[Hide Comment] Given the bolted belays and the amount of protection bolts on the pitches I'd dare to say a rack of singles would work for this route. I can't think of a pitch that doubles were placed on. One thing that consistently stuck out to me while on the route was the absurd amount of gear I had on my harness while arriving at each belay, which was a set of doubles to 2" with a 3" and 4" singles.

Excellent route. Jun 23, 2014

[Hide Comment] Pitch 8 of route description in photo above goes completely free at around 11b, look for the fingers/tips jams in the corner formed by the roof and face. A much better alternative then aiding through, if you still have the strength left. Amazing route! Jul 7, 2014

[Hide Comment] Really fun day of climbing on high quality rock. I agree with Kerwin, pitch 8 (pitch 7 in the new Cascades Rock book) felt about 5.11b compared to the other 5.11a pitches on the climb. Also the topo in the book lists the following pitch as 5.11b, but it is actually more like 5.10b.

Lots of unnecessary bolts on this one.. Jun 6, 2016

[Hide Comment] Climbed the Hitchhiker on 6/5/2016.

There are a couple bolted lines maybe five minutes from the saddle along the base of the wall. The Passenger and the Hitchhiker are a ways further. Does anyone know what these are?

We used Ian Nicholson's topo from the Washington Pass Climbing book. At the top of pitch 4 climb the juggy thing, not the crack in the corner. Linking pitches 5 & 6 is recommended. There were many more bolts than shown on the topo on pitch 7 getting up to the crux. Don't miss the bolt on the lip just after pulling through the 11b fingers on pitch 7. The start of pitch 8 required climbing through a tree and up a wide crack to reach the bolt line on the 5.10 slab (this is not shown on the topo).

We brought doubles to 2", one 3", and one 4". There are a bunch of wide sections that would take a 5", but if you're comfortable running out 5.7/5.8 wide-ish stuff you don't need it.

I'd recommend also looking at Blake Herrington's topo in his Cascades Rock book. Not quite as much detail but a bit more accurate in my opinion. Jun 7, 2016

[Hide Comment] In reference to the topo and description in Cascades Rock (which I wrote):

• James Ellis is correct and Cascades Rock has a typo (sorry!) - P8 as described on Page 172 should say .10b not .11b - the topo on Page 173 has it correct where it says ".10 steep hands".
• The mystery bolts and anchors on the face to the left of The Passenger and Hitchhiker are in the vicinity of (or on the lower part of) a likely unrepeated aid route called "The Midnight Ride" (Coultrip-Sanford 1977) - The visible modern hardware is (I think...) part of a 1 or 2 pitch 5.11+ free climb which Bryan Burdo bolted. I don't believe it tops out.

Jun 9, 2016

[Hide Comment] Anyone have beta on the bolted line to the right of Hitchhiker? I did a couple very good slabby pitches of it by mistake a couple years ago. Is it Escargot? Jun 11, 2016

[Hide Comment] Yep that's Escargot, not sure where the name came from. Goes at 5.13-? But really out of character for the pass as it is a ridiculous bolt ladder.. Aug 14, 2016

[Hide Comment] Ah, Escargot. It wouldn't surprise me if Nicola accidently did a 5.13.

BTW Sol, Nicola and I recently met your Uncle Doug at the Lone Pine Campground. He liked talking of your climbing exploits. Aug 15, 2016

[Hide Comment] When a routes this good, I feel
Obligated to say it's realllllly good.

8/23/2020
Redpointed- easily top three best climbs I’ve ever done. Jul 4, 2017

[Hide Comment] Great route. No wide gear needed. If you take a double set of cams you'll end up with lots of gear on your harness at the belays. Lots o bolts make this feel super casual. If you're pushing your envelope at this grade it's a perfect route to try as it is very very well protected. You CANNOT rap with a single 60 without lowering off a single bolt. Granted it's a new bolt in bomber granite, but if this freaks you out then plan on leaving a sling or two. Really fun day. Approach from the hairpin was pretty straight forward but descending that way was not bueno. Jul 28, 2017

[Hide Comment] In response to James Ellis stating that there are “lots of unnecessary bolts on this one”:

Well, I respectfully disagree. Yes, there are lots of bolts...but not a single one struck me as unnecessary. Just my opinion!

In fact I think the route could use at least two more bolts.

First time I did it, I ended up hanging on the first pitch! Arghhh!

So you’re not even dialed yet, you’re not very far off the ground, and you gotta do a 5.10d move with the bolt a ways below your feet. With a good belayer you’re not going to deck but it’s still quite intimidating and would be a violent fall. At the very least I’d have put the next bolt lower...you reach a position where you could clip it before doing the crux.

