Scorpions & Bees

This route starts in the narrow gully at the south edge of the wall just north of Gertch's Arch ("Garch" for short). Despite the bee hive within 10-15 ft of the route and an occasional scorpion, it is really fun climbing on good rock. I'm not joking.

P1 (80 ft, 5.7+): Place a cam before starting up, because pro is scarce for the first 15-20 ft and you don't want to slide down a hill into cacti. Don't worry, this part is maybe 5.6. After that you reach a good ledge area above which the goal is obvious: climb the steep, almost chimney-able gully (chimneying optional). Larger cams are useful here, so it'd be good to have at least two Camalot C4 #3s or equivalent size cams. A crux is reached ~30 ft up, and is best solved with a cam in the fist crack in front of your face and a high left foot on rock behind you. Continue up the gully for ~25 ft and then exit left out onto an obvious ledge. Build a trad anchor in the crack above, and sit comfortably on a chair-like formation as you belay others up. Should you be tempted to peel small rotten flakes off the wall at any point on P1, beware of scorpions underneath, and once at the P1 belay, start looking above and listening for bees.

P2 (120 ft, 5.7+): You're now climbing the W-facing wall rather than the more SW-facing gully. The first move of P2 - going directly up the wall from the belay - might be the technical crux of the route ("kind of a funky move" said Ian), but fortunately it is very protectable. Consider yourself lucky if the bee hive about 30 ft above you and 10-15 ft left of the route hasn't taken serious note of your presence (i.e. if you don't have several bees closely investigating you), and continue directly up the wall. The mental crux of the route is the part where the bee hive is directly to your left during some of the hardest climbing. You can't see the hive, but its presence should be confirmed by hundreds of bees around it. About 20 ft above this, start trending slightly left until a ledge with trees is reach. Sling a tree for an anchor.

If fear of bees gets the best of you after P1, as it did for me on the first attempt to climb this route, a large horn-like feature at the P1 belay can be slung (240 cm sling or webbing), allowing you to rap down.

Approach as for Gertch's Arch mountainproject.com/v/11360….

Double rack, with Camalot C4 #3 being most useful for protecting P1, Camalot C4 #0.4 being the most useful size for building the P1 belay, and numerous sizes useful on P2.

To get down, it's best to rappel Three Snake Day (single 70m rope or double 60m). Look for a tree with a sling and quicklink around it.

Wear light-colored clothing, and consider a bug headnet.