Jug Monkey

Mike Laden teamed up with Tucker Tech during Tucker's productive first ascent year of 1989 to produce this nice little line at Cascade Falls Left. While not as impressive as Crimson Cringe, Fish Crack, Free Press, or Golden Needles, Jug Monkey is a seldom climbed fun line worthy of addition to your Cascade repertoire.

Begin by climbing easy knobs. Before you know it, you will be looking down at the ground below thinking it would be nice to have some pro. Not to worry, an inverted flake just above offers solid cam placements. Sink in a cam or two and continue climbing up and left over face holds and knobs, slinging all of them you can until you reach a bolt. Don Reid's topo shows the crux just below the bolt, but the difficulty of this climb peaks while mantling a knob above and way right of the bolt (.9). This is an exciting move that can take a little time to build up the nerve to make. I felt that the bolt placement was odd being way out left, but having it a ways away just adds to the excitement of the pitch. After the mantle, breathe a sigh of relief and clip the anchors with a smile.

While looking at Fish Crack, turn left and walk past Mud Shark, turn the toe of the buttress, walk uphill. It will be the first climb reached. Look for the knobby face in the shade of the pine trees.

Slings, a small selection of cams, and one quick draw. One rope.