Cuckoo's Nest Rock Climbing

There are three approaches to Cuckoo's Nest, all of which take about the same amount of time (about 30 minutes), but differ in elevation gain and difficulty.

The first version follows the PCT for about 95% of the way and can easily be combined with climbing at Shark Wall. For this way, park for standard Grouse Slab/Star Wall approaches and head north on the PCT. Go up the switchbacks to where the PCT flattens out and start dropping elevation again. Pass a small pond on your right and keep going for a few minutes until the trail makes a hairpin left-turn. Leave the trail here, cross a dry creek, and you'll immediately pick up another trail on the other side. Follow this south for a few minutes until you see a short wall (Catfish Crag) on your right. Head down some low-angle slabs until you see an obvious dead tree on the ridge to your left. From the dead tree, scramble down an easy ramp and you'll be at the far right side of Cuckoo's Nest.

The second version approaches per the east face of Grouse Slab. Pass by all of the Grouse Slab climbing, eventually reaching Shark Wall (on your left). There is a decent trail to follow when going this way. When near Shark Wall, look for the dead tree (on your right) and follow the rest of the directions described above. Should be apparent but this version allows you to combine climbing at Grouse Slab and/or Shark Wall with Cuckoo's Nest.

The third version is harder and gains more elevation than the others, but allows combining Cuckoo's Nest with Black Wall, Stealth Wall, or Dragon's Nest. Park for Black Wall and hike up and around the right side of Stealth Wall. From the upper right side (which also provides access to the top of Stealth Wall), follow a trail through low manzanita to a massive, slightly tilted granite slab with a seasonal creek at the bottom - Cuckoo's Nest should be obvious from here, high on the hillside to your left. Continue north on the slabs for about 5 minutes, until you've passed the north end of Cuckoo's Nest. Keep your eyes peeled for a dead tree that's very large in diameter and missing all of its bark. Cross the seasonal creek here and the trail should be very obvious, starting on the opposite side.