COVID-19 Climbing Guidelines: The Red River Gorge in the Daniel Boone National Forest, Muir Valley, and all RRGCC-owned property - which includes Miller Fork Recreational Preserve, Bald Rock Recreational Preserve, and Pendergrass-Murray Recreational Preserve - request that you follow the guidelines outlined on each website if you choose to climb during this time. See links above for more details about each climbing area.
First Ascent: Dustin Stephens, Dan Beck in 2013 Length: 95ft Gear: up to #5 or #6 BD (report bad anchors)
Climb the wide sinusoidal crack left of Breakin the Law, making liberal use of face holds. Continue up the slab above the crack with occasional pro in horizontals, trending right towards an obvious pine tree rappel (5.7 R).
Moves: unknown Descent: Rap from pine tree Stays Dry: Owner:
Private
Lower section is mad fun, bring a 4 and 5. The upper section though? Super dirty, questionable rock, and a notable lack of pro. I got a few low horizontal placements in dirty eyebrows that were not confidence inspiring, with no sign or more to come as I headed up and to the right. So without adequate gear I bailed and rapped from a small tree off to the right in a small vegetated hueco of sorts. I like adventure climbing as much as the next trad dad, but this was too much on the "not worth it" side of my boldness meter. If the FAs are cool with it I'd be happy to add a bolt or two on the slabs and give her a good brushing in the process to make this a bit safer, not unlike Indecision.
Fine by me Mike, we really just used this route to get up top and put an anchor on Dew Point, as this part of the CF is difficult to get up to from below. I liked this route though I know most people wouldn’t, and I kind of like the idea of having at least one spicy ground-up trad climb at the crag, but if you’re willing to clean up the upper slab then it’s definitely worth the cost of a bolt or two… there are a couple horizontal placements up there tho if you hunt around.
This is definitely on my radar. Sounds like the FA was similar to Down The Rabbit Hole, so looks like the crag has a "couple" of spicy ground up trad lines.
Route details are copyright Ray Ellington, John Bronaugh, and other Red River Gorge climbers. Climbing is an inherently dangerous sport. The information in this guidebook is subject to error and should supplement never replace common sense and caution, competent guidance and instruction, and actually being outside. One should be especially cautious on matters of route length, descent type, and number of bolts (especially since such things do change occasionally).
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