Table for Two  5.10a

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Type:  Trad, 6 pitches, 800 feet, Grade III Consensus:  5.9+ [details] FA:  Chuck Lipinski, Dave Webster, Jeff Mayhew Season:  anything but summer Submitted By:  Charles Vernon on Nov 17, 2008 You & This Route  |  Other Opinions (6) Your todo list: Your stars: Your rating: -none- [change] Your ticklist: [add new tick]

Dan Millis following pitch one, a bit run-out, but...

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Access is via PRIVATE land and may be CLOSED! MORE INFO >>> The access for Mendoza Canyon is via the good graces of the owner of the King Anvil Ranch you pass through to get to the canyon. Update from Jeff Mayhew: 3-20-10 Mendoza Canyon access will still be open through King's Anvil Ranch from September 1 through March 1, as usual. The ranch owner, John King, is considering allowing foot access again at the original parking area, (see Approach Map,) from Sept. 1 through Dec. 1. After that he may re-post the No Trespassing sign, but may still allow foot access through the alternate parking area at the north end of the canyon's mouth, (see map.) Legally set traps are throughout the area so the suggestion is to leave the dogs at home. Regardless of this information, please obey all posted signs in the area. Access is still hanging by a thread! After talking to Game and Fish, State Land Dept., and BLM it is clear that Mr. King has every right to block access at any time... and he is ready to at the drop of a hat. Fortunately, there are only about 15 of us that even go out there, so we mainly have to worry about the random rabble-rousers, (now there's a good name for a climb!) Thanks for all the support and feel free to contact me. Jeff Mayhew (user JMayhew on this site) Update from Jeff Mayhew 10-18-10 As of 10/2010 the access along the dirt road leading from the "original parking" at the small corral (see approach map) is still signed "No Trespassing." Please respect that! The "alternate parking" shown on the map still allows foot access along an old, faint road. This eventually connects to the main dirt road before the pond, but Mr. King had said last spring that access was permitted at that point, as long as people respected the private property. Be sure to remember that fork--it can be tricky to see when you're hiking out tired... and possibly in the dark! There is still an old, hand written note in the sign-in box stating access to Mendoza is closed. This was in there before Mr. King gave "us" permission to access via this alternate roadway. Update from Charles Vernon (12.6.10): We ran into John King's daughter herding cows yesterday, on the way into the canyon. She was very nice, and we talked to her for a little while. She believes that the missing traps that led to loss of access last year were a result of hikers (climbers? hunters?) whose dogs got caught in the traps, leading to the dog owners taking or destroying the traps to free their dogs. Regardless of what exactly happened, she made it clear that dogs are not welcome. It sounds as though just heading out there with dogs, without more, could be enough to cause them to rethink access. So please, do not bring dogs to Mendoza! This information is a public crowdsourcing effort between the Access Fund, and Mountain Project. You should confirm closures, restrictions, and/or related dates. Keeping climbing areas open and conserving the climbing environment

Description 

A note in the summit register laments the "demise of adventure climbing" and complains that Table for Two is a "sport route". I didn't find it to be that exactly, but I'll allow it as there's some nice bolts there.

We thought this was a really fun route, with substantial runouts on every pitch on 5.6/5.7 climbing, but good pro on anything 5.8 and harder, and mostly good rock. Some bolts are old buttonheads, some are relatively new (note that although BC Rock Climbing correctly describes the route as retro-bolted, the new bolts are not shown on the guidebook topo). All belays are bolted with chains.

the route (reference p. 163 of the guidebook):
1) Turn the roof (bolt), place pro, then head up and right past *two* more bolts, with great climbing on perfect brown edges up and right (not left as guidebook says) of the 2nd bolt to the belay (5.8, 150')

2) Wander up large features past 2 bolts, then head right on the obvious & very cool "heebee jeebee" traverse, over to & up a LF flake, which with all the bushes removed is probably more like 5.6 than 5.8 (5.6, 100')

3) Up and slightly left past 2 bolts, then up & out of a short LF corner, up & right, through a slot in a roof, and up a somewhat poorly protected LF corner (one bolt) to the belay). (5.8, 150')

4) Straight up the obvious RF corner on hand-sized gear (probably no harder than 5.8, but some friable rock). Exit left as the crack dies & run it out 20+ feet to a bolt, then up and left to two more bolts (1 old & thankfully 1 new) that safely protect the steep, exciting crux, then super fun plate climbing to a 2-bolt belay. (5.10a, 150')

5) Short pitch straight up past 2 bolts, over the bulge to a 2-bolt belay right of a tree. (5.7, 100')

6) Essentially, go straight up to the large ledge below the summit. Low angle at first then really fun chickenheads to finish (5.6 150') Scramble to the top and contemplate the actual summit, which fairly defies belief.

Rappell the route (2 ropes).

Location 

There are several obvious, long brown streaks on the center-right portion of Table Dome's east face. The route starts on the left edge of the brown streaks, 30 ft. right of Wily Javelina. The first pitch turns the right side of an obvious roof with a bolt 30 feet off the ground. Features can be hard to locate from the base, but become apparent on route.

Protection 

A set of nuts and single set of cams from blue alien to 3.5 friend should be enough, along w/many runners & 3 or 4 draws. 3 & 3.5 friends are generally useless except on P1 & P4.

Photos of Table for Two Slideshow

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Other than starting up pitch two, I'm not sure wha...	Dan Millis near the top of pitch two	Dan completing the crux bulge on pitch four (the r...
The precarious summit block!	On the rappels. The obvious corner crack is the s...	Following the 3rd pitch