Mike Morley starts up the twin cracks of Touch And...
Description
One of the best 5.9 cracks in Joshua Tree. Start out in sustained double finger cracks until the right crack peters out. Continue up left crack as it turns to perfect hands and finishes with a small juggy roof.
Belay from a large boulder (gear required) atop the formation.
To descend: scramble west through a notch, downclimb into a rock gully and then scramble down the gully (heading east towards Echo Rock) until it opens up and you can make a left back towards your pack.
Beautiful and classic. Protects well with nuts and small cams. Fairly thin and definitely sustained...10a?
By Tony Bubb From: Boulder, CO Jan 6, 2003 rating: 5.9
Larger gear and a long cordilette are useful to builde the belay up top. TO descend walk to the opposite side of the rock (south) and then scramble down to the SW and then around the east back to the trail and then back up to the base if you left your pack there.
Descend by short chimmney to the south and then east around the base to your packs. You never get down to the tail...
By Tony Bubb From: Boulder, CO Jan 6, 2003 rating: 5.9
Hey AC. You don't get back to the trail, but I do. I looked at the options and found I could bolder hop to the main trail and then walk over to the crag trail and back up. I liked that option better of the two times/ways I did it. Some might not have left the pack at the base, in which case, you just keep walking.Looks liek either way works.
By 5.10b4me From: Alhambra, California May 3, 2003
maybe the best 5.9 crack climb in Josh (imo). found it to be easier than Pope's Crack.
A sustained climb the first 10-15'feet which is the crux. Stemming and the abiliting to jam a finger crack are helpful. Pro in this section is yellow Metolius. After this section is a good rest but the route overall is steep. Hand size cams the rest of the way. Pro for the trad anchor is 3/4-1.5".
A steep and sustained route the first 10-15' where stemming and finger crack skills play a role. This is the most difficult part of the route but there is a rest after this section and the crack opens to hands. pro on the first section is a yellow Metolius. hand size the rest of the way and for the trad anchor. The walkoff is requires some scrambling and a tiny bit of easy downclimbing. The sustained nature of this route could easy earn a 10a rating by some.
Very protectable climb. Classic for J Tree
Sustained and solid for the grade.
By Chris Miller Administrator Dec 13, 2003 rating: 5.9
One of the best routes of it's grade in the Park with great rock, varied moves and an easy approach. Far better than Pope's Crack IMO. Four stars out of five. Pro to 2.5" for the route, while pro to 3.5" is handy for the anchor.
Excellent route. Opposition helps a lot in the beginning of the climb. #3 and #4 Camalot can be useful for the anchor, together with a very long piece of tubular tape.
I climbed this route on a relatively cold day and wouldn't recommend it. It does help numb the hands for the jamming though... Boy, I really wish there was a rap route on this one! The decent is a pain
By Adam Stackhouse Administrator From: Escondido, Ca Mar 2, 2006 rating: 5.9
Good route, quality rock, great protection, double cruxed, but it is over way to fast. 3 stars out of 5.
By susan peplow From: what day is this? Sep 26, 2006
The route has a bit of a reputation which was messing with my head. I was was happy to find the crack clean, easy to pro and fun, fun, fun. Looking forward to doing it again!
Overhyped. Awkward down low, but takes great gear. Way too many stars, IMO.
By Bill Olszewski From: San Diego, CA Mar 10, 2007 rating: 5.9
Will - Sorry you feel that way. I loved Touch and Go; great variety of technique, double crux, bomber holds up high for the weary leader! Love the start - stemming the double cracks. A back stem also works very well. But whatever you do, don't lieback that first section, unless you really enjoy blowing out your arms to save your legs or have a physique like Popeye. lol
Numerous ways to do the crux 15 feet. Lots of rests after that. Felt slightly harder than pope's crack.
By Bowie From: San Diego, CA Feb 20, 2008 rating: 5.10a
Stemming the first 30 feet got me pretty pumped. I would suggest possibly getting in some gear then liebacking this section. After the start, the rest of the route is pretty easy. Great fun!