On the Road

Begin by hopping up a slabby ramp to the base of this attractive dihedral capped by a roof. Lieback and stem your way up, choosing your feet wisely and placing gear wherever you can. Conquer a couple of tricky sections using the face, then arrive below the roof. Place some good gear, then venture up the roof on big holds of questionable integrity. Tread carefully while you savor the exposure with some airy stemming. Finish at a pair of trees and set your belay.

This is a fun, adventurous outing well worth the annoying, yet brief, uphill bushwhacking from the road. The actual climbing is quite good on mostly solid rock, but initial impression definitely indicates it has seen very few ascents over the decades. If you can tolerate a bit of spice and general dirtiness with questionable rock in spots and some slightly tricky protection, give it a rip!

While driving from Nada Tunnel, park at the last designated turn-off on the right before reaching the Martins Fork parking. Look to your left up the hill and spot an obvious buttress. When the leaves are down, you should be able to make out a dihedral above a wide crack in the cliff face capped by an impressive roof crack. This is actually the 5.11d trad route “Keys in the Back of a Cadillac.” Nothing you could call a trail exists here, so hop the ditch and hike the path of least resistance uphill, aiming toward this route. Arrive at its base, then battle the annoying briar patches along the cliff line to the left for a short distance to find this route to your right.

Single rack, .3-#3 with stoppers and a few alpines worked well. #3 or extra #2 is useful for the very top, but not crucial. Belay and descend from a pair of trees. Future parties, consider adding some tat to the trees to make your rope pull smoother and save wear.