Zeke's Wall  Photos:  Recent | Best | Popular Lat, Long:  47.8502, -121.6044 Map Page Views:  5,027. Good page?    Administrators:  Peter Franzen, Kristine Hoffman, Tom Erickson Submitted By:  Eric Hirst on Sep 19, 2009 Make this area a Favorite What's New   Print a Mini-Guide with routes Add Route  Add Photo  Add Comment  Add Event  Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed 63° | 45° 66° | 46° 66° | 46° 59° | 43° 61° | 43°

Access is via private land and past a locked gate. Only WCC members are allowed to open the gate and drive the approach road. A WCC sticker and a Discover Pass are both required to drive the approach road. MORE INFO >>> See washingtonclimbers.org/Climbing/goldbar.htm for current access details. You can join Washington Climbers Coalition for free (if you're a cheapskate!) or as part of an Access Fund membership. WCC membership gets you, among other things, a sticker and the combination to the lock on the gate at Reiter Road. Please don't cheat. If you share the combination with non WCC members, you jeopardize access. If you drive in without a WCC sticker and a Discover Pass, you jeopardize access. And so on. Manke owns the land below the wall and has done climbers a HUGE favor by granting climbers and boulderers a legal easement to go past the DNR gate at Reiter Road. Please don't take this one for granted. 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

BETA PHOTO: View of the wall from low in the clear cut. The pr...

Description 

Granite walls above Gold Bar boulders, visible to the N from Highway 2 a few miles W of Index. Home to several full length 4-6 pitch lines and a number of shorter routes and longer active projects. Median grade is hard 5.11, and most climbs are a mix of sport and trad. The routes on Waterfall Wall (not fully listed here, but readily apparent when you hike up to Flow) are particularly remarkable.

The length of the approach varies from year to year depending on local politics, condition of the access road, and the nature of your vehicle. Expect 30-45 minutes if you can drive the road, 60-90 if you have to walk from the Reiter gate. See access notes for current information.

A number of the climbs tend to dry slowly, so most people will want to wait for a spell of dry weather before their first visit. Regular Zekers will usually develop a bit of tolerance for the occasional damp spot.

There is water at the base year round, which you can, at your own risk, consider drinking untreated. The waterfall next to Flow is the most reliable source, but is probably risky during spring runoff. There is also an excellent seasonal spring coming out of the cliff wall a short bushwhack beyond Mortal Coil, about 15 minutes from the base of the Flow waterfall.

At least 2 of the full length climbs (Flow and Mortal Coil) can be descended with a single 60m rope and a bit of caution. If you go exploring, however, you will usually be happier with 2 ropes, or, at a minimum, a single 70m and some downclimbing skills.

The most gear you might consider lugging up on a first visit would be a Flow rack (see details for that route) plus a few extra pieces in the thin hand size range for Hanna Deanna (the amazing wet-start 11d just L of Flow).

Getting There 

1. From Highway 2 just E of Gold Bar, turn N on Rieter Road, then bear R at junction to reach a heavily used ORV staging area on the L. Just after the ORV staging area is a gated road, also to the L. You will have views up to the wall, above some large clear cuts, from here. Many large boulders are visible in the upper clear cut. These are described in the Gold Bar section of Kelly Sheridan's 2007 "Central Washington Bouldering" book.
2. Somehow get yourself to the top west (climber's L) side of the upper clearcut, using the road spur that forks L at the bottom of the upper clearcut. See access notes for details on getting your car past the locked gate at Reiter Road. You can also just walk up from Reiter, optionally taking a short cut by scrambling left up an ORV-eroded rocky slab to bypass the first long switchback and reach the lower western edge of the upper clearcut directly.
2. Find a small cairn hidden in the brush on your right, just at the point where the road finally levels off. If you reach the end of the road, you've gone about 100 yards too far.
3. Bash through saplings for about 20 feet to find the trail. The trail switchbacks briefly through slash, then up through forest to a level bench. At a junction in the bench, bear R.
4. Follow rough trail for about 25 minutes to the base of the hugest section of the wall, climbing steadily and traversing R in a few places. The trickiest part of the trail is probably navigating a rightward traverse through an open talus field, just above a somewhat outlandish offwidth roof crack boulder problem.
5. As you face the hugeness, Ryan's Corner and Leanne's ledges are to your left, and most everything else is up and to the R, along a rough trail. Look for splitters and chickenheads.

The Classics

Featured Route For Zeke's Wall

Suffering Bagpipes 5.10c  WA : Zeke's Wall

Starting on a short ramp, climb a broken crack system L of a major dihedral. Above a short chimney high on the route, clip a lone bolt and either continue straight up an offwidth crack or angle R to reach a beautiful dihedral that feels like a toned down version of Index's Sloe Children route. From chains, either rap the route (140') or go exploring R or L to find alternate single-rope descent options....[more]   Browse More Classics in WA

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BETA PHOTO: Zeke's Wall courtesy of MS Maps