Cat In The Hat (5.6)

Location of Climb: Pine Creek Canyon
Aspect of Face: Southeast
Time Category: A Few Hours

Intro

Cat In The Hat is a nice, easy multi-pitch climb on a warm south face. I would recommend it for beginning leaders interested in multi-pitch action, or for couples looking for a nice way to spend the day together. The climb has its share of hazards, however. The last time I climbed it, a party which had started late in the day, and which I rappelled past on my way down, had to be rescued from the top of the climb. This illustrates the two major considerations of this climb, the first of which is time management. You will lose some time on the approach, the last part of which is over a poor trail. And if you aren't the first party on the route, you'll be having the earlier climbers rapping down past you, and sharing with you a tiny belay spot at the top of the second pitch. Which brings up the second consideration, crowding. There are frequently five or six parties on this route at one time, and the earlier parties must rap the route past the later parties. This is easiest done on the first and last pitches, where the rap isn't directly over the climb. The second pitch is the worst, being a bottleneck for traffic.

Climb

Do the first pitch by climbing up to the second, and larger ledge, where off to the right is a new rap anchor about shoulder-height on the rock. There is a 3-4 foot diameter rock on the ledge below the anchor. It has a couple of bolts near it also. Belay from there, and then scramble up over fourth-class stuff to get to the base of the second pitch.

At the fourth pitch, instead of traversing to the ledge as shown in the guidebooks, do a traverse angling upward to the right until you get into the crack in the center of the face. This is the face shown in the photo. Move up the crack and out onto a slabby face past a bolt. Work toward the crack splitting the overhang to the right and above, and up it to the anchor bolts at the top of the climb. I have led this variation with a 50-meter rope. One caveat, however, sling your pro well near the bottom of the crack to avoid rope drag.

Gear

Nuts, Hexes, and Tri-cams up to about two inches work well on this climb. A few smaller SLCDs are handy also, but spare yourself lugging a lot of cams up the climb. All the belays have some sort of permanent anchor, so there is also no need to set up anchors with gear. Take two ropes for the rappel. Wear a helmet.