Lost Arrow (5.10) and The Strain (5.13)

This face on Aid Box might be the hardest hunk of rock to climb in all of Great Falls Park. Lost Arrow (5.10) is the vertical crack on the left, from top to bottom. On the upper portions, use both the crack and the corner for the ascent (the corner is easier to see if you can zoom in on this photo). A 5.11 variation called Terrapin Corner uses the crack and the face only. The Strain (5.12c in one guidebook, 5.13 in another) is to the right of Lost Arrow. It climbs the incipient crack that starts about midway between Lost Arrow’s corner and the edge of the crag as seen in this photo. Just reaching the crack requires climbing Lost Arrow until one can move right or by pulling through the overhang to the right, which is part of the 5.12 P.V.O. route. NOTE: My guidebook says that a crux hold has broken on the upper part of The Strain and that many climbers instead use the left-hand edge to finish. Great Falls, VA-- May 2007