Bear's Lair, Sonora Pass Highway, 6/16/01, Clint Cummins

Finally made my first visit to the granite crags of the Sonora Pass Highway (CA-108). After careful study of Brad Y.'s excellent new guidebook and the Stanislaus Forest Service road map, I identified the Bear's Lair (5500' and NE facing) as a good crag for a warm June day. I figured something must be up when Clint was more tardy than usual at the meeting spot - sure enough there was a message on Christine's cell. Drove down to Fremont to rescue him. We lost about 1.5 hours all told, but it gave us plenty of time to discuss the consequences of ignoring that little red alternator light (for weeks!). The approach descriptions in the guide are excellent. In this case the trailhead is 1.5 miles on pretty good dirt roads from 108. About a mile of easy downhill hiking on an old road is required to reach the crag. It is a nice location with a view of the Donnell Reservoir and the S-facing Atlantis Wall (three Grade IV routes with canoe approaches) that rises from it.

My goal was to on-sight all the ** and *** routes at the crag. I did not even come close! We warmed up on a 5.9 hand crack (Revival, **). I should have then considered the coarse nature of the rock and taped up, as Clint did.

• Darkness, 11a, *** This a a 60' lieback corner. It has a fairly sharp edge, but the crack is flared and varies in size, so it is very strenuous to stop and figure out what pro fits. I wound up hanging well short of the belay. Clint cruised on TR.
• Spun, 10c, *** A 60' finger crack in a 75 degree wall. Reminded me of Sherrie's Crack in Yosemite, but actually longer and more sustained. The crack was fairly well cleaned but the wall to either side was pretty "furry," especially at the top. I managed to work the painful toejams successfully and made a straightforward ascent. Following, Clint tried a less brutal alternative with his left foot on the face but, due to the need for better "housekeeping," found little friction there. A couple of slumps on the rope ensued. Clint removed a small bush on the way down but this one needs a good session with a wire brush or 100 or so more ascents to earn its ***.
• Dead and Buried, 10d, ** The second pitch of this route, which appears to be a perfect crack splitting an overhanging headwall, could not be more striking. To go at 10d, we figured the upper pitch must be a hand crack. We will have to see on the next visit. We hiked up to the base of P1, but the thought of climbing its 10c corner with my already sore hands did not seem appealing, so we retreated.
• Dirty the First Time, 11a, *** This is on clean rock on the 80 degree apron R of the Darkness corner. Brad's guide promises "well protected 11a face to an unbelievable 10c crack." I stick clipped the bolt 10' off the ground and launched into the face moves. I got my feet up at bolt level but was only able to place a poor #3 rock at full stretch to protect the next moves (still 5.11). I could not stop thinking about the consequences of decking out at this remote crag - I bailed. Clint then became inspired to aid up the crack until good pro could be placed. With a little cleaning and careful examination, he got good placements and placed 2 friends 25' up and lowered off (I still think that the first nut past the bolt is in the way of a critical handhold). Back up with lead rack, I managed to get about 10' above the last rest stem in the upper arching crack. Same deal as Darkness, it is very hard to drop down from liebacking to hang on and place gear. I aided quite a bit to reach the chains. Clint on TR got the face moves 1st try and liebacked his way across the upper crack. Nice evening light and temperatures by this point. I took a TR ride, too. I found the upper crack pretty hard, even with a top rope, and barely made it. 10c seems pretty optimistic to me for this section.

The uphill hike out was pleasant in the last light of our near-solstice day. On Sunday, Clint used a complex sequence of my car, tools, and battery charger, Nancy and the van, BART, and his bicycle to rescue his station wagon. One consequence of this was that we got to play with the baby and watch "Hard Grit" and Lynn Hill's video of freeing the Nose to inspire us for future trips to Sonora area crags.