Then the second pitch starts with a 5.10a mantle thing above a ledge with no pro...at all, on the pitch yet. I mean, sure, it’s “only” 5.10a. But you fall there and you are injured for sure, requiring a rescue for sure. Heck, higher on this pitch there’s somewhat runout climbing up and right to a crack system...I’d even be cool with a bolt there.

Just seems to me that on a route that does need (and has) quite a few bolts to even exist...it could have used a couple more. Jun 25, 2018

[Hide Comment] I agree and disagree with hummerchime. Yes, there are some run-out sections on the route, but IMO all of the climbing 5.10 and above is well protected and safe. I felt the first pitch is well protected by the bolts. I felt the climbing to clip the first bolt on the second pitch was well under 5.10 (although if you are under 5'5" clipping the first bolt from the good footholds is not possible). However, the there is a long section of run-out face climbing higher on pitch two, but it is 5.7ish. In terms of gear, we brought doubles from up to .75 and singles to 4 camalot. Knowing the route, I would bring a single set from .2-4 BD (C4/X4) and good selection of stoppers (double in small to medium) and at least 12 alpine draws. We descended the SW Ridge, but it looks possible to rappel (from chains) the route with a 70 from top of 4th. Aug 15, 2018

[Hide Comment] "it looks possible to rappel (from chains) the route with a 70 from top of 4th."

I bet it's possible to rap from the top with a single 70m, on mostly the chain anchors. I could see that being highly annoying for any parties below you, however. And you'd miss scrambling down the South arete, which is part of the allure of this route! Aug 15, 2018

[Hide Comment] Being a wuss, I was a little worried by the account of a healthy runout between the first two bolts of the route, but it turns out there is a nice purple camalot placement between them. I definitely thought the hardest climbing on the route was the lieback section on the penultimate pitch that marked as 10+ on Blake's topo. Great route. Jul 17, 2019

[Hide Comment] As somebody who had no business being on this climb, I followed it at a comfortable 5.10 C1, freeing 90% of it.
The 5.11 cruxes get progressively harder so just free climb until you fail. The last pitch was definitely worth freeing though. Jul 28, 2019

[Hide Comment] My one piece of advice is to break up the second to last pitch (the crux pitch with the bolts below the roof) into two pitches by belaying at a tree about 25M up. The WA Pass Supertopo book says this pitch is 30M, Blake's book says 35M but it is more in the 45-50M range. If you do it in one long pitch, your belayer can't see or hear you as you are doing the hardest moves on the route and you will have a lot of rope out if you whip. As you leave the bolted belay, fumble through the first tree, climb the easy wide crack and you will reach a tree (with one sling in 2019) about 25M up. This tree is little higher and about 20' left of the first of three bolts (which you may have missed away, they are hard to see) on the slab section. Although belaying here means traversing right sideways to the second slab bolt (skipping the first bolt) it sure made the crux feel less cruxy than when I climbed this pitch the first time without breaking it up.

The steep corner/lieback above the slab on this pitch is burly! This climb would be a mega classic anywhere. Jul 29, 2019

[Hide Comment] Length of pitch 7 is understated in Cascades Rock – it’s a 55m pitch. We found it helpful to break it into 2 pitches so that the belayer could see the leader on the layback crack and crux roof section. From the belay ledge and tree, climb the left trending low angle corner 25m to the large tree with rap slings above the first bolt on the slab section. Continue with the slab at the second bolt to the crux corner and roof, 30m. Aug 2, 2019

[Hide Comment] on the backwards "C" pitch, don't forget to protect right after the tricky move while traversing back left. i forgot to and my follower took a VERY fast and scary swing when they fell before the next bolt. totally my fault. the terrain right after this move is very easy, but the next bolt is far away if the follower blows the move. Aug 18, 2019

[Hide Comment] Adding to the spray. Really fun route. Comments about the first bolt are blown out of proportion, for god sakes you're climbing a crack above it, put a cam in. That said I thought the crux was right at the first bolt and I don't recall any business above it.

Second pitch mantle start is a VB at best, but the first bolt was placed high for shorter people. At 5'4" my partner could just get it off tip toes from the good feet.

For the follower on the slab to backward C pitch, you can do the wide stem move before cleaning that draw, just reach back to unclip it. There is no need for the leader to place more gear after it. Once you make the step across it's just walking around there. Would definitely be a shitty fall if you cleaned that draw before making the stem though.

We brought singles to 2, doubles in tips to rattley fingers and a set of nuts. If you don't like running it out directly off your belay do bring a 3 and maybe 4. I don't mind running out easy terrain, but having to go so far off the anchor for P4 without gear gave pause for thought. Same with start of second to last pitch, tree there is kind of a pita to sling.

