Trip Report
TR: Roseanne, Tuolumne, with Mike Waugh et.al
Wednesday September 30, 2009 2:32am



photo not found
Missing photo ID#127005



Mini TR about Roseanne, with Waugh overtones:

So me and the Sooze are in the meadows for a few days and hook up with the squatters in "Camp Waugh". No idea how they do it but they are up there for months at a time..... anyway.... We have no real plan of action and Waugh and EddieMo say, "hey, lets's go do Roseanne tomorrow..... it's casual". I'm skeptical. Waugh is a known sandbagger and really too good of a climber to even guess how the other half lives, nevermind know how they live. I look at it in the book and decide "yeah, we can do that... it's 5.9... how hard can it be." Done deal... we'll go tomorrow.

Next day we rack up, which is odd for a face climb, and Waugh says some stuff that is starting to get me nervous....like, "got any small nuts? You might need them" and stuff like that.

The base is found and Waugh takes off, being sure to tell me to say close, "cause the "B" team might need some help." He floats the first pitch which you can pro in the corner, if you are in the corner.....

Here is Waugh on the first pitch, with the route drawn in:

Visit on apstatic.com


Me and Sooze take off shortly after EddieMo is up near the belay of the first pitch. I am of course outside the corner and get like zero pro in and have to do some harrowing moves to clip the bolt at the top of the corner. I yell up for beta and I get back something like, "oh.... don't fall from there... you might deck." This is reassuring as I'm about 70ft up.

Sooze on the first pitch:

Visit on apstatic.com



Visit on apstatic.com


Finally I get over to the belay bolts at the top of #1. A "good job" rains down from the "A" team as they are well up the second pitch by now. Sooze come up and I get ready for the second pitch. Waugh is well above but waiting for me to cast off onto the glass.... yeah... I'm not that solid on this stuff.

Pitch 2 glass:

Visit on apstatic.com


After getting established above the belay I am being directed by the Wazoo and Emoe to where I can wiggle in a TCU and wired before committing to the traverse that gets you into a big corner that will take some pro. I think they are laughing up there..... Some standard hair raising edging and puling will land you at the belay.

For pitch #3, Waugh offers up that if my eyes are good, I might find the old rusted 1/4"er up on the third pitch.... "but it won't hold a fall" he adds. Hopefully the crappy nuts behind a flake will take the teeth out of any 150ft fall I might have in mind. These Tuolumne guys are nuts.....

Looking up pitch #3:

Visit on apstatic.com


The top of this route is capped by a roof. Waugh is calling it "maybe 5.4"..... I'm thinking "bullcrap... that thing is 11d if I've ever seen it." The "A" team has now disappeared over the summit. I take off out of the belay and start searching for the bolt.... I find it, and they were right... what a piece of crap! I wouldn't hang wet socks over a fire on that hardware... but I clip it anyway. The slot through the roof is right above me.... and eyes be damned, it might actually be 5.4! Thank Satan! The roof goes easily and there is the "A" team on top waiting for us.... knowing we would either be lost or die on the descent.

Summit roof exit:

Visit on apstatic.com


What a great day out! For sure one of the best days out that entire year, and me and Sooze owe it all to Mike Waugh. Just having him up there above us, point out the pro opportunities, and cheering us on with "ho man... don't fall THERE" encouragement dragged me up from a semi solid Tuolumne 5.8c leader to a 5.9r-beta-from-above hardman! Thanks Mike!

  Trip Report Views: 3,142
Russ Walling
About the Author
Russ Walling is a gym climber from Poofter's Froth, Wyoming.

Comments
Dirka

Trad climber
Hustle City
  Sep 30, 2009 - 04:04am PT
Nice TR! Fine writing and pics.
10b4me

Social climber
Lida Junction
  Mar 12, 2014 - 04:36pm PT
bump
Mike Bolte

Trad climber
Planet Earth
  Mar 12, 2014 - 05:03pm PT
How did this go by with so few comments? Excellent TR by Fish standards (leave it to the reader to figure out what that means) and this is an excellent route, one of the best in the meadows I always thought.
RyanD

climber
  Mar 12, 2014 - 05:18pm PT
Quality tr with funny jokes & good photos- hilarious for a 5 yr old TR like this to slip thru the cracks (nonpunintended).

