Cedar Rock Beta

Heading to Cedar this weekend and looking for any tips or advice for a new trad leader specific to that area.  I lead 11s on sport but looking to stay well below that while getting more comfortable leading trad.  Also wondering how well maintained the forest service roads are up there.  I have the guidebook for the area.

Plan to drive in and park here: https://goo.gl/maps/bsYB6wWMWQw 

Getting there Friday afternoon and looking to run up N by NW then scout the main and South areas.  Saturday I want thinking about these:

Main Wall: https://www.mountainproject.com/v/oh-mr-friction/106239354 

South: https://www.mountainproject.com/v/foothold-fetish/112550766

I see camp areas on the map, but with the awesome forecast is bivying around here kosher?  

Only climbed there once, but N by NW was really good. It was really cold when I did it and it never got sun. But, should not be a problem for you. We also did some of the climbs to the right and they were also good. 

We camped at on of the FS camp grounds. 

Post up after your trip and let us know how it goes. Have fun!

Service roads pretty well maintained. No 4x4 needed

You can do the main wall and Stone Depot in same day. The south side is a bit of a hike depending how you get there. Depending on the route you choose there are not all that many gear places to practice. 

Have fun, I really enjoy Stone Depot! 

Its been years since I've been there, but I remember camping in an open area right next to the parking. Unless a "No camping" sign has popped up, that should still be fine. There is plenty of camping right off the forest service roads in Pisgah. There will be signage if its an issue. 

The South Side is weird, it doesn't seem to get climbed too often. Cool looking water grooves in a secluded location, but it's 200 feet of 5.1 slabbing before you get to the final headwall.  Water groove climbing is very odd.  It can be fun but it also gets old quick,  To me it's not really worth going out to South Cedar.   The North side of Cedar is super cool.  Maybe not a lot of easy/intro climbing -- but actually when you consider that many of the hardest moves on these climbs are bolted... It's not as daunting as you think.  You still need to place gear but often it's mostly bolts.   Main Wall of Cedar has Mr. Friction which is a great little pitch, but other than that there's not a lot of easy stuff there.  

Basically the whole game is sun and heat mitigation.  If the weather is hot (like it has been), you literally would die on the South Side anyway.  The North Side becomes key.  If the weather goes back to cool and autumn-like, you will be able to go anywhere.   The hiking around is fantastic!!  This entire area is beyond beautiful.   It's a magical forest.   

I actually loved the south side especially “sons of Ralph “

But wouldn’t hit the south side unless it cools off a lot!

Thanks for all the feedback, I'll post some updates afterwards.  The idea of having hard climbing that's mostly trad but bolts for the cruxes sounds ideal.  

Has anyone tried bushwhacking from the top and rapping to just climb the headwall on the south?  I imagine route finding from up there would be a pain but I can bring ascenders if I get it wrong.  Mostly looking for an adventure and to scout areas I want to come back and project on this trip.

Agree with Russ, Southside is kinda boring.  Mainwall and Northside are definitely quite a bit more exciting in more ways than one.  Tadpole in the party bowl and Toads R Us are usually the first moderates that get done then there's Caught Up in the Air and Cedar Pie.   And I wouldn't bushwhack anywhere other than Stone Depot.

Jason Eberhard wrote:

Thanks for all the feedback, I'll post some updates afterwards.  The idea of having hard climbing that's mostly trad but bolts for the cruxes sounds ideal.  

Has anyone tried bushwhacking from the top and rapping to just climb the headwall on the south?  I imagine route finding from up there would be a pain but I can bring ascenders if I get it wrong.  Mostly looking for an adventure and to scout areas I want to come back and project on this trip

I've done this when had no one to climb with. The bushwhacking is thick from top of Stone Depot. Wear pants. You may want to bring two ropes bc you may have to rap down from the trees and find the routes and either fix second rope on bolts or tie to first to TR rope solo the actual routes. If you can find the top of Stone Depot from the top and find the routes/last pitch bolts at top of route, fix line, rap down, climb on TR rope solo, it's worth while. Again may need two ropes to actually get to the hard climbing bc the harder stuff is closer to base depending on route.

Had an awesome trip, this place is a lot wilder than I imagined which was perfect.  

Took a wrong turn Friday night and ended up at the main wall and jumped on Orangutan thinking it was friction at the time.  Ending up down climbing from the top of the flake to pull my gear after it was dark and hiked out felling really humbled.  Saturday we hustled to Stone Depot and went up N by NW.

From the last anchors on N by NW we traversed to the anchors for groove connection and set up a top rope anchor to lower and climb P3 of it.

Did the first two pitches of pistol pete after and headed back to Atlanta in time for Foster the People

I'll definitely be back up to Cedar.

Most of the moderate to easy routes at Stone Depot can be done with a few draws per pitch.  I've never placed gear on North by Northwest. Its a great route