Did the Tollhouse Traverse for my first ever multi-pitch climb. Followed Joel Ward. Yeah baby!!
Bascuela - Dec 17, 2009 11:53 pm Date Climbed: Dec 17, 2009
Great Day with Mark
This was my first time up to Tollhouse. It was a cold foggy day down in Fresno, so Mark and I head up to the sunshine for some fun climbing. Started off with some easy 5.6ish single pitch climbs and finished off the day with the Tollhouse Traverse - FUN.
justing - Jun 17, 2009 4:42 pm Date Climbed: Jun 14, 2009
June 2009
Climbed many routes with Rob - thanks for more fine leads! Elephant Walk was a favorite, but Tollhouse Traverse and Falling Star were very nice as well. Great intro for me to slab climbing. Hope to get back again sometime!
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10/9/2010 Led a couple of the 5.7 slab routes this time, and the first and third pitches of Tollhouse Traverse. Loved the wild mantel finish on that one.
rhyang - Nov 24, 2008 10:37 am Date Climbed: Nov 22, 2008
Various
Climbed with Mike this past weekend. Warmed up leading 5.7 / 5.8's on the practice slabs both days. Otherwise, I led :
- Silly Wizard (5.8)
- Elephant Walk right side finger crack variation p1 (5.8)
- Knocking on Heaven's Door (5.8)
- Taking a Bath with Strangers
Finished up Sunday swapping leads on the Tollhouse Traverse, finished on the 5.7 friction variation - 4 pitches to the top of the dome, topped out as the sun was setting !
Saturday hit the slabs on the climber's left of the descent trail and we led 5.7-5.8's. Then followed Mike on Balls first pitch (5.9) and led the second (5.7), then rapped off. Led first pitch of Homeboys (5.8) - scary stuff, complete with lichen and runout bolt placement =:-0 Finished with a 5.8 over on the warmup slabs.
Sunday we again warmed up on the slabs, then followed Mike on the first pitch of a 5.8 whose name I forget. Led the first pitch of Hang Em High (5.5 ?) but Mike decided to bail off the second 5.8 pitch, so we retreated and swapped leads on the Tollhouse Traverse to the very top, doing the 5.7 variation. Finally, followed Mike on Falling Star's first pitch (we still think it's 5.7 :)
Oh yeah, ran into Rob while we were there. Very cool chit-chatting with other SP'ers !
Weather was just about perfect - sunny and warm during the day, though a bit chilly and breezy at night. Patches of snow here and there but nothing serious.
Landowner's locked gate had been rebuilt and reinforced. The alternate trail looked to be in poor shape after recent rain/snowfall. Another trail about 50' up the road seemed to switchback up a gully and might be better.
Saturday I led a few 5.7's on the Sunday Slab, then the first pitches of Falling Star (is this really 5.8 ??) and Elephant Walk (way fun !) I followed Mike on a Sunday Slab .10a and then the first pitch of Wandering Taoist, which got a little hairy.
Sunday I led a 5.8 on the Sunday Slab (with only one fall :) and then followed Mike on a 5.7+ and then Taking a Bath With Strangers (fun !) We then went over to the area to the right of the descent trail and sampled the far right slab, with Mike leading some mossy, rusty-bolt stuff over there (5.7 - 5.8 ?) on a two-pitch adventure. I then led the rightmost climb with good bolts (5.7 ?) in two pitches, then Mike led a harder variation from the first belay (5.8 ?). The guidebook didn't seem very current for that area, but it was enjoyable.
Fantastic weather, cool but not cold at night, warm during the day. Hard to believe this was mid-November !
The unpaved access road was in good shape, having been graded recently. We encountered a locked gate Friday night a few hundred yards from the base of the 4wd road, just beneath the powerlines. A signed use trail leads steeply up to the 4wd road from near there (there was a pullout with room for several vehicles). By Sunday night the gate had been forcibly removed. A number of signs on the lower part of the 4wd road warned of private property / no trespassing.
Climbed with Mike (who led all the pitches) and Matthew (joined us on Sunday).
Warmed up on the Sunday Slab to hone our friction skills, then climbed Elephant Walk as a party of three. Excellent first pitch with sustained friction climbing on the remaining pitches. Watched the sun set atop the summit.
On Monday Mike and I again spent the morning on the Sunday Slab, then climbed the Tollhouse Traverse in the afternoon (w/slab finish). With about an hour of daylight left we decided to have a go at one of the summit TR's - a 5.7-5.8 finger crack - short, sweet, and strenuous (Cuticle Corner ?).
