Pinnacles National Park Climbing Trip
Pinnacles National Park sits in the hills just south of Hollister, California hosting a little bit of hiking and fair amount of climbing. Bay area climbers either love the park for the large amount of routes or despise it's loose rock and run out sport climbs. Pinnacles hosts a decent amount of sport and trad routes with a varying range of difficulties. Most of the climbs are single pitch but there are a few multi-pitch routes on the west side of the park.
Trip Overview
It was spring break, so a few friends and I decided to spend a couple days getting some climbing in at Pinnacles. We did not have any specific routes in mind so we just wandered around the east side of Pinnacles looking for fun routes.
We ended up climbing at these areas:
* Tourist Trap
* Discovery Wall
* Upper Crust
* The Monolith
Handy Sites
Mud and Crud - Pinnacles climbing forum
Mountain Project - Route information
Day 1
We started the morning by visiting Tourist Trap, a two minute walk up from the Bear Gulch parking area. When we arrived, another group had already set up anchors on two other routes there. We ended up setting up a top rope anchor on Thrill Hammer (5.9). The bolts were solid with rap rings, but they were set too far back. We ended up having to use a static rope to get the master point low enough to avoid rope drag. The route is in the sun until the evening so I would not recommend climbing here on hot mornings like we did.
From there we moved onto Discovery Wall in search of both shade and new routes, to which we were rewarded. By 1:00pm the whole area was in the shade, allowing comfortable climbing. A couple of us decided to lead Wet Kiss (5.9). Many of the comfortable clipping positions were a bit of a reach even for me at 5'8". Despite that, both my shorter friend and I were able to flash the route. After everyone took a few turns top roping it, we called it a day and headed back to camp.
Day 2
Determined to get more climbing in, we decided to start our day in the shade at Upper Crust, an area we all are very comfortable with. All the routes there are top rope friendly and can be accessed easily, but some of the anchors are a little far back from the edges. Definitely come with webbing, static rope, or some long slings (double length won't cut it) to avoid rope drag.
We ended up setting up on Me and My Monkey (5.9), Organ Grinder(5.8+) and Sound Chaser(5.10a). Two of us attempted leading Me and My Monkey, both of us weighting the rope on the same committing move. We ran into a couple other groups while we were there, but were never in competition for the anchors.
Eventually half of the group decided to head back home, while two others and I moved on to the Monolith. The Monolith hosts some extremely fun sport climbs and is popular enough to not be as crumbly as other Pinnacles route. The goal was to lead Terranian Tango (5.10a R) on the east face, which turned out to be an amazingly fun but run-out route. The holds are good, but the bolts are spaced very far apart so come prepared with a strong mental game. I managed to on-sight it on lead, with my two partners flashing it on top rope. Definitely one of my favorite climbs to this date.
A couple notes about the climb. The lowering carabiners as of March 2018 are extremely worn through, so I would recommend rappelling on the chains over lowering. The first move requires the climber to lean over a gap to get to the first bolt. It is a little scary initially, but the first bolt can be clipped before you commit to moving your feet across the gap. Because of this, the belayer should tie in and attach them self to one of the bolts on the ground so they do not get pulled off the edge in case of a leader fall. Despite all that, the route is extremely fun and definitely worth it.
After that we called it a day and hit the road.
Happy climbing!!
March 2018
 | |
| A view from the top of Teaching Rock in the evening |
Trip Overview
It was spring break, so a few friends and I decided to spend a couple days getting some climbing in at Pinnacles. We did not have any specific routes in mind so we just wandered around the east side of Pinnacles looking for fun routes.
We ended up climbing at these areas:
* Tourist Trap
* Discovery Wall
* Upper Crust
* The Monolith
Handy Sites
Mud and Crud - Pinnacles climbing forum
Mountain Project - Route information
Day 1
We started the morning by visiting Tourist Trap, a two minute walk up from the Bear Gulch parking area. When we arrived, another group had already set up anchors on two other routes there. We ended up setting up a top rope anchor on Thrill Hammer (5.9). The bolts were solid with rap rings, but they were set too far back. We ended up having to use a static rope to get the master point low enough to avoid rope drag. The route is in the sun until the evening so I would not recommend climbing here on hot mornings like we did.
 |
| George and I setting the anchor to Thrill Hammer |
 |
| George capturing some amazing shots on Thrill Hammer |
From there we moved onto Discovery Wall in search of both shade and new routes, to which we were rewarded. By 1:00pm the whole area was in the shade, allowing comfortable climbing. A couple of us decided to lead Wet Kiss (5.9). Many of the comfortable clipping positions were a bit of a reach even for me at 5'8". Despite that, both my shorter friend and I were able to flash the route. After everyone took a few turns top roping it, we called it a day and headed back to camp.
Day 2
Determined to get more climbing in, we decided to start our day in the shade at Upper Crust, an area we all are very comfortable with. All the routes there are top rope friendly and can be accessed easily, but some of the anchors are a little far back from the edges. Definitely come with webbing, static rope, or some long slings (double length won't cut it) to avoid rope drag.
We ended up setting up on Me and My Monkey (5.9), Organ Grinder(5.8+) and Sound Chaser(5.10a). Two of us attempted leading Me and My Monkey, both of us weighting the rope on the same committing move. We ran into a couple other groups while we were there, but were never in competition for the anchors.
 |
| View of the east face of the Monolith on the bottom right |
Eventually half of the group decided to head back home, while two others and I moved on to the Monolith. The Monolith hosts some extremely fun sport climbs and is popular enough to not be as crumbly as other Pinnacles route. The goal was to lead Terranian Tango (5.10a R) on the east face, which turned out to be an amazingly fun but run-out route. The holds are good, but the bolts are spaced very far apart so come prepared with a strong mental game. I managed to on-sight it on lead, with my two partners flashing it on top rope. Definitely one of my favorite climbs to this date.
A couple notes about the climb. The lowering carabiners as of March 2018 are extremely worn through, so I would recommend rappelling on the chains over lowering. The first move requires the climber to lean over a gap to get to the first bolt. It is a little scary initially, but the first bolt can be clipped before you commit to moving your feet across the gap. Because of this, the belayer should tie in and attach them self to one of the bolts on the ground so they do not get pulled off the edge in case of a leader fall. Despite all that, the route is extremely fun and definitely worth it.
After that we called it a day and hit the road.
Happy climbing!!
March 2018
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