Tom Grundy's Smith Rock 2009 Travels Page
After the Gold Wall, we headed up north in the rain towards Smith Rock. After a rainy night near Weed, we headed up to higher elevation and were greeted with snow. At times it was coming down hard. Luckily it wasn't sticking to the road, or it could have become rather unpleasant. We passed on into Oregon and up the east side of the cascades through Bend to set up camp at Skull Hollow campground.
Following mini trailer in the snow (April 10)
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The main event here was climbing at Smith Rock. I have climbed here a lot off and on over the years, but Julie hadn't been back in ages. The climbing takes a bit of getting used to with a premium on footwork, small crimpers, fingertip endurance, and pain management. Being a really good and brave climber would probably help too. It also helps to switch to the tight edging shoes (out come the antique vectors).
I had some unfinished business here from the last trip, so it was nice to get a chance to get back on "Crack Babies". I finally managed to redpoint this climb after dragging Julie up the unpleasant approach and falling on the same move far too many times.
"Crack Babies"
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Matt on "Crack Babies"
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Casey gets a proud flash of "Dreamin'"
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Climbing wasn't the only thing to do in the area though. I did some mountain biking up the road and down some fun singletrack (at least it was fun until the cows were moved into this area and churned it up). I busted the chain on the bicycle heading up towards some antennas on a peak but luckily it was nearly all downhill back to camp and I managed to coast nearly the entire way back.
Mt Jefferson and the Metolius River
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Mt Jefferson
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Rainbow Trout
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water under the bridge
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warning sign at a park
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crowded cliffs on the weekend
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busted bicycle chain - DOH!
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We went to the large springs at the head of the Metolius River and visited the Wizard Falls fish hatchery. We also drove east and visited some of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument and the town of Fossil (with fossils behind the high school). Of course went to the libraries in Bend and Redmond for books and internet. On a few cold (even snowy) days we went to the Juniper Aquatic center in Bend for saunas, jacuzzi, showers, and even some swimming.
Fossils in Fossil
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lizard on painted hills clay
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Unfortunately the wonderful (for climbers) campground at Skull Hollow, also known as the grasslands was turned into a pay campground. Sigh. Time to move on I suppose. It had been a home away from home for a long time for me though. $5 a night for now, my sadprediction is they will jack it up to $10 within a year.
On the other side of the rainbow is a fee station
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Julie down by the Crooked River
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Monkey face from the nearby cliff top.
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Eventually maybe I'll post some pics of some of the wildlife we saw at the park, beaver, otters, geese, vultures, hawks, ducks, eagles, marmots, etc. Actually I don't have any pictures of most of these critters due to being too slow with the camera or busy climbing or belaying or not having my telephoto when we saw them or it getting too dark for decent photos.
The Redmond National Guard patrolling the streets
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Mike's hand after trying "Chain Reaction"
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panoramic image from misery ridge
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panoramic image from Gray Butte - Bachelor, Broken Top, 3 Sisters, Black Butte, Mt Washington
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I have a few other pages from trips here in
2007, and
earlier.