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2035 Hits
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74.92% Score
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5 Votes
Page Type:
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Mountain/Rock |
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Lat/Lon:
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30.37792°N / 98.11532°W |
Activities:
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Sport Climbing, Toprope |
Season:
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Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter |
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Overview
This wall is becoming increasingly popular as more people discover its high-quality moderates. Although the rock is not as pretty as the rock at Middle Earth Wall is, the climbing is excellent. If you're getting bored with the Middle Earth routes or need a break from that one North Shore wall that ever gets truly busy, add a few minutes of approach time and head to Cheech and Chong. Enjoy it before the polish present at the popular Reimers walls starts to appear.
In my opinion, grades I've climbed at this wall are stiffer than comparable grades at other North Shore walls such as Middle Earth, Gypsy, and Little Guide's.
These are single-pitch limestone routes up to about 30', with up to 5 bolts each. Some of these short routes pack a lot of solid movement into them.
Limestone HoldLike several other North Shore walls, Cheech and Chong has the locally infamous "mud ledge" (climb here after a rain and you'll see) at the start of many of its routes. Sometimes a bolt protects the loves up onto the ledge, and sometimes there is no protection. From the mud ledge, you usually have to pull an overhang to get onto the main wall. As a result, routes here can be physically intensive and it's not uncommon to see someone run out of gas at the start.
 Mud Ledge |
 Mud Ledge |
Getting There
Trail Split-- go right for all but Matrix, Dude, and UnleashedReimers Ranch is located off Hamilton Pool Road about 6 miles west of its intersection with Ranch Road 12. It is about 45 minutes west from downtown Austin.
Once through the entrance station, drive to the end of the road (around 4 miles from the entrance station), following signs for "North Bank."
The main access trail starts by the trash bins.
Take the main trail down and then bear right, crossing the stream, at the junction shown above. Walk 10 minutes or so, past a marked spur to Middle Earth Wall, and reach a marked spur for Gypsy Wall. Take the spur; it leads to the right end of Cheech and Chong Wall.
Gypsy WallRoutes
From left to right:
- Mickey's Crack, 5.11a
- Pluto's Hole, 5.10b PG
- Glass Slipper, 5.11d
- Let's Do a Line, Man, 5.10d
- Higher, 5.11b/c
- Corsicane Brothers, 5.10a-- Fun fact: a foot-long stinging centipede crawled across my path the first time I climbed this, causing me to call for a take and costing me the onsight.
- Some Crimes, 5.10b-- On other sites, you may see this as a 10+, roughly a 10d. If you find the perfect sequence in one of the two hard sections (the other is getting up from the mud ledge), it's supposed to be 10b. But if you don't...
- Mostly Labrador, 5.9-- Listed as a 5.8+ on some other sites. I'm not a big fan of + and - ratings; this route has a couple tough spots that I think qualify it for 5.9.
- Still Smokin', 5.9-- Pumpy moves getting off the ledge and a heady crux higher up.
- Hey Mr. Lizard Man, 5.8 PG-- This is steeper than the typical 5.8 here. It's all there, but this is going to mess with someone new to the grade.
- Up in Smoke, 5.10b-- Powerful, committing crux move off the ledge (if you fall, you are landing on the ledge). The rest isn't exactly easy but isn't 5.10.
- Dave's Not Here, 5.11a
 Cheech and Chong Wall-- Left End |
 Let's Do a Line Man (5.10d) and Higher (5.11 b/c) |
 Corsicane Brothers, 5.10a |
 Some Crimes (5.10b) and Mostly Labrador (5.9) |
 Mostly Labrador (5.9) and Still Smokin' (5.9) |
 Hey Mr. Lizard Man (5.8 PG) and Up in Smoke (5.10b) |
 Dave's Not Here, 5.11a |