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AllezAllez510
Trad climber
PDX, OR
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Topic Author's Original Post - Feb 10, 2008 - 11:56pm PT
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Apparently, 'Climbing' has written an article on Trout Creek. I have never climbed there, however, I know a few people who have. Apparently it is as good as...well, good enough to be 'Climbing'.
I have not seen the article. I was wondering what the status of the land is? Anyone know? I'd bet good money it's BLM, but in Boregon you never know. Anyone who has seen the article, do they give directions? I HOPE NOT. I did a quick search and could not find directions on the internerd.
Man, I got so scared when people started posting direction to Lost Rocks. Such a special place. Yet, despite the exposure, it has been nearly empty every time I have been, and I've been going there since college.
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Ihateplastic
Trad climber
Lake Oswego, Oregon
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Feb 11, 2008 - 12:05am PT
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The article(Feb. '08) is pretty complete (six pages) and explicit including links to a guide that was offered as a free download (now for sale) for a few weeks. The photos are sure to attract crowds (as defined at Oregon rock.)
By the way, not to nit-pick, but Climbing PUBLISHED the article. The author is Dave McRae.
(Memo to self: use less parenthesis.)
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AllezAllez510
Trad climber
PDX, OR
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 11, 2008 - 12:17am PT
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Ihateplastic, ever climb at the railroad track crag? :) You know, on North Shore drive?
Ahhh...LO how I miss thee. Go Lakers!!!
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Feb 11, 2008 - 12:21am PT
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With no bolts to clip, and a 1-hour approach, it won't be over-run with sport climbers any time soon. But I was still kind of bummed that somebody wrote the place up, and that Climbing chose to publish. Maybe the locals agreed that the cat was far enough out of the bag that it didn't matter, but if it was done without the consent of the local crew, then all involved deserve to come back as ashtrays, or sportclimbers, or something equally revolting in their next lives.
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AllezAllez510
Trad climber
PDX, OR
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 11, 2008 - 12:28am PT
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I wouldn't be worried. I live in CA now, but from what i remember, most Portlanders can't handjam to save their lives. Even in the Valley it's a rare day when I have to wait for something harder than a .10.
That said, I will visit...but only with a local.
And, I know I'm being hypocritical by posting this on STopo, but it is so rare that something from my home state appears in the climbing media.
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Anastasia
Trad climber
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Feb 11, 2008 - 12:35am PT
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I know about people wanting to keep thier favorite spots secret. The Miwoks would have liked people to not write, take pictures or talk about thier secret spot too.
Now if we start letting locals keep and control thier spots exclusively, we should first hand over the Miwok's site.
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Reality is that nothing like this can ever remain a secret. It can't remain exclusive for too many of us will love to go up there and give it a try.
Might as well share it with dignity instead of trying to stop a train by standing in front of it.
AF
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survival
Big Wall climber
arlington, va
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Feb 11, 2008 - 03:37am PT
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I used to be from Bend, but I recall plenty of Portlanders who can handjam just fine.....
You have besmerched the fine climbers of Oregon!
Your Oregonian status has been revoked :-)
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AllezAllez510
Trad climber
PDX, OR
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 11, 2008 - 09:06am PT
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Key word was 'most'. ; )
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survival
Big Wall climber
arlington, va
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Feb 11, 2008 - 09:32am PT
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Well sheeooot cowboy, "most" Californians can't handjam either!!
hahahaha Just flickin' some shite, climb on!
Bruce
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Off White
climber
Tenino, WA
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Feb 11, 2008 - 10:39am PT
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Secret spot? Maybe all back in the day when there was that Climbing cover shot with the caption that mentioned "miles of rimrock in Orgeon" and no other info, but let me offer two words to refute that secret status: "guidebook" and "download"
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adventurewagen
Trad climber
Seattle
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Feb 11, 2008 - 10:55am PT
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It finally got written up because the guys finally finished setting all the routes and got all the FA's out of the way is my guess. I found out about the place a few years ago from a buddy who ran into a guy out in Utah who was setting up the place. They became good buddies while on the trip and he told my buddy about this "secret place" with splitter cracks that he and a few other guys were setting up in Oregon near Smith Rock.
