Trip Report

Started the morning at the trailhead at 5am for a safety briefing. Asked about medical conditions, injuries or concerns. None were had. Also gave the group a chance to respond to this question via email prior to the trip. We left the trailhead at 5:10 AM and started our hike in the coolness of the morning. The mosquitoes were out and if we stopped, bug spray was needed. The fire from 2024 left a significant void of any flora on the trail. The monotone of burned trees and upturned roots were patterned across the landscape. The hike in was good but several breaks were needed to allow participants to hydrate, eat and rest a little. We reached chicken out ledge in roughly 4.5 hrs. One participant may have had food poisoning and a very upset stomach. Danni assessed and spent time at tree line with the sick climber and deemed that she was safe to hike out with a second person. Another climber was not physically fit enough to continue with the group once we were above tree line. Steve talked to this climber and turned him around. These two climbers descended to the parking lot together. When we got up to chicken out ledge I performed a lead climb, being belayed by the assistant (Steve Davis), and set up a fixed line for the climbers. A rock was slung on chicken out ledge to protect the belayer. Three cams were placed on the wall prior to climbing to protect both the climber and belayer. Three to four cams with slings were placed along the route. Added our own webbing to the anchor to ensure safety. The second assistant (Danni Harris) then ascended the fixed line with a prussik and behind her was Jack, who brought a second rope to the anchor point. Danni set a hand line to the summit to ensure safety along the exposed summit. The group of 8 other climbers were then safety and gear checked by Steve David, assistant leader, prior to ascending the rope. One person per section between cams was allowed (no more than 3 people on the rope at a time) to prussik up the rope. There were no other climbers on the mountain while we were there. As the climbers secured their PAS to the hand line and made their way to the summit. A quick summit picture was taken with the first few climber. Danni and I then returned to the ledge approximately 20 feet lower. The rappel area from the last several years has crumbled and the climbers left side of the mountain was very unstable. The area on climbers right has a few larger boulders to rappel from, but the area under the right (north) side also crumbled and is also unstable. The climbers were rotated on and off the summit pinnacle. Once coming off the summit, the climbers followed the hand line back to the rappel station and began rappelling to chicken out ledge. A very experience climber (Danni Harris) went first and backed up each rappel with a firemen\'s belay. Up top Steve Davis and myself made sure everyone setup their rappel correctly. I rapped down last to join the group. The rope was very difficult to clean due to a pinch point approximately 2 feet from the anchors. The ropes get pinched into a crack around a larger rock due to bend in the rope for the proper angle to rappel from. Once on chicken out ledge, we gathered the gear, hydrated, ate and then headed down around noon. Nine climbers safely made it back to the cars around 3 pm. I then surprised the group with a cold watermelon. A graffiti issue was also dealt with by a board member and this was a strong reminder of the "Leave No Trace" principles that we all strongly believe in. This was a great group of climbers with lots of support from each other! Everyone seemed to have a great time!