Incredible Hulk, Sunspot Dihedral IV 11b

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teleross
TeleRoss
from on the beach
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Incredible Hulk, Sunspot Dihedral IV 11b

Post by teleross »

I love the Sierra! And why not, with splitter weather, bomber beautiful granite, mostly moderate approaches and especially because of walls like this!

Incredible Hulk
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But I must backtrack a bit...
Trish and I had a few days off so we made plans to head up to the Hulk for a climb or two. But the drive is long so we decided to break it up by stopping to climb a route in Pine Creek along the way. So after leaving San Diego Thursday evening and bivying outside of Lone Pine that night, we drove up into Pine Creek just outside of Bishop Friday morning.

Looking up a somewhat smokey Pine Creek
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There's a fairly large fire burning in the Sierra right now and from Bishop to June Lakes it's pretty darn smokey...fortunately it wasn't too bad and by the time we were climbing a breeze had cleared it out here in Pine Creek.

A very short hike brings you up to the Pratt's Crack Wall
Looking up the canyon
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Some nice stone...looking up Rites of Spring
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Trish stoked!
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p1
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FUN roof on p2
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Trish leading the 5.9 corner
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She hasn't lead much trad so it was awesome that she cruised it!
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Stoked to get through the wide funk at the top of the pitch!
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The crux is thin fingers past a manky pin
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Trish cruising the crux
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Really fun climb and highly recommended...cannot wait to go back to Pine Creek! There's tons of great climbing up there all in a really beautiful setting!

So, after finishing the climb we quickly drove up to Bridgeport to get our permits and do the approach to the Hulk that evening. Unfortunately at the ranger station the permits for that day were gone! Bummer! Oh well, we got one for the next day and set about grabbing some food and beer in Bridgeport.
We camped at Mono Village at the end of Twin Lakes Road that night...I highly recommend you avoid the junkshow there and camp elsewhere!

After being sent off on a wild goose chase looking for a camp spot in the maze of dirt roads and paths in the rv park we finally found a shitty spot and got to work on a six pack and a bottle of whiskey by the fire....

...and then at 4am the alarm is blazing in my ear...time to get going.
Because we didn't get to approach the day before, today we were going to approach and climb, then camp out and hopefully do another climb the next day before heading home.

Finally around 5 or so we were on the trail up Robinson Creek, and after a leisurely 2 miles or so you cross the creek and head up Little Slide Canyon and climb steeply up towards the Hulk.

Early morning light on the approach
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First views of the Hulk sitting high up in Little Slide Canyon
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Trish passed out after reaching our bivy
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Sunspot Dihedral shares the first pitch and a half or so of Positive Vibrations, and there were three parties on PV already so we lounged at camp for a while before heading up to the base of the wall

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Looking up the route, with a climber at the p1 belay on PV...those guys ended up epicing BIG TIME! Later that night we watched their headlamps high on the route and then descending the gully sometime after midnight
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We finally got started around 11:30...Leading p1
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Trish following
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Looking up the route, Sunspot takes the corner on the left, and Airstream takes the corner to the right
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Trish following the money 11a corner
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The route is characterized by long pitches...we did the 900' route in 5 pitches, mostly steep technical stemming and laybacking with a fun roof undercling and a hero hand crack or two thrown into the mix! HIGHLY recommended!

Looking up a the crux pitch, techy climbing past a couple of bolts along this rail to a few powerful moves and up into a beautiful corner
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Trish past the crux about to enter the sunspot
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10d corner high on the route, I think this might be the last pitch
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Trish on the last pitch, in a beautiful position out on this arete
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Trish really tired! I don't blame her, it was a long day!
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The route tops out on the ridge and you have the option of a long easy climb to the summit and then walk off or a nice easy rap right back down...we chose rap
Trish rapping in pretty evening light
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With our late start, and Trish struggling on a couple of pitches, we got back to camp just before we needed headlamps feeling good but tired. Trish was pretty worked tho...haha...
We made dinner, drank whiskey and watched two parties finish their climbs via headlamp late at night. We also discussed our options for the next day. We were wanting to climb a bigger harder climb, but the idea of taking on a long hard climb, then hiking out and then driving home sort of put us off, so we decided just to sleep in and then hike out, saving the harder climbs for another trip...

One last look on the way out...we'll be back!
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skykilo
olikyks
from Santa Fe
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Re: Incredible Hulk, Sunspot Dihedral IV 11b

Post by skykilo »

That looks like a stellar weekend! Throwing a relaxing day into the mix now and then is nice too....

E_$
imminent whippage

Re: Incredible Hulk, Sunspot Dihedral IV 11b

Post by E_$ »

Sunspot looks spectacular! This has been on my list since you and I climbed Pos Vibes years ago--cool you got back there and ticked it. I'd wager that rap option beats the alternative by a long shot.

You've put some mileage on that Nano--how's it holding up so far? Need a new 70m.

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huevón
are we there yet?
from el mundo
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Re: Incredible Hulk, Sunspot Dihedral IV 11b

Post by huevón »

That looks very pure and beautiful!

teleross
TeleRoss
from on the beach
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Re: Incredible Hulk, Sunspot Dihedral IV 11b

Post by teleross »

Sky, yeah super stellar weekend...was funny after we got denied for permits on Friday and were lounging on a nice patio at a little restaurant in Bridgeport stuffing our faces and enjoying beers in the sun, I commented to Trish that it was starting to feel much more like vacation than a climbing trip...haha.

E$ Sunspot is soooo good! Way different than PV, more sustained climbing, much thinner, and geesh, dare I say it, maybe a tad better even?
Dunno...I'd have to go do PV again to be sure. But it's way fun. Gotta get back up there and do Tradewinds, Eye of the Storm and Venturi...who's in?
As for the Nano...I've been VERY happy with the rope. Haven't had it that long to really speak to the durability yet, but it seems to be holding up just fine. Hoping it lasts a good long time, we'll see.

ryanl

Re: Incredible Hulk, Sunspot Dihedral IV 11b

Post by ryanl »

another beauty! Looks so clean.

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