drunkenmaster
Social climber
santa rosa
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Sugarloaf Ridge is an under appreciated Bay Area Bouldering area with one of the highest concentrations of problems in the North Bay (200+). A lot of it is spread out and can be seasonal but it has rocks that are good year round and there are still many tough undone projects! ~~meanwhile bay area climbing spots like castle rock and the gyms are all overcrowded and people drive to bishop, yosemite and tahoe too much just for a weekend. yeh the loaf is totally "not worth the drive" for unappreciative closed minded fools but for people who love real local rock climbing it has and will continue to be loved and cherished. definitely worth the drive from the north bay/santa rosa area! for me it is the nearest legit rock being just 15min east of mi casa and the gym is 15min west so totally worth it imo.
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drunkenmaster
Social climber
santa rosa
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i wouldn't bother splitclmber clustierefuk sounds like a tool :)
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splitclimber
climber
Sonoma County
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that's too bad. Next time email me and I'd be happy to show you the problems worth driving for. ;)
Did you look at Summit's blog with almost ALL the problems listed?
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clustiere
Trad climber
berkeley ca
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Not worth the drive!
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drunkenmaster
Social climber
santa rosa
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Sugarloaf Ridge Park "The Loaf" Bouldering YOUTUBE playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4tJm8CpHuF4om9fS891HZFTAscoJV0GX
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drunkenmaster
Social climber
santa rosa
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Over 50 new first ascent problems in 2015 in the canyon trail area alone that are great ~ VB-V7 and many hard projects! Mostly all very clean & solid. I just upped this area from a 3 star area to a 4 star for bay area standards. It really is the version of "North Bays Castle Rock" now with over 200 problems most of which are accessed from one parking spot. Not as many harder problems (V7 and up) as the other main popular North Bay spots, Stinson/Mickeys, Mt Tam, Salt Point, but a high concentration of moderates (V2-V6) and a nice mix of lowballs, highballs, rock types and close to town with easy access. New rough draft overview area maps on my blog:
http://summitorplummet.blogspot.com/2010/08/sugarloaf-ridge-bouldering-reborn.html
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drunkenmaster
Social climber
santa rosa
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let me know! im psyched for the local stone whenevers clever. hit me up anytime you got my# :)
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splitclimber
climber
Sonoma County
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new seasons and new reasons to revisit sugarloaf. PM me if you want a tour. Summit? where you at?
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drunkenmaster
Social climber
santa rosa
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heres a video my friend jerry dodrill made of one of the newest boulders we found and developed last year - The Booger Boulder! its in the creek right next to the upper canyon trail parking pullout. it is probably only partially climbable with the high springtime water level of the creek but its worth checking out in the summer/fall:
http://www.youtube.com/user/jerrydodrill#p/u/0/S6dZuqEQqlM
heres another vid of The Booger Boulder. this problem may be short but it is good. its a pure line on solid rock with hard moves less than a minute from the car and it is good all year! Booger Eater V5 fa:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tzy7uSO_2Y
theres also a lot more info and pics and vids on my blog (the vid links are all on the bottom of the sugarloaf blog):
http://summitorplummet.blogspot.com/2010/08/sugarloaf-ridge-bouldering-reborn.html
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drunkenmaster
Social climber
santa rosa
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glad you had a nice day in nature at least. there is a lot of good bouldering all around the canyon trail area and it is more about finding it than cleaning it. i have explored the entire area and almost all of the best stuff has already been cleaned and climbed. i will try to make a more detailed map for the next edition of the book(s) but it is pretty close. you really need to drop the pads and run around for about 15 min scouting the main area and then you should have found the 5 main boulders that are all fairly close together above the waterfall and below the trailside boulder. there has been a lot of development since the book came out that really makes it confusing to find the exact problems you may be looking for but almost every time i go i find something new and remember how fun one of the old ones is. its just that there are no real amazing stand out mega classics. theres just A LOT of fun moderates (2 or 3 out of 4 or 5 star quality and VB-V6ish difficulty) and also A LOT of beautiful scenery :)
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Boz
Trad climber
Davis, CA
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Wish I had checked out this page before heading out, might have had more fun. We stuck to the main canyon trail boulders, and enjoyed a beautiful day out in nature, but the climbing itself was a little lame. If you're headed out there anytime soon bring the bug spray, the skeeters were out in force. Worth the hike down to the waterfall for lunch/break/snack/whatever.
This place definitely needs a serious cleaning, but I could see the potential for some fun stuff under all of the moss.
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drunkenmaster
Social climber
santa rosa
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Here is a nearly complete list of mostly all of the old and new problems in the park! Please let me know if you've done any problems that aren't listed here;
http://summitorplummet.blogspot.com/2010/08/sugarloaf-ridge-bouldering-reborn.html
Have fun - cheers!!
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drunkenmaster
Social climber
santa rosa
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more new boulders currently being developed posted on my bloggage!!
http://summitorplummet.blogspot.com/
id love to see or hear about and then climb all of the new stuff! - get out there for some real bouldering!!!
