Runnin' on Empty-- 5.7, 2 Pitches

Overview

At the right end of the main crag here, just uphill from the road, a bolted line goes up easy terrain to a large ledge. That ledge is the belay location for leading P2 of five different routes here. All are about 125 vertical feet in all, though some will be longer overall because of traversing to start the second pitch. As such, any of these can be done as one pitch, but most will find it more fun and better for rope management to break them into two pitches.

There is very little information out there on this crag and its routes, and although I have climbed four of the two-pitch routes here, Runnin' on Empty is the only one I know by name, as I came across a Mountain Project page for it.

Note that unless you want to trust a single bolt as your belay anchor, you will need some trad gear to back up that bolt.

Getting There

From "downtown" Dubois, take the signed Horse Creek Road north out of town. After 10.5 miles, you will cross a bridge over Horse Creek. From there, the crags are prominent. Park near the bridge, in the Horse Creek Campground if you are staying there, or in some limited pullouts closer to the crags.

Route Description

P1-- Near the right end of the main crag, follow three bolts up easy rock (the MP page calls this pitch 5.2) to a ledge where you will find a single bolt and a horizontal crack. I used the orange and green Ultralight Master Cams in my system (if you use BD cams, the equivalents are roughly the .4 and the 1).

P2-- Runnin' on Empty starts on the gold hanger to the left. (The routes that start straight ahead and just right are in the 5.8-5.9 range and are worth doing as well.) Maybe 6 bolts to anchors, can't remember for sure.

Essential Gear

At least 6 draws and some cams or tricams (see details above).

You can walk off, or you can do a single rap with an 80 unless you have two ropes. A single 70 will not get you all the way down, but it gets you close and it's an easy downclimb from there.