So then my buddy and I went down to check the place out, no guide book, just a scribbled map of the streets and a vague approach map he drew up to get there. The drive is pretty long and bumpy and the approach is a good 45 minutes. We found the place and climbed splitter cracks until our fingers and hands bled, it was a good trip.
Then my wife and I went back which is when we ran into one of the guys who'd set up many of the routes. He'd said the place was first found and climbed back in the 80's. He said a couple guys had seen it from the river and went exploring. They'd apparently done one or two lines but left no bolts since you can just top out and walk off. Since then nobody had bothered with the place until they kind of re-found the place and started developing routes.
What imressed me were the climbing ethics they were putting into it. He walked me through a bunch of the routes and gave some history on them. They were setting everything ground up with absolutely NO bolts. If they made it to the top and got it clean send they'd set an anchor then pull up a drill and set two bolts and chains. The top 10ft of rock is poor quality so most routes end just shy of the rim, so anchors were necessary to really make it a crag.
He also mentioned and pointed out a few routes that hadn't seen a clean send yet. One was this gorgeous 12+ route that you could TR with a directional off one of the classic lines. I TR'd it and pulled it clean first go but was too blown to get the lead that day, not that I could have gotten it either way. I'd hoped to make it back and get the send the bolt me an anchor but next time back it had chains on it and most likely the FFA.
Last time I went I'd gotten a photo copy of the original guide book from the local climbing shop. The guy at the shop had said there were only about three lines left all coming in at 12+ or 13- and that they were close to being sent. When we showed up we set up a TR on one of the possible 13's off this 11 we did. It was pretty knarly with just tips and big gaps of no crack. What was still so impressive was the fact that NO bolts were anywhere on the routes.
The same guy I'd originally run into had pointed out the couple lines and said they were initially tempted to drop a bolt or two on the routes where pro ran out but then though better of themselves and figured they'd leave those routes open for somebody that could hit them in good style. So as of last season those routes were still open although the amount of chalk on them probably meant people were working to get them finished up. It was also around that time the official guidebook came up for sale.
There is still alot of development possible on some nearby bands of cliff but I doubt the place will ever get too crowded. It's a long drive in from the supermarket and a much longer hike than most Smith climbers are willing to walk in to. It also has no bolts on any routes and most cracks start at a solid 5.10 for which there are only a few. Most lines are in the 11's and are powerful long vertical and sustained climbs. There is the most beautiful stemming route there that comes in around 10+ that is in my top 10 routes of all time though.
So that's the info I've got on the place. Nothing is really first hand other than my trips there and the people I've run into and their stories, so if a date or account is off it's not my fault. My recommendation is to bring yourself and a strong partner and every cam you own. Bring lots of tape lost o water and crank hard.
Edit: One more note on the place. I gotta say how fun it was climbing the place without a guide book for the last few years. I'd been told there was a small local copy of one and a new one in the works but we had neither. Sometimes I wonder if I shouldn't always climb like that. It's exciting to show up, pick a crack that you think you can lead and just get on it. With chains at the top you know it's been done but without knowing if it's 10+ or 12- is exciting. I took a big whipper a couple years ago on one of the routes I now know to be 12-. It was a nice 11 until the last 15 feet at which point the gear ended and the cranking got hard. It keeps it real is what it does :)
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MattF
Trad climber
Bend, Or
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Feb 24, 2008 - 02:34pm PT
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I was just up at Trout climbing last week - and yes, it is on BLM land. Pretty much everything adventurewagen says is correct, except that there are still a few lines left in the .11 range. Basically, the majority of the main wall is dead vertical, and esssentially all the lines except for a couple .12 and .13s have gone on that section. To the left end of the main wall the columns pitch back a little bit (maybe 80° or so), and there's still a number of lines in the .11 and low .12 range to be had there, and maybe even a .10 or two. In fact, an .11+ just went down the day before I was up there by a guy named Jeff (who is the guidebook author and the real motivating force behind the crag). He was there again the day I was there and threw a toprope on his new climb (called Steelhead, no anchors yet, but he said he was going to put some chains in soon), so we got to try it - very fun, if still a bit lichen encrusted...
Another note on history - I believe that the first few (4 or 5) climbs done at trout were done in the 80s/90s, mostly by a few Metolius employees, but then the crag was sort of lost until 2001(?) when mostly Jeff, but also some others started climbing and developing it, cleaning off loose rock, leading things and putting in anchors, etc.