The road was rough, of course - we hiked the last 0.5 mile up to the top of the dome. Weather clear and a bit breezy up top, but for the most part still. Cold at night - high 20's, but warm and pleasant in the sun during the day.
Outdoorgirl_ca - Dec 7, 2007 12:38 pm Date Climbed: Dec 1, 2007
finally
I finally had a weekend where I was actually tired from too much climbing. Did almost all of the Sunday Slab, and a bunch of other stuff, finishing off with the classic Tollhouse Traverse on Sunday afternoon. Can't wait to go back.
jsorber - May 25, 2007 3:47 pm Date Climbed: May 20, 2007
Fun Climbing close to home
This is a great place! I have climbed a number of routes with Rob O. and enjoyed every one. Tollhouse has a great combination of route for new and experienced climbers. I love it!
Hey Rob, nice meeting you and Mike. See ya out on the rocks another day! BTW I think I was on crack when I told Mike about another approach trail (on descent it appeared to be the same, just mushed about by footprints). I think we ran into the land owner on the way out. He didn't come out and say it, but he was leaning on us a bit to say the "trail" was an adequate replacement to road access past his gate. We told him the situ needs work. FYI
robojeda - Aug 19, 2006 12:53 am Date Climbed: Aug 18, 2006
Toohouse Traverse, Elephant Walk.
Nice Day. Brian Led 1rst pitch of Elephant Walk and I led Traverse w/ slab. Lucked out with a breeze or it would have been muy toasty. Comming back soon!
Route Climbed: Tollhouse Traverse Date Climbed: December 10-11, 2005
Cool climb, with exciting 5.7 friction variation at the end. Did it with mrolph, Dragger and HandjamMasterC, nice relaxing weekend. The next day we did first pitch of Elephant Walk and then toproped the 5.8 variation. Awesome weather for December - climbed in t-shirts.
Lots of fun camping and climbing with Rob, Guy, and Dave. Definitely a good place to meet up with a lot of SPers...it's not crowded and there's tons of routes.
Route Climbed: Tollhouse Traverse, multiple routes on the Sunday slab Date Climbed: March 6-7, 2004
Randy Wenzel, Etsuko and I climbed Tollhouse Traverse under the full moon (well, we used headlamps too:). What a fantastic experience, and also a great way to avoid the daytime heat! We took the 5.7 "slab variation" on the 3rd pitch. Back to the camp at 4:30am! This is truly a classic.
Aside from Tollhouse Traverse, we climbed practically every bolted route on the Saturday slab. They range from 80 to 150', 5.7-5.8 difficulty.
Route Climbed: Tollhouse Traverse, Elephant Walk, Slabs. Date Climbed: February 8, 2004
I climbed this route with Martin Rolph, and chose the 5.7 slab finish. A fun 2+ pitches up a Moderate crack and than finish with a short climb up the exposed slab.
Route Climbed: Elephant Walk Date Climbed: 7 February 2004
I climbed elephant walk with Monty and Adam in Feb. 2004. We had beautiful sunny weather -- until the fog rolled in. We enjoyed clipping the shiny new bolt that Dave and Deb installed. Thanks, Dave and Deb. The fine finger and hand cracks on the first pitch, and the thoughtful slabby runouts on the next three pitches made for a fun adventure.
limpingcrab - Mar 11, 2011 1:42 pm Date Climbed: Oct 5, 2010
Fun PlacePractice using my silent partner on Tollhouse Traverse. Awesome for its grade, and a fun place overall!
keema - Apr 7, 2010 10:53 pm Date Climbed: Apr 7, 2010
First Multi PitchDid the Tollhouse Traverse for my first ever multi-pitch climb. FollowedJoel Ward. Yeah baby!!
Bascuela - Dec 17, 2009 11:53 pm Date Climbed: Dec 17, 2009
Great Day with MarkThis was my first time up to Tollhouse. It was a cold foggy day down in Fresno, so Mark and I head up to the sunshine for some fun climbing. Started off with some easy 5.6ish single pitch climbs and finished off the day with the Tollhouse Traverse - FUN.
justing - Jun 17, 2009 4:42 pm Date Climbed: Jun 14, 2009
June 2009Climbed many routes with Rob - thanks for more fine leads! Elephant Walk was a favorite, but Tollhouse Traverse and Falling Star were very nice as well. Great intro for me to slab climbing. Hope to get back again sometime!
