Day 48: Cat in the Hat

Climb: Cat in the Hat (Trad)(5.7)(3 pitches the way we chopped it up - we didn't count the middle scramble as a pitch)

NOTE: We did not do the final pitch (labeled as Pitch 5 in Handren - aka. the run-out pitch. This is the last pitch you can do if you want to rappel. If you go above this pitch you are committing to a long walk-off). We didn't do it because we will be repeating this pitch multiple times on other 5.7 climbs on this tour that intersect with Cat in the Hat at the bottom of this pitch.

Wall: Mescalito
Rope: We used two twin 60s because the rappel is safest that way. You still have to down scramble in the middle scramble section.
Lead for a New Trad Climber? So-So, protection isn't bad on the pitches we highlight (sand the "runout pitch") but they are actually harder than the 5.5/5.6 ratings given to them and it could be a surprise.

Conclusion WTF? What the FIZZLE!

Cat in the Hat is a super popular "classic" multipitch trad climb. We were expecting a stellar climb given it's popularity and "star rating." Although there are a couple good pitches and the rock quality is good, neither Rick nor I were particularly inspired by this climb. It was actually disappointing.
- The reason we didn't care for the climb is it feels like a convoluted line. There is a fair amount of scrambling, going "around" stuff, and weird and unclear spots for belays. Basically the climb does not flow. The decent climbing is disrupted quite a bit - once you start "getting into it" you are met with disruption.
This is an old school climb. Depending on the resource you are using, the lower pitches are rated 5.5/5.6, but there are multiple spots on all of those pitches that exceed that rating. It could easily confound or overwhelm a new trad leader (unless they are a confident 5.11 sport climber, then it probably wouldn't faze them - I'm not saying the moves are 5.11, they aren't, but it's trad.)

Pitch 1 - 190 feet (I used most of the 60 m rope)

This is the hardest of the pitches we did (note that we did not do the last pitch yet, because we will be doing that pitch on two more 5.7 climbs on Mescalito). There are a couple of spots on this pitch that can raise the blood pressure and are harder than the 5.5/5.6 ratings given to it in the various guidebook resources.
As you near the end of this pitch, you will see a set of bolted anchors on the right. I skipped these, as many descriptions advise, but it actually may not be a bad idea to stop here, then do a short pitch to the next bolted anchor. It'll take longer, but help decrease rope drag.
After the first set of anchors, you will reach a good-sized ledge that does not have any bolted anchors. The anchors are actually the NEXT ledge up and to the right.
- NOTE: Rope drag may be bad at this point.
- The Handren topo only shows one large ledge and what could (barely) be interpreted as a smaller ledge. When you are there it looks and feels like a decent sized ledge and this could be confusing.

Scramble (~ 50 ft)

If you reach the anchors on the large ledge. You can scramble unprotected on 3rd/4th class terrain until you reach the base of the next pitch (see the photo for Pitch 2). This would be the quickest, most efficient means of travel.
You will see a mangled stuck cam in a crack that may lure you that direction.
These are the anchors you will scramble back down to on the decent. If you have two 60 m ropes, you will be able to reach the bottom.

Pitch 2 - (~100 ft)

This pitch is kind of annoying and on broken terrain. This is probably why they gave it a 5.5, but there are some tricky moves that exceed 5.5.
This pitch ends at a decent-sized multi-root tree/shrub with tat.

Pitch 3 (~150 ft)

This is the best pitch so far, with some interesting dark petina and consistently steeper terrain compared to the other pitches.
But, near the top the terrain becomes broken again. When you reach a ledge, look right for some broken blocks (see photo labeled "Top of P3.") On top of these rock is the slung boulder. This sets up the belay for the "final" (rappel-able) pitch. As I mentioned above, we didn't do this last pitch because we will be doing it several times on other climbs (but I will update this after we complete that pitch, so all pitches are represented here.)
There are about 5 slings wrapped around the top of the boulder with rap rings. This is where we began our rappel descent.

Descent

We had twin 60s. This is highly recommended. A single 60 will not work. A single 70 might work breaking it up into 4 rappels, using the other anchor on P1.
Rappel 1 - slung boulder to good sized tree at the top of P2.
Rappel 2 - Tree to base of P2, then scramble down to the bolted anchors at the base of the scramble.
Rappel 3 - Bolted anchors to the ground (this requires the two 60s for sure - if you don't have twins you'll need to go to the next set of anchors - the ones we climbed past on P1).

Climb Stats to Date

DATE OF CLIMB: June 29, 2020
WALLS HIT: 1
NUMBER OF CLIMBS TODAY: 1
NUMBER OF PITCHES TODAY: 4
NUMBER OF FALLS: 0
NUMBER OF TAKES: 0
VERTICAL FEET CLIMBED TODAY: 450
DIRTY UNDERWEAR ENCOUNTERED TODAY: 0

START & END TIMES:

Arrived Parking Lot: 6:30 a.m.
Arrived at Wall: 7:00 a.m.
Began: 7:30 a.m.
Done Climbing: 2:00 p.m.
Back at Car: 2:30 p.m.

TOTAL CLIMBS SO FAR: 111
TOTAL PITCHES SO FAR: 153
TOTAL 5.7 VERTICAL FEET ON THE TOUR SO FAR: 13,420'
NUMBER OF CLIMBS REMAINING: 126 (out of 237)
VERTICAL FEET REMAINING: 37,327'

DIRTY UNDERWEAR ENCOUNTERED TO DATE: 4

FALLS SO FAR: 0
TAKES ON LEAD SO FAR: