This past Memorial Day weekend Cole and I climbed Sirens of Stanislaus 5.10a C2. It was a great adventure that both of us have been hoping to do for the past few years. Unfortunately last year the road accessing Donnell Reservoir never opened due to part of the road choosing to slide away. This year all the pieces came together quite well and we were able to make it happen.
Just starting typing and I can tell this trip report is bound to be long and aimless as heck, do what you will with that information.
On Friday I rushed from campus to load up the canoe at Mikayla’s house. At 3 PM I was off to Coles. We loaded the canoe onto his car as we thought is best to have a 4WD vehicle (that ended up not mattering as just a high clearance vehicle is necessary to drive road 4700).
We departed by 6 PM and were at the first gate at 10:30 PM. From here you have to shuttle all your gear past 2 gates 0.3 miles apart and lower it down into the reservoir.
At 12:00 AM we were on our second load carrying just the canoe. A cart to roll it on would’ve been perfect, we didn’t have that so it took multiple breaks for rest.
Somehow we got the canoe over the 2nd gate and down into the water with relative efficiency.
Fortunately there were some easily usable anchors on the dam we could use to safely lower the canoe and large haul bag.
About to lower the canoe.
Descending to canoe to put other bags in.
Bags in the canoe in the water.
At 1:30 AM we were back at the car for a nice power nap.
At 6 AM the following day we were hiking, one final light load of clothes and sleeping stuff, to the dam.
The view of the canoe in the light before departing.
By 7:30 we were docking the canoe and prepping to set sail up the wall.
Critical scenic morning pee.
The rock-paper-scissors gods smiled down upon me and I was chosen to lead the first pitch. At 7:45 I took off leading the first pitch. The first pitch varies up to 200 feet in length depending on the water level. Fortunately the water was quite high and I was able to lead to the P2 anchor
Also necessary picture looking down at Cole and canoe before starting first pitch.
Cole at the P2 anchor
For the next few pitches we stopped taking pictures for a bit and got into grind mode.
P2&3 were pretty not memorable, straightforward climbing. They were a little dirty but it seemed that was the theme of the climb, except the theme got progressively more intense as you got higher. Pitch 4 was the first C1 section on the topo. I managed to free it at probably 5.9. However the rest of the pitch had the option for you to climb a 5.4 face or continue up the crack then traverse to anchors. I opted for the latter and ended up hesitating on the final moves to the anchor for quite some time. After doing a no hand traverse stepping right on a small bush I made it to the anchors underneath a left facing dihedral.
From here it was Cole’s pitch. It was listed as C1 to a 5.10a face. Cole managed to onsight it free, probably the best pitch on the climb. The corner starts with stellar hands to a bit wider section before pinching back down and forcing you to do an awkward mantle like move onto the face. The face was incredibly polished and caused me to take a fall on the follow. We both agreed that it was a bit sandbagged and surprised the FA party chose to free that and not the corner below.
From here it was a 5.8 in a right facing OW corner. This was another surprisingly clean pitch, almost as though it was right out of the valley. Admittedly it kicked my ass and I needed to bump a #5 & #6 most of the way. Of the several OW sections on the route this was the best.
Cole following the 6th pitch.
Cole’s next pitch is where the adventure/ dirty nature of the climb started to become more apparent. It was an intricate 5.8 stem to thin corner right off the anchors. After about 25 feet bushes start appearing in the corner and you must either go through or around on slick face. Cole opted for going through for the first bush at which point he needed to tag up the #5. He climbed around the 2nd bush and passed a rap anchor. Here things got spicy and there was little pro maneuvering around shrubs and trees on a once again slick slab. He negotiated that part and ended up belaying on gear beneath the next pitch.
P8 was another fun pitch albeit dirty. It started with a bit of low angle wide climbing in a right facing corner. Eventually the crack thins to nothing and the corner is filled with shrubs. You do a brief and fun 5.6 face section to the right before traversing back into the corner. The topo lists the face as 5.8 but we felt this was rather soft especially when compared to the “pinch traverse” on P10. Once back in the corner there is a short, maybe 15 ft, section of thin C1. It took some blue and black totems before slowly widening and allowing a rest with poor gear. You then mantle up into a 5.5 chimney and chimney your way up for 30 or so feet to the anchors. We both managed to get this clean onsight and thought the C1 section would best be described as a power endurance layback with very slick feet, 5.10b.
Looking down P8.
It was about 4:30 PM when we got to the top of P8. From here it was only 2 pitches standing between us and the end of the climb… This is where the route quality quickly diminished.
Cole had the next lead, a bombay chimney that quickly pinches to OW then some hand and finger crack that leads to a ledge and about 100 ft of “class 4”. This was listed as 4th class C2, 170 ft pitch, in the topo. What a joke. We’re pretty certain Brutus of Wyde thought it would be funny to prank the next people to use his route topo.
Cole took a bit sussing out the entrance to the OW. Eventually he was in and aiding up the C2. “This is the worst pitch I have ever climbed” was something I heard numerous times during that lead. I’ll admit we had high hopes of freeing the whole route but this pitch shut us down. Also admittedly due to our high hopes we only brought one ladder and one jug each. This probably made the aid slightly harder, but he said due to the extremely grainy nature of the rock his cams kept slipping down the crack before catching again which was a huge mental (and physical) barrier to overcome. Not to mention every placement had to be excavated due to the moss and dirt that had accumulated since the last ascent (if it was ever clean). He got over the bulge and belayed at the base of the “class 4” on the topo (about ⅓ of the way through P9). This section took about an hour and half to lead and clean.
Looking up the beginning of P9.
Me getting up to the anchor.
I took off leading P9.5 and quickly found myself getting sandbagged. I found myself troubled with route finding and having to weave around frequently to avoid trees. There were numerous low to mid 5th class moves in the first part alone. Eventually I found myself faced with the decision of going through a mostly dead manzanita or taking an unprotected slab (probably 5.6 but still requiring moving branches while climbing), with questionable gear below. I opted to pull through the manzanita and was extremely unhappy, there were numerous dead branches I pulled on before committing to pulling my way up on twigs, the trick was thinking light thoughts. Though I still think I made the right decision. This yielded a view of the “4th class OW”. I committed to it before needing to tag up the #6 halfway up. The tagging of the #6 used 100ft of line and I still had another 25 ft or so to go to the anchor. I finally made it to the anchor although I probably took 45 minutes to lead this pitch. We agreed that although the OW was lower angle it was probably 5.7, also that doing P9 as one pitch would have been rather unreasonable. We also agreed we wanted whatever Brutus was smoking when he drew/graded the last two pitches on the topo.
Finally it was Cole’s turn to fire off the last pitch. The 5.9 hand crack was rather fun, Cole and I employed very different betas but both enjoyed it a lot. After the hand crack is a 5.8 OW on the topo, that just didn’t exist. About 20 feet after pulling the hand crack (not 50 or so as shown in topo) there was the 5.8 pinch traverse which was slick but decent. From there it was many manzanitas to crawl through to get to the top of the pitch. We had the option to continue the mungy slabs and cracks for another 1000 ft to the top of Broad Dome but decided to call it as the quality was increasingly poor.
Cole on the 5.9 start to P10.
We rapped off a tree right as it got dark and we turned on our headlamps. The first two raps we prayed for no ropes getting caught as releading those last pitches would be a nightmare. On the second rap our rope got snagged but fortunately came free after some whipping, we let loose a big sigh of relief. From here it was smooth sailing back to the P3 anchors where we left our larger haul bag and there was supposedly a good bivy for two. This was maybe 10 PM.
After setting up a fixed line to the bivy we shuttled a load of sleeping equipment, clothes, and food to the ledge. We realized that the bivy for 2 was really a nice bivy for 1 and rock-paper-scissored for it. The rock-paper-scissors gods did not smile down upon me and determined I get the uneven short bivy to sleep on.
We ate some tuna and a backpacker meal while cramping up all over. We then retreated to our respective bivvies and passed out.
In the middle of the night both of our pads popped. In my case this made the rock under my head much more noticeable and my dangling feet a little less supported… who would’ve thought.
Either way we woke up to a glorious sunrise on the ledge. Then went back to sleep for another two hours because we were still worked.
View from my sleeping bag.
Eventually we crawled out of our sleeping bags and enjoyed another delicious can of tuna while taking in the surroundings.
Cole at his bivy for two ledge.
After an hour or two we decided it was time to hit the road, or in this case descend. We packed up and shuttled everything back to the haul bag before leaving no trace of our existence on the ledge.
Here’s Cole cleaning the fixed lines to the bivy.
As per usual it was a cluster getting prepared to descend back to the canoe but we made it happen.
Here's me rapping with the pig, hard to see.
Rapping directly into the canoe was a cool experience that went surprisingly smooth. We pulled the ropes which also went shockingly well, only about 10 feet getting wet.
Dealing with the canoe rope cluster situation.
We undocked and headed across the reservoir to hangout in a wave protected cove to admire Atlantis.
We then paddled around admiring the other areas of the reservoir. I think this is The Lost World?
Finally ending back up at the dam it was time to get the canoe and bags out of the water. The hauling went very smoothly, again we were surprised.
Packing up
Minus me pinching my huevos lifting the canoe back over the gate, that went smoothly too.
Again we did two trips from the dam back to the car.
Once with the Pig.
Another with the canoe.
We drank a celebratory beer and headed back to Brad’s to store the canoe overnight. An hour or two later we made it to Brad’s but with nobody home and nobody picking up we dropped off the canoe and headed out. Taking a guess where everyone was, we went to Dawson’s for the climbers get together and as it turned out Steve's 60th! Us being malnourished running on a can of tuna, a muffin, and a beer for the day promptly ate all the food we could at the party before realizing there was no more. Feeling bad for leaving so soon, we left and got more food in Twain Harte. Upon returning to Brad’s we noticed the canoe was not where we left it. I was borrowing it from Mikayla’s dad so I was extremely cautious about letting anything happen to it. So as you would imagine I masked my panic and calmly asked Brad where it went. As everyone on this site can easily imagine, the lawman played dumb and gave me a heart attack saying he had no clue where it was. If it wasn’t for my long con to steal Digby and Vicki’s terrific hospitality, I might not be returning to the Young residence.
At this point I realize I rambled for far too long including way too much information, though I’m sure I’ll love re reading this TR at a later date. I hope that should this site ever die out it will at least archive all the forums so I can still go back and relive these incredible experiences. Hope you enjoyed the not so quick read!
Here's our roughly updated topo, frantically drawn once back at the Dawson’s.
Special thanks to many people for helping make this happen:
-Obviously the FA party for putting this up. Including the late great Brutus of Wyde.
-Brad for the topo that got us hooked on the line. Also Vicki providing us with housing, food, showers, and dog love whenever we are on SPH.
-Beto for loaning me a roof rack for transporting the canoe.
-Mikayla/Samir for getting off early to help me load/unload the canoe. Mikayla also helped me prepare for this trip in many other ways. Both of them put up with my nonstop rambling fascination with the wall for years prior to this attempt.
-Our parents for continued support for a mere 24 year period(obviously they’re great).
-Especially Phil (Mikayla’s dad) for loaning us the canoe, no way this would’ve happened without him.
-Finally Cole for being a fantastic climbing partner, on and off the rock. Truly a great climber and even better human being.
