When put up in the mid 70's this was your typical Tuolumne hard man horror show with single, 1/4" bolt belays, 1-2 pieces of protection per pitch, etc. Nowadays with other routes in the area and rebolting the route has been tamed a bit, but it is still an exciting adventure.
My description is of the line of the original first ascent from a topo drawn by the first ascent party. Variations, most notably of the first and second pitches, exist.
Pitch 1 - start in a small right facing corner/ramp which leads up and left to a ledge. Once you gain the ledge, climb more or less straight up the face on knobs past one bolt to a two-bolt anchor(5.9).
Pitch 2 - climb up a small right facing corner/crack to a roof. A 5.10a move right under the roof(hard to protect for the second) leads for about 20-25 feet right until a break allows one to climb over the roof(5.8). Proceed up to a belay with two bolts with rings. Note: this isn't actually the 2nd pitch belay on the original route. It appears to be a belay from an unfinished route right of Sunshine, but the double bolts are not only convenient, but the actual 2nd pitch belay, below the 5.10a mantle with a bolt on the slab below is still a single bolt. Climber's choice!
Pitch 3 - head up and left to a bolt on a 20 degree slab below a small, double roof(original 2nd pitch belay). Do a double mantle over the roof(5.10a) with a fixed pin then proceed up and left to a belay at a large flake with two bolts.
Pitch 4 - the crux pitch(5.10d). Climb up a steep face past a fixed pin to a small roof. Surmount the roof and belay at a small ledge on the left with two bolts and rings.
Pitch 5 - move right and get pro in a small crack then go up and a bit left on knobs(5.9) to a two bolt belay with rings near a large, peach-sized knob.
Pitch 6 - continue climbing to the top. No protection to speak of, but only 5.7.
Sometime in the late 1970's or 1980's a 2-pitch variation to the original two pitches of Sunshine was climbed. It joins the original route at the 5.10 mantle with a bolt on a 20 degree sloping ledge. This is the 6th bolt on the second pitch of the variation. Rather than belay at this single bolt the variation continues up to the anchors on top of the original 3rd pitch.
The variation begins about 30-50' right of the original start, just left of the obvious arete of the climb Push It. It shares the same start as the route Roof Rat. The description below is from John Scott(AKA Donner Summit).
P1 40m Head up the obvious corner and step left onto the face below a pin. You can sling a knob to protect the move to the pin. Work left and up the face/corner with plenty of gear options. Step left around the corner just above a new anchor with mussy hooks. Sling a knob and continue to the obvious belay ledge and anchor. There are no bolts on this pitch.(5.9)
P2 25m An offset protects the move to the 1st bolt. The mantle above the 1st bolt has a broken hold. Maybe a little harder now. After the 2nd bolt go left not up. You can sling a knob to protect the move at the end of the left traverse. Pull up and clip 3rd bolt. Continue with bolts and gear. After the 5th bolt go straight up and right on knobs. The bolt you see on the arete to the left is for Acapulco. The 6th bolt is shown as a 2 bolt anchor in the ‘06 Falcon guide but it’s now a single bolt. Don't belay here. Pull up and place an offset in the roof before climbing up and right to clip a pin. Continue up to the roof and good gear. Exit left to the 2 bolt ASCA anchor.(5.10++)
This starts about 200-300 feet right of Oz. Walk off if your legs aren't shaking too much.
Bolts, but there are only a few of them, provide the majority of the protection on this climb. A few pieces up to 1" might help mediate the pucker factor.
Tamarisk Clearing
How long is this gonna go on for?
What the f*#k are we doing?
Wow, pretty rock-
This is kind of intense...." Jul 13, 2015
Portland, OR
Silicon Valley/Boulder
Norden
P1 40m Head up the obvious corner and step left onto the face below a pin. You can sling a knob to protect the move to the pin. Work left and up the face/corner with plenty of gear options. Step left around the corner just above a new anchor with mussy hooks. Sling a knob and continue to the obvious belay ledge and anchor. There are no bolts on this pitch.
P2 25m An offset protects the move to the 1st bolt. The mantle above the 1st bolt has a broken hold. Maybe a little harder now. After the 2nd bolt go left not up. You can sling a knob to protect the move at the end of the left traverse. Pull up and clip 3rd bolt. Continue with bolts and gear. After the 5th bolt go straight up and right on knobs. The bolt you see on the arete to the left is for Acapulco. The 6th bolt is shown as a 2 bolt anchor in the ‘06 Falcon guide but it’s now a single bolt. Don't belay here. Pull up and place an offset in the roof before climbing up and right to clip a pin. Continue up to the roof and good gear. Exit left to the 2 bolt ASCA anchor.
P3 20m Four small cams protect the climbing to the pin which can be backed up with an offset. Pull the crux move to good gear options. Hand jam the 5.9 roof and get small gear. The 2 bolt ASCA anchor is straight up not to the left.
P4 35m Go right and follow a corner system with gear. After 2-3 pieces worth of climbing a 20’ run-out on easy terrain to a small overlap with gear. Traverse left to a #2 camalot at the end of the overlap. Continue up a corner system with gear then left to a slingable knob and 2 bolt ASCA anchor.
P5 30M climb up and left, sling a knob then continue to the corner which takes gear all the way to the top Jun 25, 2020
Silicon Valley/Boulder
From your description, it sounds like you didn't do the route Sunshine. When Pat Timson and I did our ascent we had a topo drawn by the first ascent party. It sounds like you did some variation to the original route which is pretty easy to do now that there are many more routes in the area with lots more bolts and bolted anchors. Jun 25, 2020
Palo Alto, CA
different ways of climbing the first 2 pitches of Sunshine.
Bruce climbed the yellow line (left of the Push It arete, then the crack above it),
I believe John climbed the purple line - thin corner cracks right of the Push It arete.
I believe John's p2 is the face out left where I show [6] bolts. Jun 26, 2020
Norden
Palo Alto, CA
I updated the overlay - hopefully it shows how you climbed it now!
2005 thread on the Supertopo forum,
which includes the description from the 1982 Alan Nelson guidebook:
supertopo.com/climbers-foru…
It would be cool to see the topo from Alan Nelson's 1982 "Big Dog Team" guidebook
with the skull and crossbones. I saw that once, but I don't have a copy. Jun 26, 2020
Norden
Palo Alto, CA
I updated the overlay again, and Bruce updated the description,
so I think we have a pretty good description of the ways to climb Sunshine now! Jul 2, 2020
Bishop, CA
As best I recall (a significant qualifier here), the FA took three days. The first day we did the first pitch and rapped. The second day we climbed the second pitch by going right into a right facing corner and up to a ledge, and completed the third pitch, and rapped off. We decided that the second pitch would be more aesthetic if it went up the steep face to the left of where we went on the second day, so on the third day we did the new second pitch, and finished the route. We used a few pitons and tied off knobs. I don't believe there were any single point anchors, though the top two may have been just a bolt with a homemade hanger and a tied off knob.
It's hard for me to comment on the written descriptions above, as I don't remember the climbing in such detail. Regarding Clint's photo overlay, my best guess is that on the second pitch, the purple line is the pitch we did when we completed the route on the third day and the yellow line is the pitch we did the second day. The yellow line looks correct for all other pitches. Oct 18, 2020
Palo Alto
Rack: 8 draws, 6 slings, single set of TCUs, 2x (0.3BD, 0.4BD, 0.5BD, 0.75BD, 1BD) and 1#2. No stoppers needed. Jul 11, 2021