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10/9/2010 Led a couple of the 5.7 slab routes this time, and the first and third pitches of Tollhouse Traverse. Loved the wild mantel finish on that one.
rhyang - Nov 24, 2008 10:37 am Date Climbed: Nov 22, 2008
VariousClimbed with Mike this past weekend. Warmed up leading 5.7 / 5.8's on the practice slabs both days. Otherwise, I led :
- Elephant Walk p1
- Falling Star p1 (original route)
Mike led (I followed) :
- Silly Wizard (5.8)
- Elephant Walk right side finger crack variation p1 (5.8)
- Knocking on Heaven's Door (5.8)
- Taking a Bath with Strangers
Finished up Sunday swapping leads on the Tollhouse Traverse, finished on the 5.7 friction variation - 4 pitches to the top of the dome, topped out as the sun was setting !
Warm weather, but not too hot.
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Date climbed: March 3-4, 2007
Climbed with Mike.
Saturday hit the slabs on the climber's left of the descent trail and we led 5.7-5.8's. Then followed Mike on Balls first pitch (5.9) and led the second (5.7), then rapped off. Led first pitch of Homeboys (5.8) - scary stuff, complete with lichen and runout bolt placement =:-0 Finished with a 5.8 over on the warmup slabs.
Sunday we again warmed up on the slabs, then followed Mike on the first pitch of a 5.8 whose name I forget. Led the first pitch of Hang Em High (5.5 ?) but Mike decided to bail off the second 5.8 pitch, so we retreated and swapped leads on the Tollhouse Traverse to the very top, doing the 5.7 variation. Finally, followed Mike on Falling Star's first pitch (we still think it's 5.7 :)
Oh yeah, ran into Rob while we were there. Very cool chit-chatting with other SP'ers !
Weather was just about perfect - sunny and warm during the day, though a bit chilly and breezy at night. Patches of snow here and there but nothing serious.
Landowner's locked gate had been rebuilt and reinforced. The alternate trail looked to be in poor shape after recent rain/snowfall. Another trail about 50' up the road seemed to switchback up a gully and might be better.
--
Date Climbed: Nov 18-19, 2006
Climbed with Mike.
Saturday I led a few 5.7's on the Sunday Slab, then the first pitches of Falling Star (is this really 5.8 ??) and Elephant Walk (way fun !) I followed Mike on a Sunday Slab .10a and then the first pitch of Wandering Taoist, which got a little hairy.
Sunday I led a 5.8 on the Sunday Slab (with only one fall :) and then followed Mike on a 5.7+ and then Taking a Bath With Strangers (fun !) We then went over to the area to the right of the descent trail and sampled the far right slab, with Mike leading some mossy, rusty-bolt stuff over there (5.7 - 5.8 ?) on a two-pitch adventure. I then led the rightmost climb with good bolts (5.7 ?) in two pitches, then Mike led a harder variation from the first belay (5.8 ?). The guidebook didn't seem very current for that area, but it was enjoyable.
Fantastic weather, cool but not cold at night, warm during the day. Hard to believe this was mid-November !
The unpaved access road was in good shape, having been graded recently. We encountered a locked gate Friday night a few hundred yards from the base of the 4wd road, just beneath the powerlines. A signed use trail leads steeply up to the 4wd road from near there (there was a pullout with room for several vehicles). By Sunday night the gate had been forcibly removed. A number of signs on the lower part of the 4wd road warned of private property / no trespassing.
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Routes climbed: Sunday Slab, Tollhouse Traverse, Elephant Walk
Dates climbed: Dec. 4-5, 2005
Climbed with Mike (who led all the pitches) and Matthew (joined us on Sunday).
Warmed up on the Sunday Slab to hone our friction skills, then climbed Elephant Walk as a party of three. Excellent first pitch with sustained friction climbing on the remaining pitches. Watched the sun set atop the summit.
On Monday Mike and I again spent the morning on the Sunday Slab, then climbed the Tollhouse Traverse in the afternoon (w/slab finish). With about an hour of daylight left we decided to have a go at one of the summit TR's - a 5.7-5.8 finger crack - short, sweet, and strenuous (Cuticle Corner ?).
The road was rough, of course - we hiked the last 0.5 mile up to the top of the dome. Weather clear and a bit breezy up top, but for the most part still. Cold at night - high 20's, but warm and pleasant in the sun during the day.
