. Semi-Wall is the first one you walk past being only 0.4 miles rom the car, its basically abandoned and needs hardware updates. Windfall Wall is very obscure but was recently rebolted, you'll have the crag to yourself. Amazonia is one of if not the most popular 5.10 crags at Exit 38. Expect crowds on the weekend and near constant drip as the wall takes most of the summer to fully dry. Just one more switch back up the trail lays the famous Actual Cave. Club Paradisio is the nearly permanent wet slab on the right side. The Actual Cave is the obvious hole to the left with so many good routes and actually the oldest sport route at 38, Giant. Be aware that the majority of route weave throughout each other so be respectful of other climbers is the cave.