Breaking up that second to last pitch would be a good idea, my partner led it from the stance and had some horrible rope drag. This was definitely the crux of the route in my opinion.

A couple revolver draws in addition to your alpine draws are nice. Sep 4, 2019

[Hide Comment] Awesome sustained route. the Cascade rock book shows 3 bolts at the end of pitch 7 ( second to last pitch) but there were definitely only 2. They are way up there and hard to see. The crack on the right take some good gear though. This pitch was definitely the crux in our opinion, and the 10+ alternate start on the right was really fun but felt much harder than the the 10+ pitch 1 or the slab pitch 2. If any pitch gets 11b I’d say it’s this one. Also I may just be dumb but I didn’t see the bolt on the right of the belay of the last pitch (it looked scary but my partner confirmed it was there) so I went right up the obvious corner... it was wet and it sucked (not the most encouraging pro) and I wouldn’t recommend, but I was able to easily rejoin the split 5.10 hand crack. I saw multiple signs of chalk where I went though so I thought I should say, just cut hard right from the belay and clip the bolt Jun 28, 2020

[Hide Comment] Awesome route, every pitch is great and I was grinning all day. I'd highly recommend the variation on the last 5.11 pitch (P8 from cascadeclimbers description, P7 from Herrington book and steph abegg topo), in which you start up the slabby bolt line just to the right of the belay. It's great 5.10 climbing through 6 bolts, before you traverse back left (it's obvious when you need to traverse). If you do this, make sure you might use more draws, so make sure to save 2 for the cruxy moves that guard the next anchor.

Overall, the climbing on this felt very safe, and it is a good route to push your grade on. Jun 29, 2020

[Hide Comment] HIGHLY recommend this route to anyone. I was nervous going into this climb as it felt above my pay-grade and it felt comfy the entire way up, even on the crux pitches, plenty of bolts when you want them most. We took doubles from .2 - 3 with 12ish? alpies and were chillin through every pitch with gear to spare. Small cams definitely got used, but not sure if necessary to bring doubles of them if you're trying to go lighter, probably would bring only one 3 as well. A 4 and 5 could be used but really not worth the weight imo since all the wide stuff was easy and could be run out. Approach to the saddle from blue lake trailhead with down climb to start of the route took ~2.5 hours including stopping to stow gear and such at saddle. Tops out past the sharks fin and took us about 2.5 hours to descend from summit to car via south arete. Do yourself a favor and CLIMB THIS ROUTE!!! Jul 28, 2020

[Hide Comment] Recommend bringing a 4, its not strictly necessary but you'll end up placing it enough to justify its weight. I thought the roof crux on P8 was significantly more difficult than the lower 11b fingers crux, though that may just be because were were gassed. Approach from Blue Lake was straightforward- scramble/downclimb a semi-obvious trail down the ledge systems and gullies from the notch below the S. Arete to the base of the route. Aug 17, 2020

[Hide Comment] We misunderstood the topo and thought that pitch 7 right variation (bolted 5.10+ face) connects to the main route. Unfortunately it doesn't. Fortunately, the pitch is absolutely gorgeous. You can do it, then rappel back to the anchor at the top of pitch 6. We chose to aid up 20 meter 5.13 bolt ladder. Then, we climbed a 25-30 meter bolted 5.9-5.10a pitch on sharp crumbly rock and 30 meter 5.8 bolted pitch to the top. It was a nice variation. Sep 2, 2020

[Hide Comment] Wow, what a route. There isn't a pitch on this thing that I wouldn't give at least 3 stars if it was a stand alone pitch. Go do it, period. Sep 2, 2020

[Hide Comment] Wonderful climb. Personal rankings of the pitches. 7>6>1>5>8>rest
Climbed on 8/22 with 40 degree weather and 15-20mph winds. Mixed sun. Sprinkled the day before and the rock was dry. Bring two layer and pants! Aug 23, 2021

[Hide Comment] To those curious about the possibility of a late-season approach from the hairpin turn: we hiked up the kitty litter scree field all the way to the obvious notch. From there we traversed the ridge line towards the S arete and then down climbed to the base of Hitchhiker (as per Blake Herrington's description). This took us under two hours, all of which I regret. I do not recommend this as a late season option. Sep 14, 2021

[Hide Comment] I posted here before 4 years ago, climbed The Hitchhiker again yesterday for at least the 6th time. So many comments here I disagree with…yet they also disagree with me….

Btw I climbed the route with Terry Lien who has been a truly phenomenal climber for decades and still is! He onsighted the route btw….like duh….

MY OPINION:

The climb is NOT as safe and casual as so many post

The hike to the ridge took us 1:50….and even though strenuous is one of the best hikes I’ve ever done

After that, the 30 minute descent to the base of the route is annoying, inobvious, and dangerous….especially with a dense snow pack like now.

