The Steamboat Captain's Dream

In 1901 Frank Smith, a steamboat captain, and his party made the first ascent of Beacon Rock via the northwest face on what is now commonly known as the Spike Route. This route is named in his honor. For more on this history, watch the short film Beacon Rock Then & Now.

The Steamboat Captain's Dream is a link-up of a few existing pitches from a couple of different routes together with newly opened pitches. The line stays true to the character of the opening pitch and offers more varied and superb climbing on the way to the true summit of Beacon Rock.

While most of Beacon Rock is closed to climbing annually from February until early July, the NW section of the rock remains open year-round. This route is a great option for those looking for a multi-pitch adventure earlier in the season. The 5.10 nature of the route will keep you reaching into your bag of trad tricks and will ask for a wide variety of climbing skills as the route offers everything from low-angle slab to slightly steeper terrain and thin cracks to wide flakes.

Pitch 1  5.10C, 31m - Ascend large ledges and good holds to a wider left-leaning crack. The first gear is about 20' up in this crack but the climbing is straightforward to this point. Continue up as the route zig-zags its way up the wall following a discontinuous crack system, look carefully for offset nuts and small to medium cam placements eventually reaching a stance below where the rock steepens. Here find a good cam placement in a horizontal slot to compliment the older baby angle piton. Launch into the pitch's crux by moving up, passing a bolt, and then exiting left around a buttress. Once you turn the corner, look for good features and a few more gear placements as you take the slab up to a bolted anchor. Due to the nature of the rock on this pitch some of the gear placements are not obvious but they're available to the skilled trad climber. Appreciate the fact that the FFA of this pitch was done without the bolt! For the most part, except for a different start, this pitch shares climbing with the original line called Smoke Signals (Andrew Leiner & Jim Opdyke, April 1999).

Pitch 2  5.10D, 33m - Head up a weakness on the right of the anchors passing a small tree on its left side. Continue up thru a small roof and a blocky discontinuous crack finding good stances and good holds. Clip a bolt and step left onto a slab, working across the slab below a small roof towards another bolt. Climb up towards a small tree passing it on the right side and then on to the final crux head wall. The head wall has bolts and a pin and can take a couple of nuts if required. Plenty of gear can be found on this pitch. Offset nuts will be very useful on this pitch, especially the #7/gold size.

Move the belay about 25' up above the trees and to a comfortable ledge with anchors.

Pitch 3 5.10C, 29m - Continue up the short 15' right-facing corner just right of the belay anchor and the short cracks above. Weave through a series of ledges and traverse left into a stance behind a large tree, a larger cam can be placed here. Layback the big flake past 2 bolts and then traverse right across the face to find the next anchors just above. Some parties will combine this pitch with the next however, it is much easier to communicate with your partner from this anchor. In addition, being able to control rope tension as they get into the layback is beneficial to reduce the chance of a bad fall. The leader also gets great photo ops from this anchor, better to combine 4&5 if so desired.

Pitch 4 5.10A, 20m - Climb the low angle left-leaning crack passing a piton midway. Clipping the last bolt of Stone Soup's bolt ladder at the exit is fair game if needed but extra credit is gained for ignoring it. Find a belay station on the face to the left after you exit onto the comfy ledge. The micro-cams are useful on this pitch.

Pitch 5 5.6, 20m - Make a step up a 6' corner or start up the slab. Follow the low-angle ledges passing 2 bolts to an anchor below a steep arete and behind a tree.

Pitch 6 5.10B, 30m - Head straight up the arete following a line of bolts to a small roof. Step right, through the roof and continue up the ridge past a short crack to a set of anchors above a small ledge on the face.

Pitch 7 5.9, 31m - From the belay move right and up a crack and corner system passing a bolt, a piton, and another bolt. Continue following the discontinuous crack until it hits a shallow roof, step right at the roof, and continue up following a couple more bolts as the terrain eases. A final belay can be found at a comfortable stance. Be careful as some of the blocks are loose.

Pitch 8 4th class, 30m - Climb a couple of steps and follow the easy terrain along the ridge crest for 100' to reach the Beacon Rock trail.

VARIATIONS

Pitch 1 var. 5.11A - A direct finish to the exit on the first pitch can be climbed. After stepping left and up from the bolt, follow a direct line through cracks and good holds requiring some longer reaches. Small to medium nuts are useful for this option. FA Stephen Shostek, Jul-10-2020

Pitch 7 Regulator var. 5.11A - from the belay move up clipping a bolt and then climbing a thin crack. Pass two more bolts to arrive at a big ledge with a large pine tree leaning against the cliff. Unfortunately at this time, the route traverses back right through horrendous loose rock to join the regular pitch 7. The Regulator is the name of Captain Smith's steamboat, an image is posted here in the pictures section. FA Topher Dabrowski, Jul-2019
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DESCENT

If you complete the route then the recommended descent is to walk down the Beacon Rock hiking trail back to your car, shoes or flip-flops are recommended. Otherwise, rappel from any pitch with a 70m rope.

Notes:

(i) When rappelling from the anchors at the top of pitch 5, it is advised to rappel straight down the low-angle face below the anchors. This is the 5th pitch of Pleasure Cruise and this route can be descended easily in 4 raps to the ground with a 60m rope. 

(ii) From the top of pitch 2, rappel from the anchors near the edge of the wall and not the anchors behind the trees on the spacious ledge. A 70m rope will not reach the final rappel anchors if one raps from the anchors behind the trees.

0.1 & 0.2 Microcams

0.3 thru #3 BD Camalot Sizes

Doubles in 0.3, 0.4 & 0.5

Small & Medium Nuts, BD 4-8

Offset Nut Set

6 QDs

12 x 60cm Runners

1 x 120cm Runner