Also at trout creek are a couple other walls that are not nearly as good rock (Cool wall comes to mind), but where there are definitely a bunch more lines available - probably a bunch in the .10s, and who knows, maybe even some .9s, plus of course the .11s, .12s, and harder. Those would all require a much bigger cleaning effort, however...
As for the article in climbing - I went up to trout with Dave Mcrae (who wrote the article), and he said he asked Jeff's permission before he wrote it. According to Dave, Jeff felt that it had gotten popular and developed enough that it was going to get something written about it sooner or later, so it might as well be written by a local. And as far as I know, the directions are still not posted anywhere or in the guidebook, so that, plus the hour approach, the grades, and the jamming will probably keep it from getting too crowded.
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caughtinside
Social climber
Davis, CA
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Feb 24, 2008 - 02:49pm PT
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I always get a kick out of these kinds of threads, it's always interesting to see what people think about publicity of a formerly 'secret' climbing area. Often times, these places are barely even secret, they just have no guidebook.
My view on these kinds of places changes all the time, and depends on how much I've climbed there, and how much I enjoy the area! A total hypocrite, I know.
Seems like some areas have become enormously popular, like indian creek and mill creek, and the areas have suffered for it, along with the experience of the locals. Mitigated somewhat by the enjoyment others get?
Other areas seem to have barely seen additional traffic at all, like calaveras dome and shuteye ridge, despite extensive write ups in the mags. These may be a little different, because they are and I suspect will always be protected by their proximity to yosemite. Hetch Hetchy as well.
Anyway, Trout Creek looks pretty nice. Nice enough to become a major destination, so close to smith? Or is it just fear of increased traffic from portlanders? Regardless, it wasn't that secret, there was a full page photo a couple months back of Brittany Griffith climbing something there. No location given, a sure sign of a 'secret' crag. I asked another California climber about it, he'd never been there: "Oh yeah man, that's trout creek. Supposed to be a pretty sweet basalt crack area near smith."
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GRJ
climber
Juneau AK
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Feb 24, 2008 - 06:02pm PT
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It's no secret. There is a guidebook, but the climbing really isn't that great. The approach is less than an hour but there are rattle snakes, scorpions, dragons. Most of the pics are photo shopped the routes are less than 30ft and super chossy........ I'm kidding.
Secret spots are kind of a funny deal. Everyone gets all worked up over their secret spots, but even if the word "gets out" not that many people are really going to show up unless it is a pit stop on a road trip to another major destination.
Whoever said Portland climbers can't jam is making a pretty big assertion. Just because the area is close doesn't mean people go. Take Seattle, it should have the strongest rock climbers in the NW when you have Leavenworth Bouldering, Index Trad, Beacon Sport, and Squamish just a few hours away, but most people just drive way over to Vantage to sport climb on volcanic piles of sh#t. There are good climbers every where you just don't get to talk to them all that often because they are too busy climbing or working so they can go climbing.
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jack herer
climber
veneta, or
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Feb 24, 2008 - 06:17pm PT
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Trout Creek sucks, it is "run" by a bunch of PDX climbers who think they have found THE crag. Really its just one of hundreds of basalt crags that are all over the eastern side of the cascades. These guys write a f*#king GUIDE book but do not include the directions, claim FA's of routes climbed in the 80's, spray all about it in the climbing magazines. And proceed to claim they are just trying to preserve the adventure by not including the directions. Thats bull sh#t, all they want to do is spray about what they think is some super special crag. But attempt to not let your average wanker enjoy it. http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=44.82151&lon=-121.08866&datum=nad83&u=4&layer=DRG&s=200 woah I found it now park at the red thing. Walk SW along the river till you see the crags above you.
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Off White
climber
Tenino, WA
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Feb 24, 2008 - 07:01pm PT
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C'mon Jack, don't hold back, tell us what you really think!
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jack herer
climber
veneta, or
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Feb 24, 2008 - 07:20pm PT
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Thats about it. Sure TC has some nice climbs, great rock, and some splitters. But its small, has mostly 5.11 style climbing and is over run by a bunch of climbers who are way cooler than me. I don't have a problem with the area so much, its the attitudes of those who "run" the area. If your going to keep an area a secret, keep it a secret.