Outdoorgirl_ca - Dec 7, 2007 12:38 pm Date Climbed: Dec 1, 2007
finallyI finally had a weekend where I was actually tired from too much climbing. Did almost all of the Sunday Slab, and a bunch of other stuff, finishing off with the classic Tollhouse Traverse on Sunday afternoon. Can't wait to go back.
jsorber - May 25, 2007 3:47 pm Date Climbed: May 20, 2007
Fun Climbing close to homeThis is a great place! I have climbed a number of routes with Rob O. and enjoyed every one. Tollhouse has a great combination of route for new and experienced climbers. I love it!
robojeda - Mar 5, 2007 7:14 pm
Re: March 3-4, 2007Hey Rob, nice meeting you and Mike. See ya out on the rocks another day! BTW I think I was on crack when I told Mike about another approach trail (on descent it appeared to be the same, just mushed about by footprints). I think we ran into the land owner on the way out. He didn't come out and say it, but he was leaning on us a bit to say the "trail" was an adequate replacement to road access past his gate. We told him the situ needs work. FYI
robojeda - Aug 19, 2006 12:53 am Date Climbed: Aug 18, 2006
Toohouse Traverse, Elephant Walk.Nice Day. Brian Led 1rst pitch of Elephant Walk and I led Traverse w/ slab. Lucked out with a breeze or it would have been muy toasty. Comming back soon!
Nate D - Feb 1, 2006 2:16 am
Route Climbed: a few Date Climbed: 1997-Been here a couple times, and am bound to return.
Matthew Holliman - Dec 20, 2005 11:23 am
Route Climbed: Sunday Slabs, Elephant Walk Date Climbed: Dec 4, 2005With Rob and Mike. Followed/TRed some lines on the Sunday Slab, then followed on Elephant Walk. Fun chimney and crack, then lots and lots of friction.
Zzyzx - Dec 17, 2005 6:24 pm
Route Climbed: Tollhouse Traverse Date Climbed: December 10-11, 2005Cool climb, with exciting 5.7 friction variation at the end. Did it with mrolph, Dragger and HandjamMasterC, nice relaxing weekend. The next day we did first pitch of Elephant Walk and then toproped the 5.8 variation. Awesome weather for December - climbed in t-shirts.
littleboogie - Oct 7, 2005 10:42 am
Route Climbed: Tollhouse Traverse Date Climbed: October 5, 2005Josh and I had a great day of climbing. I lead pitches 1 & 3, he lead #2. We couldn't ask for better weather. All in all, just a fantastic day!
MelbaToast - Jan 31, 2005 10:39 pm
Route Climbed: Headwall Date Climbed: 1/30/2005Lots of fun camping and climbing with Rob, Guy, and Dave. Definitely a good place to meet up with a lot of SPers...it's not crowded and there's tons of routes.
Dave K - Apr 14, 2004 12:29 am
Route Climbed: Tollhouse Traverse and something else Date Climbed: March 6 and 7, 2004A fun route and a fun weekend with fellow SPers!
mrolph - Mar 16, 2004 1:22 pm
Route Climbed: Elephant Walk Date Climbed: March 6, 2004Followed Elephant Walk with Sam Mills on the lead. A very fun route.
- also Tollhouse Traverse on Feb 8, 2004 again with Sam Mills
Misha - Mar 7, 2004 11:20 pm
Route Climbed: Tollhouse Traverse, multiple routes on the Sunday slab Date Climbed: March 6-7, 2004Randy Wenzel, Etsuko and I climbed Tollhouse Traverse under the full moon (well, we used headlamps too:). What a fantastic experience, and also a great way to avoid the daytime heat! We took the 5.7 "slab variation" on the 3rd pitch. Back to the camp at 4:30am! This is truly a classic.
Aside from Tollhouse Traverse, we climbed practically every bolted route on the Saturday slab. They range from 80 to 150', 5.7-5.8 difficulty.
See you in the fall, THouse!
Sam Mills - Feb 10, 2004 4:34 pm
Route Climbed: Tollhouse Traverse, Elephant Walk, Slabs. Date Climbed: February 8, 2004I climbed this route with Martin Rolph, and chose the 5.7 slab finish. A fun 2+ pitches up a Moderate crack and than finish with a short climb up the exposed slab.
HikeMonkey - Feb 8, 2004 11:44 pm
Route Climbed: Elephant Walk Date Climbed: 7 February 2004I climbed elephant walk with Monty and Adam in Feb. 2004. We had beautiful sunny weather -- until the fog rolled in. We enjoyed clipping the shiny new bolt that Dave and Deb installed. Thanks, Dave and Deb. The fine finger and hand cracks on the first pitch, and the thoughtful slabby runouts on the next three pitches made for a fun adventure.
Dave Daly - Jan 19, 2004 9:21 pm
Route Climbed: Falling Star Date Climbed: 18 Jan 2004Deb and I climbed this fun multi-pitch climb just in time for an amazing sunset. Doesn't get any better...
Thank Dwight, Mark, Barry and Leni!! I'll be sure to pass on the appreciation to my kids and the history behind the place. Climb on!!