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The Wedge
Boulder climber
Estes Park, CO
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THanks, If you see any chalk out there, it could be me. Esp since school has started. I think I have more to add to the list too. Need to get out there with Darren. L8 e
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drunkenmaster
Social climber
santa rosa
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NEW and old bouldering info for Sugarloaf Ridge!;
http://summitorplummet.blogspot.com/2010/08/sugarloaf-ridge-bouldering-reborn.html
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drunkenmaster
Social climber
santa rosa
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hell yeh the new stuff is pretty rad! for sugarloaf standards at least. i had a great time today on like 10 new problems from V0-V4! hell yeh!! above the canyon trailhead and behind the canyon trail boulder - more info coming soon..
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splitclimber
climber
Sonoma County
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Yeah Chris. I'm cleaning V0's and maybe a V1 or two. The rocks are in plain sight around established problems that have fun potential and eliminate problems. Mostly, to have more problems to do out there. I'm sure Canyon Boulder looked like a pile of moss before it was cleaned. :)
It can be a chore just keeping established problems clean out there.
But there is this..., well, I'll have to email you.
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drunkenmaster
Social climber
santa rosa
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i cant wait to climb some new problems! i like the psyche! but i would be surprised if you guys found something really good that we missed. i live only 15 minutes from sugarloaf and my friends and i spent several years there exploring and doing every good problem we could find. ive been hiking and mtn biking there since i was a kid. there are still a lot of smaller or easier new problems to do but as far as the classics and the testpieces - please prove me wrong when i say: we did em all! just to rebrush and bring back to life the old classics would be rad. but i think maybe you can find a few good new ones that we might have missed if you look hard enough.!? it would also help to know exactly what weve done - check out my out of print (but still for sale) wine country rocks guide - it might have a few problems that the bay area bouldering does not - or contact me and maybe we can go out to the loaf together sometime. good sh#t - keep me posted..
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splitclimber
climber
Sonoma County
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I've wondered who's been climbing out here. I usually never see chalk on the rocks. Hey Toothpick - lots of new problems will appear very soon.
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drunkenmaster
Social climber
santa rosa
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i just added a few more pics of the Canyon Trail area boulders to the Sugarloaf page - check em out:
http://supertopo.com/bouldering/boulder_photo.php?bc=basugarl
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drunkenmaster
Social climber
santa rosa
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Toothbrush you are a rare breed. there are not many boulderers that are willing to hike around to find all the local rocks - too many bay area boulderers/climbers these days go to the gym too much and act snobby about the local rocks. not you. good job. i have to admit the sunrise rocks barely made it in the book - they are not that great and the last time i was there they were totally overgrown. a few of the problems are still doable and a little cleaning will bring back most of the others in short order. as far as the wall of rock in the creek i dont remember it, the sunrise boulders are actually one big 15-20 foot tall boulder with about 2 or 3 smaller boulders next to it. they only have about 5-10 o.k. problems. they are in the creek but i think that you might need to hike out of the creek on the left hill for a short bit to maybe avoid the rock pile that stopped you. they are maybe 10 minutes of semi bushwhacking up the creek from the trail.
we used to be able to park at the observatory/horse stables which made it only a 15 min hike but now you have to park at the big main day use parking lot and add an extra 5-10 minutes more. they are fun boulders but not nearly as good or as close to the car as the canyon trail/asteroid boulders. the asteroids may have had the tree fall blocking most of the problems but there are still a few good ones that are possible with probably only a little cleaning (bring your tootbrush Toothbrush) - - Assteroid V0, Orbit V4 (V1 stand), The 4th and 5th Element V4 + V5 and Neptune V6 or V7 direct are all good! or as good as those little rocks can be. it is just a local area - its not worth a long trip but if you're in the santa rosa/sonoma area and want to boulder in a 15 minute drive then it is still your best bet.
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toothbrush
Boulder climber
Santa Rosa
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Okay, so I followed the directions to the sunrise rocks. Nice wide meadow trail after the 2nd parking lot (which now houses an observatory), when it takes a right after you've passed the meadow (very pretty btw), hit up the creek to the left and follow the faint deer trail. All seemed well but about 5 minutes of bush whackin up the creek and we hit a spot where it was entirely blocked by some mini boulders - nye impassable. We tried to navigate it with limited impact to the environment (as that is the new-agey thing to do now) but had no success. I made the mistake of bringing my pad and stuff when I should have just done some recon instead. I was too stoked to boulder so we just went back to the canyon trail. No loss, but I'd really like to find these rocks if they are still there. Does anyone who has been there recall a semi-wall of mini-boulders blocking the creek that you can barely get over before going to the sunrise rocks? Or is it possible that I found what is left of the sunrise rocks? Thanks!
Also - uh are there any mountain lions up in that place? Just checking...Thanks!
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toothbrush
Boulder climber
Santa Rosa
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Sweet - thanks drunkenmaster. It appears some of the other climbers that go out of their way to find this place are unhappy and I could see why so I wouldn't suggest this place if you gotta drive real far for it. But at my level (which is low, and hopefully someday high!!), it's got some decent problems and it's the closest place to Santa Rosa besides the beach so for now its my new favorite spot.
