Birds in a Rut

Very fun route. great step up for folks looking to get a bit more air under their heels. Anchors are bolted. This route involves a bit of route-finding that I found quite enjoyable. Its not tough to find the way, but you may have to look around for a few minutes here and there.

Pitch 1: Start left of little juniper tree below the slab. Start with a bolted pitch of low angle 5.5-5.6 climbing. End at a little alcove. You can fit three folks here but its a bit tight.

Pitch 2: Continue on up the bolted second pitch of similar climbing to a huge ledge.

Pitch 3: (Note this not a technical pitch, its more of a 2nd class scramble) Walk to the right, then switchback and head up a ledge system till you get to the next anchors. You may have to explore a bit, but you will find them.

Pitch 4: From the anchor, step left out of the alcove and enjoy an airy traverse that leads to a fist crack. This tops out into a massive ledge system. This pitch has a few bolts but you will want to throw a couple cams into the fist crack. This puts you on another large ledge.

Pitch 5: This pitch finds you looking at a nice dihedral with a hand sized crack. This crack goes at about 5.7 and is the definite crux of the route. As you belay your partners ensure you don't knock any loose rocks onto them.

Pitch 6: This pitch is a bit rambly. Go uphill and you will find a bulging section of rock to climb up and then head over a low angle slab to the top. You could wander left on a ledge system to get there as well. I found going over the bulge harder, but less exposed.

Descent: Rappel off the backside. Single pitch rappel.

All anchors are bolted on this route.

This route is on the northwest face of the Wombat. See approach described on the Wombat page. Walk left uphill past the base routes for 5 minutes. Look for a bolted slab with a little juniper tree next to it. Its a long hike, but a good mini-adventure of a climb.

Cams to 3 inches, a few nuts are good as well. A modest rack should serve you well.