Evangeline 

Attempted to do these upper pitches today. I found the climbing quite nebulous, perhaps I didn't stare at the guidebook long enough, and eventually got off route and stumbled into Psycho in one long wandering yet exposed and fun lead. There is a bit of 5.10 right off the belay that is, for lack of a better word, spicy. You have to sling a hangerless quarter incher four feet out from the belay. The rest of the pitch (after where I broke over to psycho) seemed to be protected with a full museum of old, aid climbing gear, my partner tells me I missed spotting a bolt and pin on this section, all I saw was unispiring bashies. Anyway, all I mean to say is that this pitch deserves an s rating. The Psycho slab was a really cool exit.

The pitch above the roof is excellent, 5.10b/c. The roof is easily aidable and ends up at a big anchor. From there, the climb goes up and right, and then straight up the face to a tricky groove. It finishes up an easy slab to the belay below the Psycho Slab. This pitch is exposed and feels much more commiting than it actually is. It is mostly fixed with old pins and other old gear, and can be protected with small wires and small cams. The Psycho Slab, 5.9, leads to the Upper Ramp.

A shoulder length sling is helpful between the first and second bolts, you can sling a protrusion and eliminate any runout.

The upper pitch is really good climbing. I did it first on aid a few years before Alec freed it. There was a small toy bunny tied to a fixed RURP and left in a rather suggestive pose.

I followed the upper 10 b/c in the early 90s and thought it was considerably harder than the 11 b/c first pitch. I remember hard moves off the belay, and an upper crux past fixed bashies in a smooth dihedral / groove sort of thing, which more or less sounds like what some other people are saying.

Just about a week ago there was a rebolting day in Eldo. There was a guy up on the upper pitch of this route replacing many of the old nasty pins that used to be up there. I figured that I would give everyone a heads up about the new gear and also a huge thanks to the guys that were out there taking a day off of climbing to take care of Eldo. Props to you, guys!

The pins and bashies remain on the third pitch, as well they should for posterity. The four _ inchers were replaced by 3/8 inch stainless steel providers. This is a fantastic and overlooked pitch, especially with the face-lift! Don't let the AO roof dissuade you. No sense in stopping at the roof when aiming for the upper pitch. Tarzan your way through the roof and belay above the lip to finish pitch 1.

Was reading Ken Trout's comment (pic) re the 1st pitch bolt replacements...Yeah, totally bogus bolts, for sure!!! I remember when I first lead this. The topo descriptions in Boulder Climbs South said it all...The last, crux bolt must of been a Star-Drive cause I remember the head of the nail had snapped off and the shaft backed out or something??? And...Someone had bent both sides of the shaft outwards to "hold down" the hanger!! Sketcccchy!! Before the bolts were replaced, my friend Dave and I used to dangerously sandbag our outa-town friends onto this "old sport climb"...How lame is that?