Meat and Potatoes

This seldom-climbed line is a rare Greenbelt route that goes on trad gear. Because there are no bolts, you actually have to do it trad unless you want to do some 4th Class scrambling up chossy rock and then do some bushwhacking in order to set up a toprope anchor. There is always debate about trad gear in limestone, but this is a solid crack (really, two cracks). On my failed onsight attempt, I took a pretty good whip on an orange Totem after pumping out above the crux, and I'm still here to write this page. Just before me, another party member tried to onsight it and ended up bailing off a Tricam; he, too, lived. The crux is about 2/3 of the way up where the crack steepens to become slightly overhanging. A solid tree up top, backed up by a horizontal crack, serves for belaying the second. My partners replaced worn slings with newer ones; rap off them if they still look good, or find a scrambling route down skier's left.

This route is not part of Beehive Wall proper but is close to it. The shortest access is probably from the 360 Loop parking area. Hike down and then head left (do not go all the way down to the creek bed and cross it). Stay on the hiking trail (instead of the multi-use trail) at the first split; at the next split, branch left (the forks rejoin soon). Look for the obvious crack system on the left. If you reach the confluence of the forks or if you reach the bolted lines on Beehive Wall, you've gone too far. Approach time is 10-15 minutes.

You can also approach the route from the South Mopac access, which is a pain to reach because you can only get to it via the South Mopac exit off 360. Hike to Beehive Wall. Not long after passing it, take a right fork and look for the route off to the right.

Cams, nuts, and Tricams worked. You won't need anything larger than a #3 C4 and probably won't even need that. Bring cord for an anchor up top in case the existing gear my friends left is gone or unreliable.