Bliss, aka Bliss of the Knife is an excellent thin crack splitting the large face halfway up black wall, in between cannibal gully on the left and One Hand Clapping on the right.
Originally a 1960's A3 nailing route, this pitch has evolved into a finger locking, thin jamming and layback seam.
You must access the pitch from below, via One Hand and step left onto the face to some belay bolts. It is also possible to climb into this route via Bliss Direct, a mixed 5.12 route (the start of the original aid line.) The upper anchor is bolts below the overhang. It is possible to rap into it for a toprope (as I did) by rapping in from Lizard Ledge. Be sure to backclip the rappel and tie knots in the rope, it is difficult to swing into the anchor.
Location
See Description. It is also possible to climb in and set up a TR by climbing in from the left (corner above Overhanging Hangover) and traversing in below the big overhang.
Protection
THIN. Please keep in mind I toproped this route. That said, I think it would be a safe lead if you have adequate thin gear. Remember this is an old nailing route, there are good slots for small nuts, and places for small cams. Climb at your own risk.
I didn't propose a danger rating like pg13 because I can't say for certain it is warranted because I toproped.
As I climbed, I looked around for gear, because I'd like to go back and lead. I found what I thought to be adequate gear throughout the route, but again, I was on toprope, so it's always different. A leader might have the typical thin route problem of gear blocking critical jams.
Further, no guidebooks have called this pg13 or R, so I felt there was precedent there.
In my opinion, this LOOKS heads up, but not pg13 or R, but again, I must stress that I toproped, and I didn't get it clean. I am sorry if my route description was ambiguous, I hope this comment clears up how I think of the route and it's protection. I wanted to let people know the nature of the route's protection, but not having actually placed it myself, I didn't want to sandbag.
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