Smith Rocks

We drove out of Portland and passed beautiful Mt. hood on our left. After a brief lunch break at an Indian reservation we continued driving through Central Oregon to the world class climbing destination, smith rocks.

Like city of rocks in Idaho, we were in the desert and would have to chase the shade with early morning starts and evening climbs.

Our first day we set up camp, waited for the heat to fade, and then head up to the dihedrals. An area where famous 5.14 climbs are just around the corner from 5.7 moderates. Standing below routes like “to bolt or not to be” that I’ve seen on countless climbing videos was pretty awe inspiring.

We turned the corner and warmed up on some moderates and got a feel for the rock. At smith rock, small pebbles stick out of the rock and make great hand and footholds. We got three climbs in before the sun went down and hiked back to our car with headlamps on.

We ate a late dinner and headed to bed. The campground at smith rocks is kind of an ideal campground. Everyone stakes their tents somewhere in a meadow and then everyone must cook in a communal kitchen area. After camping in a majority of isolated campgrounds it was refreshing to start conversations with other climbers at the dish washing station or over breakfast. #imanextrovert

The next day was our big climbing day. We hiked along the crooked river to the west side of the rocks for some shade. The hike to pleasure point was very steep but offered an amazing view of mt. Hood and the three sisters range.

From here we climbed several climbs from 5.7 to 5.11a, with all of us leading at least two climbs. My personal favorite was the 5.11a that climbed an overhanging arête and required powerful moves off small holds.

We took a midday siesta and headed to the Phoenix wall. Obviously we needed to climb here because the name (Phoenix is the name of the Ultimate Frisbee team we played on together). As I was leading The Phoenix 5.10a during the golden hour two bald eagles flew overhead! Definitely a cool moment. We also climbed JTs route which was another classic rated 5.10b.

We hiked out again with our headlamps on and had a late dinner. The soreness from climbing a lot of routes in one day was starting to set in.

On our last day in Smith Rocks we woke up a little later than planned which meant that our climbing objectives were no longer shaded by the time we arrived. Despite the heat each of us managed to lead climb the ultra classic Five Gallon Buckets 5.8. This climb features huge circular pockets (huecos) that are almost big enough to fit yourself inside. It made for some lovely and interesting climbing. There is nothing like wrapping your whole hand around a solid hold and leaning back to get a full view of the valley down below.

Knowing our adventures would be calling us down to California and that we had a lot of driving to do, we left Smith Rocks and took the most illogical route to Yosemite (a story for our next blog). With the timing of our trip it feels like just when you start to sink your teeth into an area it’s time to move on. We comfort ourselves knowing we are headed to somewhere else great and that a lifetime of climbs still await us should we return. Also it was really hot…so that really helped move us along.

<a