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Guidebook: “California Road Trip”, Slater and Summit

Click  here for all the pictures and then click “Slideshow” for best results – thanks to Mat for sharing his pictures, too!

Ya gotta be prepared – after each outing, there are always the routine things to do to get ready for the next trip (cleaning, restocking, maintenance) and usually something breaks or needs upgrading (Carol and I disagree on the word “needs”) and those things need to be taken care of, too.

So I felt good when Mat’s message “plans for the weekend?” popped up – and we were ready. Much back and forth having to do with weather reports and type of rock and kinds of rock climbs; how much time Mat had available, etc. – we settled on the Kern river gorge and Kernville as our destinations. Carol and I had done a little scouting on the way home from our last trip and were familiar with the area, if not the specific crags and climbs – yet.

It all got a little intense – we were due to meet Steven at Planet Granite San Francisco for indoor climbing Thursday afternoon, then attend the premiere of a video Steven’s art was in Thursday night, so that left us needing to pack and prepare to leave home in a couple hours Friday morning. I know, boo-hoo…

Thursday turned out to be quite the day – we’d not been to PG San Fran before; it’s pretty awesome – we’ll likely return. I’ll let you read about the day from Steven’s POV. Great time climbing with Steven, great time at the video premiere (a few logistical stumbles, but worth the wait); stimulating walk back to the car through San Fran neighborhoods; we got home late; crashed.

Friday morning, up and packed, Mat arrived and we threw his kit in the truck then we were off. Our house to the first climbing crag in the Kern River gorge is about 4 ½ hours driving time. Between having to stop at Casa de Fruta and gasoline / humanity stops, we were climbing by 2 pm at “The Roadside Crag”, three miles up into the gorge. It doesn’t look like much, but we managed to put in three hours there, getting used to the feel of granite, practicing crack technique and enjoying the warm sunshine and scenery. Plus there’s a nice stiff arête climb that was entertaining more than once.

We drove on to Kernville, stopping at the Kern River Brewing Company to fill one of my growlers with Just Outstanding IPA (again, there’s that “NEED” thing) and then went on to find “Kernville Rock”. Comparing the guidebook to the rock, there it is. Mat and Carol went on an evening scouting trip; I stayed behind to make sure the beer was fresh. We spent the night at Headquarters CG (pretty standard USFS type campground).

Saturday morning, fed and geared up, we headed up the hill to Kernville Rock (Really? This is an amazing spot with perfectly clean granite and a lot of variety in types and grades of climbs, it deserves a much better moniker!) and spent the day on “Lieback”, “Initiation Crack” (I think), “Claustrophobia Crack”, “Dirty Dishes” (not in the guidebook; a local told us his name for it) and then “Mat wants to lead this two-finger crack” (Carol and I made that one up). A great day; this is a spot to revisit over and over. The rock is so clean and you can knock yourself out climbing cracks, liebacks, slabs – I didn’t detect a lot of face climbing, but then we only climbed a very small portion of the total opportunities.

A word about “Claustrophobia Crack” – if you’re fairly large, like me, let’s just say it’s aptly named – but really cool and a don’t-miss. I spent some time resisting the inevitable by “squeeze chimneying” to avoid getting into the crack. At least I provided a lot of entertainment to my climbing partners, who were laughing it up as “encouragement”. Thanks, guys.

Saturday night we went to the Kern River Brewing Co. for dinner and drinks; Mat scored a 6-pack of Klondike Crunch ice cream bars for dessert. Camped for the night, it’s colder than last night…

Sunday morning we went on up the road to New Directions. We found it pretty handily, but no one seemed too enthused about humping gear up to the crags, so we walked further up the road looking for “Crank Start Crack”, which we finally found and decided to try out. Mat set a top rope and we spent the morning playing on this route. I had trouble with the Crank Start until Mat talked me into trying a finger jam; accepting the inevitable I tried it and after a few false starts, got on the climb. The crux is right off the ground (IMO, YMMV), the rest is pretty straightforward.

Scraped up, tired but exhilarated, we packed it in for climbing. Mat and Carol hiked up to take a look at “Garden Party” and “Rusty Nail” (c u next trip!); meanwhile, I took a nap.

We went down to the Kern river to find a little confluence, then headed for home, stopping once again at KRBC for lunch (only takeaway beer; long drive ahead) and then we were off. We hit the first rain west of Wasco and then starting in Pacheco Pass and then for the rest of the way home, it basically poured. Sunday night traffic in the rain – joy.

Home, unpacked, pictures shared, Mat on his way home – another great outing.

If you’re a climber – just go – we loved the area and fully intend to go back and climb everything we can find and are capable of climbing…

Click  here for all the pictures– thanks to Mat for sharing his pictures, too!

Namaste.

~Rick