Deserves to be on the front page for a bit.
scuffy b

climber
heading slowly NNW
  Mar 12, 2014 - 05:20pm PT
He really doesn't know how the other half lives, it seems sometimes.
klk

Trad climber
cali
  Mar 12, 2014 - 05:24pm PT
missed this first time round.

way better than anything else i can see on the front page at the moment.

survival

Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
  Mar 12, 2014 - 05:31pm PT
Classic! Haven't I felt like that on almost everything in Tuolumne?
Dapper Dan

Trad climber
Redwood City
  Mar 12, 2014 - 05:35pm PT
very nice TR . That glacial polish looks slick !
Brian in SLC

Social climber
Salt Lake City, UT
  Mar 12, 2014 - 06:13pm PT
Missed it too. Great TR!

Camped next to Mike in TM a few years back. Heckuva nice feller and made us feel at home.
kaholatingtong

Trad climber
The fake McCoy from nevernever land.
  Mar 12, 2014 - 06:27pm PT
werd
Batrock

Trad climber
Burbank
  Mar 12, 2014 - 06:46pm PT
What is Waugh up to?? I haven't seen him since he retired from the fire department I'm still slaving away for. I'll have to try and catch him up in the Meadows this summer.
Fletcher

Boulder climber
Institute of Better Bouldering-DirtbagDad Division
  Mar 12, 2014 - 07:29pm PT
Well woven tale of woe and intrigue as usual. Enjoyed that!

Eric
Kalimon

Social climber
Ridgway, CO
  Mar 12, 2014 - 08:54pm PT
Superb writing and photography! Beautiful glacial polish . . . so clean.

Thanks alot man.
SCseagoat

Trad climber
Santa Cruz
  Mar 12, 2014 - 09:49pm PT
Beautiful glacial polish . . . so clean.

Yes, amazing, how this TR got by. The pics of the polish .... Well makes my heart beat a little faster, as well as the breath.

Top shelf report and climb!

Susan
Russ Walling

Social climber
from Poofters Froth, Wyoming
Author's Reply  Feb 7, 2018 - 08:55am PT
Bump for fixed photo links 2/2018

Seems that Mountain Project changed the address of all the TR pics, so none were showing up in the SuperTaco TR... I tracked down the photos and updated the links so the pics work again.


Let me know if they are not working...
Rick A

climber
Boulder, Colorado
  Feb 7, 2018 - 09:39am PT

Inimitable Russ storytelling! Had me chuckling throughout.

Made me pine for the meadows. If the creek don't rise, I'll be there this summer.

Thanks for reposting. Photos look good.


mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
  Feb 7, 2018 - 10:44am PT
Yeah, Russ. One standard "Attaboy" for the repairs. Saw this but with no pics, well...meh.
NutAgain!

Trad climber
https://nutagain.org
  Feb 7, 2018 - 11:30am PT
A fine gem to read and some nice pics.
StahlBro

Trad climber
San Diego, CA
  Feb 7, 2018 - 03:43pm PT
Thanks for bringing this back Russ. I can almost smell the sweaty knobs, and the elation of survival at the top.
Scrubber

climber
Straight outta Squampton
  Feb 9, 2018 - 01:07pm PT
Thanks for the story! It brought back great memories. On my first trip to Tolumne, we ended up on Roseanne due to a ridiculous lineup on the nearby popular trade-route.

"How about this one? It's only 5.9" was a joke that was bantered around for years afterward by those who partook in the adventure. It doesn't sound like it sees much attention compared to some of the others around. I've only met a couple of people who have climbed it.

After doing it, we had a much greater appreciation of the legendary Tolumne routes, and how those kinds of runouts on 5.11 must have been absolutely mindbending.

K
Mungeclimber

Trad climber
Nothing creative to say
  Feb 9, 2018 - 01:51pm PT
Put another one on the list that I'll be pissing my britches on, if I can sack up.
MH2

Boulder climber
Andy Cairns
  Feb 9, 2018 - 03:48pm PT
Let me know if they are not working...


They are working hard. I love the glass photo. From a safe distance.
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