Morena Butte SD County

Searching for any information about climbing in Lake Morena area. Looks like a nice springtime hike.

I've eyeballed that wall that runs near the pacific crest trail, looks like it has some good stuff, other side of the dam too I believe has some climbable walls. Don't know anyone who has checked it out yet though. Would be a nice adventure. I have bouldered around there near the campground on some fun stuff by the ranger station. Nice scenery out there.

The stuff on the other side of the damn is designated wilderness and extremely hard to access. The rock would be amenable to sport climbing, but the area has a "no permanent installations" rule given its wilderness designation, which I take to mean "no climbing bolts" and definitely "no power drills". Despite this, there are a few bolted routes way out there, which I assume were put up by people ignorant to the designation. Went on an exploration hike through the area looking for trad lines and came inches from taking a rattlesnake bite to the face, so I am not itching to go back. Explore at your own risk. 

Chase Morganwrote:

 came inches from taking a rattlesnake bite to the face, so I am not itching to go back. Explore at your own risk. 

Where did you put your face to get that close to a snake?

Did you happen to hike to the top of Morena Butte? There seems to be plenty of natural protection to rap down the faces that overlook the reservoir.

R E Rwrote:

Where did you put your face to get that close to a snake?

Did you happen to hike to the top of Morena Butte? There seems to be plenty of natural protection to rap down the faces that overlook the reservoir.

I’ve been eyeing all of that rock for a while via google earth and have wanted to check it out. Seems like a pretty big approach but lots of potential. Report back if you rap in, about to get hot.

R E Rwrote:

Where did you put your face to get that close to a snake?

Did you happen to hike to the top of Morena Butte? There seems to be plenty of natural protection to rap down the faces that overlook the reservoir.

Haven't been up to Morena Butte. Was hiking up to the base of one of the cliffs past the dam. Its very steep, loose, and scrambley to get up there. Poked my head over a boulder and there was a rattler sitting right there already in strike mode. I looked straight down its throat about 18 inches away and proceeded to do a backflip off the rock and about 20 feet down the hill. It was a 2.5 hour hike back to civilization with zero cell service, so it would have been a bad day. 

What about these areas at Lake Morena?  They seem more accessible and also north facing.

Left hand zone is mossy and low angle, but highly featured and good stone

Right hand zone is steep and smooth, with some potential for hard pitches after extensive cleaning