등정들 Herbaceous Gully에서

Very short laybacking section on P2 and early in P3. Both are a little tricky and perhaps difficult to place gear whilst in those areas. Did as 2 pitches

Cruise boat

Nice stemming, laybacking and a few jams. Linked to roof for a long pitch of great climbing. If belaying at roof keep #3/#4 for anchor.

Amazing line.

Snake was sun bathing right at the belay spot. Looked like a blue belly black snake. Took a little while getting it to move on. Linked P1&2 which was great climbing and some nice lay backing. Start of P3 felt a bit tough for 16 but could've been my technique. Second half of P3 is choosy and not that nice. But good to finish by topping out.

Really the best part of this is the second worst part of Toll. Its rather generic for most part and can be linked into a single pitch. The top however is horrendous, a campus start on very fragile rock with a nasty deck potential. Rock broke under me and its closer to 17 than 13. Be very careful and consider walking out of herbaceous gully instead.

Lovely jam crack with a couple of intricate moves, but nothing really insecure. Would get classic appart from the terrible chossy top section. Have started a discussion on how to improve.

Wishing I had brought my crack gloves

No access issues.

Mega classic day, ran a little late so seconded the third pitch on speaker phone to my GP in a telehealth, so extra challenge of getting it clean without running out of breath. Extra spice to the eve 👌

Second pitch pumped me out a little (lot) so had to take a sit- time to learn how to jam corner cracks rather than laybacking it all 0.o

A friend recommended belaying under the roof for an awesome scenic spot, and I impulsively decided to just link from the ground to there. For no good reason I thought the roof crack was finger sized and it wouldn't matter that I had to put every larger piece into the 40m of crack before. Alas, it is #3/4 sized and the small gear anchor I found was quite low and awkward. Still a lovely ledge to hang out and eat some lunch. Would do 2 pitches to the roof next time. A little wet deep in the chimney today but nothing we needed to use.

The crux on P2 felt hard for the grade. I started doing it as a layback but quickly felt exhausted. Transitioned to stemming and hand jams, which felt more awkward but less strenuous. The crux didn't feel any easier than higher-grade corners I've climbed recently like 'The Silk Road' (19) at Pierces Pass and 'Amen Corner' (18) at Piddo.

Linked P1, P2, and the start of P3 to the ledge just under the roof. This was accidental... I'd intended to link just P1 and P2, but when I got to (what I now realize was) the actual P2 ledge, it didn't seem like I'd gone 30m... guess I should have paid more attention to the rusty bolts.

Would have had a more comfortable stance at the roof belay if I'd kept the big gear and made an anchor at the top of the roof (which we ended up doing anyway once Joey brought all the gear up), but instead I made do with a hanging belay below the ledge.

As it was, turns out I linked all the best climbing into one long pitch, and if only Joey had agreed to swing as planned he would have been left leading the crappy rock with crappy gear (since the #3s and #4 were in the anchor) and heinous rope drag that made up the remainder of P3. To finish, I climbed up the slopey blocks, and all I could see was choss and suspect vegetation (guess I missed the carrots). So I walked out right on the ledge to belay off some rings ('008' maybe?).

Gear: 2 x #.3-.75, 3 x #1&#2, 2 x #3, 1 x #4

Lead pitch one. Layback to glory

Climbed as two pitches. A very very awesome route. Less lay backing than it initially looked, and plenty of gear the whole way. Also some pretty specky views!