Mt. Toll
North Ridge
The trail to Toll is
very easy and consists of following a dirt path 90
percent of the way. After you pass three lakes you finally
have to get
off the trail and scramble up some talus. I had been told that there
was a clear path of the boulders with no snow so we hiked up in approach
shoes. I was still feeling kind of sick from Peru so was
moving slowly
but the weather was cooperative and there was no rush. After
a bit of
scrambling we finally made our way up to the ridge and the base of the
climb. The North Ridge is the obvious feature in the picture
above which ends in a huge ledge. At the base of the climb we
found the two guys had decided to start on a line far to the right of
ours which allowed us to both start at the same time.
Started To Climb Here
Climbing the North Ridge
is not an exact science and many lines are possible. With
careful route finding you can keep the climbing to mostly 5.4 with a
move or two of 5.6. If you start right on the ridge itself as
opposed to about 20 or 30 feet to the right you can find a good bit of
5.9 and harder climbing. If you move far to the right the
climb can get even easier. I had been planning on following
the line a few guys I knew had taken a week ago but wasn't trying to
hard to be precise about it.
We started out on a left leaning corner/crack that was pretty easy and well protected. I lead the first pitch and started up the corner. After awhile I came to a big old ledge but there was a lot of rope left so kept going. I angled right and climbed a slab of rock to the right of a brighter section of rock with a thin streak in it. At this point things steepened and I found myself on a more vertical face and had to make a couple committing 5.7 moves. If you want to stay at 5.6 or below make sure you go to the left at the first ledge and pick an easier way.
Just past the 5.7 moves I found myself on a huge ledge with a boulder which was perfect for setting an anchor on. I threw a couple nuts and a tri-cam in and clipped a cam that someone had left stuck and belayed Chris up. I'd say this pitch was ~150 feet and started at 5.4 but had a good bit of 5.6 and 5.7.
We started out on a left leaning corner/crack that was pretty easy and well protected. I lead the first pitch and started up the corner. After awhile I came to a big old ledge but there was a lot of rope left so kept going. I angled right and climbed a slab of rock to the right of a brighter section of rock with a thin streak in it. At this point things steepened and I found myself on a more vertical face and had to make a couple committing 5.7 moves. If you want to stay at 5.6 or below make sure you go to the left at the first ledge and pick an easier way.
Just past the 5.7 moves I found myself on a huge ledge with a boulder which was perfect for setting an anchor on. I threw a couple nuts and a tri-cam in and clipped a cam that someone had left stuck and belayed Chris up. I'd say this pitch was ~150 feet and started at 5.4 but had a good bit of 5.6 and 5.7.
Starting Pitch Two
As Chris was climbing I
noticed a party of three at the base who I later found out was Kevin
Craig and his Wife Diana along with their friend Meredith.
Kevin had climbed the route the prior week and given me Beta but
was returning to climb it with his wife. Chris reached my
position in good time and we swapped gear.
I looked up and noticed the other guys on the wall had
contoured way to the left of their original line and were directly
above us so we hung out and chatted while they climbed. After
they were up and away Chris took off on a crack to the left of the
corner pictured above. He climbed up through some ledges and
cracks until; coming to a big corner with a roof. After
setting some pro he moved easily through the roof and called for me to
come up.
The climbing in this stretch was pretty straightforward and probably 5.4-5.5 with a 5.6 move here and there up until the corner with the roof. When I gained the corner I realized the whole area was totally covered in lichen and many of the holds were loose and dirt filled. Now I am an OK climber, not great and not terrible. My general affinity is for faces and cracks and my weaknesses are slabs. My absolute greatest weakness however is roofs, I can't pull them, I hate them, an Toll taught me that I need to get out and top rope a lot of them because I could not make the move. I tried about three times and it just wasn't happening so I pulled out a set of tieblocks and climbed the rope. I know 'pure' rock climbers would count the trip as a failed ascent but my goal is to summit and I was happy with getting out of that nasty, dirty corner.
The climbing in this stretch was pretty straightforward and probably 5.4-5.5 with a 5.6 move here and there up until the corner with the roof. When I gained the corner I realized the whole area was totally covered in lichen and many of the holds were loose and dirt filled. Now I am an OK climber, not great and not terrible. My general affinity is for faces and cracks and my weaknesses are slabs. My absolute greatest weakness however is roofs, I can't pull them, I hate them, an Toll taught me that I need to get out and top rope a lot of them because I could not make the move. I tried about three times and it just wasn't happening so I pulled out a set of tieblocks and climbed the rope. I know 'pure' rock climbers would count the trip as a failed ascent but my goal is to summit and I was happy with getting out of that nasty, dirty corner.
More climbing For The Adventurous
Since I ended up having
to physically haul myself up over the edge without the use of
ascenders I was pretty tired and needed a gu shot and a breather before
continuing on. Chris was kind enough to provide me with the
gu. Having been told that we could scramble along the ledge
to the right and find a purely 4th class system we coiled the rope
and headed on.
Chris
After a bit of walking we saw what was an obvious gully and started up it. After a little bit it became pretty obvious that it wasn't 4th class (the pin in the 5th class chimney gave it away). As the fall potential where we were was death we opted to re-rope. I threw in a couple cams to set up an anchor and then belyed Chris up. When it was my turn I just kept going on rope until we were past any more climbing. My last mini-pitch was mostly 4th class but the line I took had some 5.easy thrown in so I tossed a piece or two in for safety. At the top of my pitch I brought Chris up and we packed up and scrambled 100 feet to the summit.
Navajo and Dickers Peck
We hung out for a bit
and enjoyed the views before heading down. The climb down
Toll starts out on talus which eventually leads to a snowfield.
We crossed over the snow and then climbed, scrambled, and
bushwhacked back to the left side of the lake.
Obligatory Marmot Shot
Blue Lake
The hike out was pleasant
and uneventful until I twisted my ankle five minutes from the parking
lot. Hopefully it will heal enough that I can climb longs
Peak this week. Chris turned out to be a great and safe
partner. Hopefully we'll get out on rock, ice, and snow quite
a bit before he is finished with graduate school.
Mt. Toll, North Ridge on right, descent on left