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AllezAllez510
Trad climber
PDX, OR
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 24, 2008 - 07:30pm PT
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Perhaps it's the concentration of routes? There are better 'secret' crags nearby. But none of them have more than ten established routes. I fear mentioning any names. Christ, i thought surfers were territorial. Localism is good,though. Keeps the kooks out of the water.
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mark miller
Social climber
Reno
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Feb 24, 2008 - 07:34pm PT
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That Picture looks way worthwhile and only an hour approach( that's knott even an epic yet), it's on the hit list fer sure....
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couchmaster
climber
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Feb 24, 2008 - 10:56pm PT
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You guys from cali will be damn disappointed if you drive all the way up there for this. Oregonians will make due and play the hand we're dealt. I suspect, as these are only 1/2 pitch routes, anyone who loves like Serenity-Sons, Cookie routes, free blast or East Buttress of EC or some the the long cracks at RR will be shockingly disappointed. Course if you are up here already, stop in and crank some cracks, and you dudes who don't believe in tape: you will believe after you leave. Think the feeling of JT cracks, except as it's steeper, your hands get more hang time.
Climber: Gent Mendes.
There is a discourse going on over at this link (Cascadeclimbers.com) right now if anyone is interested: http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/772146#Post772146
edited to add: I doubt any of the folks hanging around TC are or even think they are cooler than you Jack:-) And all that secret stuff all works out OK in the end. Usually.
Take care all
Bill
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punjab
Gym climber
oregon
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Feb 26, 2008 - 10:20pm PT
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a hint of light is seen in the distance, but it is still cold. a frigid air has descended upon the canyon during the night blanketing everything in a thick layer of frost. the almighty deschutes can be heard but not seen, the condensation is dense. anglers begin their march to the shore to submerge their bodies in the roaring torrent of icy water in search of their prize. but i just pull the cocoon of down tighter around my face and return to sleep, i will need the rest. coffee in hand the hike is on, and as we casually stroll along the river we wave to the men of the river and they return the favor, each respectful and awed by the others dedication and love of this place. as the sun warms our bodies we shed a layer, and take in the pungent smell of damp sage. the trail tips back and shoots us upwards, and in no time we reach the wall, but we are not alone. a pair of hawks has taken flight and patrols the sky. perched high atop central oregon we sit speechless and stare at the rock, lost in a sea of golden vertical fissures. mt. jeff looms in the distance engulfed in a layer of winter, the views in all direction are endless. we jam, we stem, we lieback, we thrash.... completely lost in our own small world. exhausted we begin the hike down, completely fulfilled and happy. before we know it beers are cracked, dinner is simmering and the cold returns.
matt.
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Clint Cummins
Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
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Feb 27, 2008 - 04:25am PT
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It looks like a nice crag; I would definitely climb the cracks at least once if I lived locally (say within weekend distance of Smith).
I wouldn't worry too much about it being overcrowded with climbers or suddenly becoming a "destination".
There many local columnar (basalt, phonolite porphry, etc.) areas around the west, such as:
 Crooked River Gorge (near Smith Rock)
Skinner Butte (Eugene)
Beacon Rock
Tieton (Yakima, WA)
Massacre Rocks (American Falls, ID) http://www.isu.edu/outdoor/climbing/massprint.htm
Table Mountain (Jamestown/Sonora, CA)
Devil's Tower (OK, midwest)
"miles of desert rimrock" (Oregon), etc.
Trout Creek might be nicer than some of these, but probably not superior enough to dominate the similarity of columnar climbing at the closer areas. Personally, when I occasionally drive from California to Smith Rock, I'm not interested in the columnar stuff. I spend the travel time to climb on something different than what I can get locally.
A guidebook/PDF without directions to the crag/trailhead is a weird compromise. But not a new one - there is similar online info for Shuteye Ridge climbs on rockclimbing.com, with driving directions suppressed. It will definitely prevent some people from visiting the crag. Charging for the PDF will also have a similar effect. It also lets the guide authors claim that they didn't give away all the "secrets", even though they are revealing most of the info. Usually I am in favor of free info, if an area can take the traffic. But I have certainly kept a few secrets as well (usually it has something to do with trying to finish off the last of the FAs that I'm capable of).
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