First pitch is REALLY HARD right out of the gate! Like solid 5.10d. It is run out between the second and third bolt. Yer not gonna deck but yer definitely gonna take a terrifying hard fall…at the crux. The third bolt should clearly be 2-3 feet lower where you could clip it at a stance before doing the run out crux….or there should be an extra bolt. Me and everyone I’ve climbed the route with agrees with this.

Then there’s the second pitch….which is probably even worse. From the belay ledge, the first bolt is at least 15 feet above the ledge. The climbing involves a scary 5.9 mantle….to a 5.10a/b thin awkward face move that if you fall you are either getting rescued with severe injuries or you die.

Again, this pitch needs another bolt! At least! Most of the pitch past here is sorta run out too…and scary!

Third pitch is fine, as long as you brought the #4 Camelot that so many say you don’t need. Otherwise the 5.7-5.8 traverse is unprotected for the leader and the second.

Fourth pitch is a total horror show without the #4 Camelot, and still dicey with only one! The only pro for the first 15-20 feet of the pitch is a #4 Camelot. You could use two or three to be totally comfortable, but DEFINITELY bring one! Plus you need 2-3 3.5 Friends or equivalent.

Fifth pitch is tricky as hell but nothing else I can add.

Sixth pitch is short and a bit tricky, has a bolt that wish they had placed on pitch one or two

Seventh and eighth pitches are marvelous and hard. I’d rate each pitch 5.11b. Pitch#8 starts with a wide crack that only protects with a #4 Camelot.

Last pitch is quite inobvious, look at a topo! 5.10c or so…..if you want to protect the 5.9+ wide finish better have that #4 Camalot!

The descent is longish yet cool. When you get to the true downclimbing I recommended doing three raps vs downclimbing it all. I’ve done the downclimb more than once yet even though technically easy it’s still free-solo climbing in reverse on slick granite with rockfall hazard.

Overall we brought triple cams to 3.5 (we brought Metolius), then an BD Ultralight Camelot #4. Doubles would be fine if yer bold….I’m not…. Jul 12, 2022

[Hide Comment] Good stuff. I fought super hard and succeeded to onsight the entire route leading every pitch. It was one of my proudest days.

There's a lot of discrepancy in the grades for each pitch among different sources, which I think is a testament to the many different styles of climbing on this route. In any case, the last three pitches are a real endurance test—much longer than any of the previous pitches and with two of the cruxes.

If you're at least a solid 5.10+ trad leader (and if not, why would you climb this?), a single rack from .2-2 with doubles from .4-.75 and a dozen draws would be perfect. I can't imagine wanting more gear than that if you're freeing the pitches. Most pitches are pretty short, and the cruxes would be easy to pull through. hummerchine comment above has to be a troll. You'd have to be going full-on C1 to need that much gear.

Agreed with comment from Doug Hutchinson above about breaking up P8 with a belay at the tree below the bolted slab—this would be a good idea. Jul 25, 2022

[Hide Comment] Really great route with lots of fun and engaging face climbing connected by sections of crack climbing. All of the belays are super comfy. Second to last pitch felt quite a bit harder than any of the others to me, but ymmv. Sep 6, 2022

[Hide Comment] Just FYI, you cannot rap the route with a single 80m without shenanigans. We needed to rap the route to get back to our ski boots at the base, and had to build an intermediate anchor and do a bit of down leading on the p7 rappel. No big deal but know what you’re getting into. Comments above say “you can probably rap with a single 70m” this is flat out wrong without shenanigans, or a single bolt rap. May 16, 2023

[Hide Comment] An amazing, amazing rock climb. Single 0.2, 0.3, and doubles from 0.4 to #2 + 14 runners/draws (plus nuts, if you like) felt like a great rack; you'll have lots on your harness at the end of every pitch, but every cam will get placed on the route. No need for a 3 and certainly no need for a number 4; the wide stuff is easy and secure :) Jun 14, 2023

[Hide Comment] Such an awesome day of climbing! We did this on a nice October weekend and encountered no snow. This route felt plenty safe to me, and achievable for someone pushing into the grade, although it is definitely sustained and a long day! It took us 14 hours car-to-car from the Blue Lake trailhead. Took a double rack up to 2" and a single #3 Camelot, and it was more than enough gear. If you're a 5.11 climber, the sections where you could use a #4 are not very scary. I was glad we decided not to lug ours up, but as others have said there are opportunities to place it if you do bring one. Regarding the bolt spacing on P1, there are gear placement opportunities in-between, so I don't really understand why anyone would be complaining about that on this route. It's a fantastic, epic journey... get on it! Oct 9, 2023