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Climbing the sea stacks
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So I'm curious, I've noticed that will all the routes on here there's none listed for any sea stacks....why not? Is it frowned upon or illegal? is it crappy rock that's not worth climbing? is it too risky with the tides? is it a combination of everything that just makes it not worth it? I'll be out in the PNW coast in June and I'm just going to bring a pair of shoes and a chalk back for anything I come across but I don't want to get in trouble for messing around on any of the sea stacks. |
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It would be a combination of all the worst possible conditions- loose, wet rock, covered in bird dung, moss, lichen, and algae. I have seen people climbing on near-shore rock, but many of the same conditions exist. |
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On top of what Harold said, a lot of the stacks are also in national parks/ on reservations, where they're off limits to anybody going on to them at all. They're part nature reserve, part sacred place. |
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I believe that all of the islands off of the coast of Oregon are part of Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge. They are literally for the birds and no climbing is permitted. |
David Morison wrote: LOL |
David Morison wrote: Yeah, this is great! I would also add, pissed off sea lions. Yowza! Best, OLH |
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I'm just going to emphasize the Crappy, Crappy, Crappy rock. Most of the sea stacks are trench stuffing conglomerates and subscribe to the (general to the Olympics) "Oh, do you like that hand hold, you can take it with you" rock type. Also most of them are offshore, and though you can get to some of them at low tides (sometimes only extreme low tides), they will be wet wet wet and if you get your timing wrong you'll be in a miserable perhaps inescapable bivy, or in for a nasty swim. If you are absolutely bound and determined to try it, there are some right on the beach, smaller stacks to try at Shi Shi. Some are an easy scramble for a view, all have nasty, barnacle covered landings if you screw up, and many are kelp covered choss piles. I recommend sticking to tidepooling on the coast... |
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The chossiest of the Oregon choss most likely...would avoid |
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Check out Gold Beach or the Northern CA coast if you’re wanting your coastal climbing fix. Careful playing around sea stacks, I’ll echo the brittle quality sentiment,most hand holds are caked with bird feces, and sneaker waves are a real thing as well. Almost lost 3 crash pads to one while we were spotting someone with our backs turned to the ocean. |
