(Curved arete in the middle)
I was delighted to find a note in my email box from my friend Claudine saying she was back from her summer excursions and suggesting we go do some climbing. The weather was crappy but a few days later it cleared up and she suggested we head down to Mill Creek to do a climb called "No Sweat Arete". Claudine has done the climb numerous times, but I'd never climbed in Mill Creek and wanted to snoop around.
The hike in is short, a mile and a half or so; but the approach from the trail to the base of the climb is a lot of not-fun walking up fairly steep dirt and scree. We met a friend walking her dogs while still on the trail and gossipped a bit, then plodded up the hill in the heat, thankful for a few shady patches here and there on this 75°F September day. We were at the base of the climb in an hour or so.
The first view you get of the wall is impressive, and as I looked at it I said to myself "There's no way that's 5.7." True enough — you have to get a bit farther up the trail and around the corner to see the actual arete.
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| View of Mill Creek, North Side | No Sweat Arete
(Curved arete in the middle) |
No Sweat Arete is a pleasant 3-pitch 5.7 the way we did it, but with enough cracks and blocks to get off course, wander around a bit and make it more "interesting". There are also several variations which continue up another three pitches past where we walked off. The Lowe Extension is 5.10c; there are other possibilities as well. That would put you right up on top, which would be fun. Some other day when I have more time and more water...
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| Looking Up the Mill Creek Valley | On the Approach
(No Sweat Arete is out of the photo on the left) |
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We paused to cool off when we got to the base of the arete itself. There's an optional additional pitch below the normal start which we bypassed; next time I think I'd like to start there. We worked our way on 4th class rock around and up to the "normal start".
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| Approach showing
normal start and optional first pitch below normal start |
Wrong Approach
Correct approach is at very bottom right |
The north rim of Mill Creek Valley faces due south; it's hot and dry. We planned to carry everything up with us so we didn't have to hike back around and up the scree again to retrieve anything. We had a liter of water each and a few snacks, plus a light windbreaker each. When we consolidated our gear at the car we decided to only bring Claudine's pack, and I left my juicy snacks in mine instead of stuffing them in a pocket. I used to be able to go without lunch but I've found as I've gotten older I need to graze all day or have lunch to keep firing on all cylinders. Claudine gave me one of her two granola bars, then I downed some water to lighten the load.
To get started you have to traverse left about twenty feet; it's not hard but handholds are thin and spaced out and you don't want to slip. Claudine took the first pitch and threw in some pro before doing the traverse.
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| Claudine starting out | |
Then she disappeared around the corner and was on her way up.
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| Workin' her way up | ||
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The climbing is great fun, nice cracks with good rests at regular intervals. It's easy to place gear but as with many alpine-type climbs you have to be careful about rope drag.
In one place Claudine went one way around a corner and placed a cam high up where I couldn't see it from the bottom. When I followed it looked like I could go either way after cleaning the gear at the bottom, but when I got most of the way up the other option it became clear there was another piece of gear over there. I went on up and then worked back around and down-climbed a bit to retrieve it.
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I led the second pitch and then Claudine finished off the third.
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We enjoyed the sunshine, finished up our water at the top, checked out the Lowe extension a bit, then scrambled around the walk-off ledge and started down. The descent is like the ascent, a lot of loose dirt and scree. Claudine got couple of small blisters from grit in her approach shoes. I was thinking maybe I need some lighter approach shoes which would take up less space and weight in a pack and so be easier to climb with, but after thinking about it I like my hiking shoes with scree collars.
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| On Top | ||
| Lowe extension crack on left | |
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All in all, a great fall day and a fun climb.
This page last updated on 2016-09-30.
