Mindy

Chimney climb to an amazing summit, but don't let the moderate grade fool you– this is a route with some serious runout sections up high and if you can't work with dirty rock and loose blocks, this isn't for you.

How we did it:

P1 - step back into the chimney and locate the obvious splitter finger crack on your left. Plug finger sizes for 35-40ft then stem and chimney a bit up to the chockstones. I stayed on the outside and ended up mantling on a ledge and setting a gear belay here, with a #1 and #3 in iron pockets.

P2 - step up off the blocks and launch upward, protecting in dirty horizontals, loose flakes, and even a small tree- extend this a lot to have less drag. Gain the dirty ledge with the small tree and stare deep into the chimney, wondering how you can protect it. There's an obvious .5 placement, get that and head deeper and higher. Expect about a 30' runout to your next protection, at which point you're almost on top. Belay from a tree.

Descent - I've read that there's a walk off//scramble down the other side, but I've ever done it. We hiked about 75-100ft along the cliff back in the direction of Masters, Lunatic, etc. and rapped off a tree, to a small ledge with a small tree big enough to hold us for a second rap. Ended up at the base of Astro Flex after 2 raps.

Gear: No big cams needed, doubles in finger sizes and single rack up to a BD 4. Plenty of runners and some stoppers can be helpful, as well as a .1 and .2. Take a headlamp if it's getting late.

Obvious chimney on the wall, in between Astroflex and Starship trooper

tree and gear anchors