Dry tooling is DRY

And in many cases there is no ice/snow involved. So I don't understand why the word "mixed" is used for routes that are purely dry rock and will never have any ice or snow on them. "Mixed" means a mixture - climbing on both ice/snow and rock.

Just as some routes have an M rating, along with a WI rating describing both the mixed and ice features, a dry route (for example Cupcake corner which is dry rock up until the last 1/5 of the route which has some mixed), could be more accurately labeled “D5 M4”. But then I don’t believe Dolly Madison (M6) has any ice on it. Shouldn’t it have a rating that describes it better, maybe “D6”?

I care about this because I am not that good at dry tooling and I don’t really like it. I do it to practice, but I don’t get the pleasure I do from real mixed climbing, and it is disappointing to get to an “M” route expecting some fun mixed and look up only to see bare rock for 40 ft.

I figure you should be able to wear rock shoes on dry routes. If you need crampons, it's a mixed climb.

It sounds like you want mixed climbs with ice the entire way. In my experience, this is a rarity. If you don't like dry-tooling, you can always holster your tools and climb with your hands. I think you would like the old-school rating system of 5._, WI_. It was popular before dry tooling became a thing, and works well in the difficulty range you're describing. Above M7, it's kind of a moot point, as the cruxes tend to be entirely dry-tooling on rock.