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drunkenmaster
Social climber
santa rosa
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yeh some trees fell next to the asteroid boulder and took out most of the problems and the sacred rocks (you called them the good speed boulders - they are off of good speed trail) have never really had much of a trail and i guess it maybe even got more overgrown - but they are in the creek so you just have to bushwhack up the creek until you see the rocks. the canyon trail boulder is just off the trail and has about 2 or 3 good problems and between it and the waterfall there are about 5-10 more good boudlers - you just have to look around i n the forest off the sides of the trail - most are between the trail and the creek but some are on the other side. i will try to post a few more pics and maybe my old vid soon..
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toothbrush
Boulder climber
Santa Rosa
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Asteroid and Neptune boulders don't appear to be there anymore. Although, that creek hike to there non-existence is a great place to beat the heat and have some beers - which is what we ended up doing. There is no longer a trail to the gods speed boulders - I think thats what the Wine Country Rocks book calls em. The immediate canyon trail boulder is still there - you cant miss it, directly off the trail - although it barely resembles the photo shown in the book (Bay Area Bouldering). Still, 2 decent (and semi-solid) problems on the back side of it if your a V1/V2 real rock boulderer. Be careful below the arete, it looks like a good portion of the lower chunk is about to go. Haven't checked out the sunrise rocks - are these still there and in good shape?
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drunkenmaster
Social climber
santa rosa
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the route count has been about cut in half and should read 25 instead of 50 now :( this is due to last winters tree falls and the general overgrowth on some of the far out trails.
to see a video of sugarloaf ridge in its prime check out:
http://www.summitorplummet.com/video3.html
(remember im not trying to win any video contests or anything)
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drunkenmaster
Social climber
santa rosa
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i had heard it called "the castle of the north bay" so i nicknamed it that. i do say that "it is no where near as good in quality or quantity but it does have a similar vibe" - the nice trails and scenery and legit access make it similar not so much the actual bouldering. if you live in the area it is good fun - especially for beginners. if you can find the rocks. a lot of the trails and rocks have been covered by fallen trees and debris in recent years so that is what is probably making it harder to find them. sugarloaf did get more credit than it deserved and in the next edition it will be downgraded a bit.
now pomo is another story - the bouldeirng is really good and concentrated - if it is dirty and mossy and overgrown again (i have not been there this year) it is only because there are not enough climbers like you who actually get out and climb (or at least try to climb) the local rocks. the hike is about 5 to 10 minutes uphill from the last campsite in the campground (like it says in the book) so it is only about 10 to 15 minutes from the car up the main creek - pretty obvious and worth it.
thanks for your criticism - hopefully the rest of the areas werent too hard to find and hooked you up with some good times.
peace
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splitclimber
climber
Sonoma County
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You probably got close to the Sacred Rocks, it is at least a 20 minute hike, if not 30 minutes, up the creek with a traverse above the creek where it bends and pinches in. Feels like it takes forever and it did take me forever to get out after spraining my ankle up there. :(
I was cleaning up a VO-V1 mossy boulder there.
I've tried to find Sunrise Rocks without success as well, but I think I know where they are. ;)
Yeah, it ain't Castle, but I live real close so....
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AllezAllez510
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, CA
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WTF? This is a bouldering area? The Castle Rock of the North Bay? I've got the old Wine Country Rocks guide and I could not find ANY of the boulders. The descriptions of the problems were nice...IF YOU COULD FIND THEM!
Tried to find the 'Sacred Rocks'. Walked up the creek for about 20 mins. This is laced with poison oak the whole way. My partner and I gave up.
We then tried to find "the Sunrise Rocks." Where are these? How far? I don't mind hiking to boulders, but when the description says "5 to 15 mins." it should be 5 to 15 mins.
We found ONE boulder with problems on it. Two move V0 blah blah..
This is not the first time I have been disappointed by this guidebook. Anyone ever been to the "Pomo Boulders?" What a waste.
If I didn't know any better, I'd say putting areas like these in guidebooks is like a sick joke.
So, if drunkenmaster ever reads this: please more and better maps and less descriptions of specific problems. The descriptions do me no good if I can't find the problems. I'm not trying to slam or disrespect you, just some constructive professional criticism.
Peace.
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splitclimber
climber
Sonoma County
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You beat me to it Chris. I saw those huge redwoods a couple of weeks ago.
Also, there is a small boulder slightly uphill 100 feet from Canyon Trail boulder that I've cleaned up a bit. A couple of easy problems on the back side of it.
I've been trying to keep most of the boulder cracks and tops clean as this area get pretty dirty.
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drunkenmaster
Social climber
santa rosa
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A couple huge redwood trees just fell and landed within inches of the Asteroid Boulder taking out the hard start of the Milky Way Traverse forever (I guess I got a first and last ascent) - oh well it wasnt as good as Neptune anyway. Most of the other problems are o.k. just a little dirty early in the season.
Sugarloaf Ridge isnt the greatest bouldering area but it does have a lot of fun intermediate (V1-V3) problems off nice trails.
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Val and Holly Hike Canyon Trail.Photo: Chris Summit
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