Trip Report
Mt St Helena - Far Side 2011-01-23

by nutjob
Wednesday January 26, 2011 2:05pm
My love and I finally had a day for climbing together. We thought about Yosemite, but were too lazy to spend 8 hours of that day driving. So we had a leisurely morning start and enjoyed the short drive from Berkeley up through Napa, St Helena, and Calistoga to Mt Helena. It has a pleasantly graded approach hike that doesn't wear you out even when you haven't been climbing:


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We went on the older established north side of the road, but there are some awesome looking formations on the south side (Table Mountain). Apparently the main stuff there is crumbly rock on 5.11 and up, with some epoxy to keep the holds from breaking off. But I've never been there, so just propagating slander to keep the wild hordes at bay. There is an enticing looking formation called Table Scraps with a lot of moderates on it. I'll try that next time.

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Houses of the Holy: the view on the hike from The Bubble to the Far Side

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I don't know if anyone has scrambled down the hill from Far Side to climb this, but it looks pretty enticing. Somebody must have done it

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Stopping to smell the roses:

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And on to the climbing. Shute-Mills is the first thing you see at Far Side:

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It's a pretty spot:

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Then we cruised up hill to a few 5.8ish climbs

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Sun was fading, time to start thinking about packing it in:

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Another couple of dudes came out to enjoy the Far Side too. Here's a bigger picture view of what we were just rapping off (and in the right foreground, it shows the steepness at the start of Atlas 5.10b which I was about to do):

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Here's looking straight up Atlas:

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I think the pics of me climbing it are on the other camera. Maybe will update this later with a few more pics.

Nice painted skies on the walk out:
top left corner top right corner
Nice walk-out from the Far Side at Mt St Helena.
Nice walk-out from the Far Side at Mt St Helena.
Credit: nutjob
bottom left corner bottom right corner


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No dramas, no getting lost, no headlamps on the walk out until the road was as wide as a freeway. We capped off the evening with a nice dinner in Calistoga, home a little after 9pm. If there was a music soundtrack to this day, it would be the Eagles' "Peaceful Easy Feeling."

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nutjob 		About the Author
nutjob is a climber from Berkeley, CA.

Some people call me the space cowboy yeah
Some call me the gangster of love
Some people call me Maurice
'Cause I speak of the pompetous of love

Comments
mrtropy

Trad climber
Nor Cal
  Jan 26, 2011 - 02:10pm PT
Nice Thanks
rhyang

climber
SJC
  Jan 26, 2011 - 02:21pm PT
Vivid color in those pics !!
mucci

Trad climber
The pitch of Bagalaar above you
  Jan 26, 2011 - 02:56pm PT
Looks like a great day was had!

Thanks for the post Nutjob.
Batrock

Trad climber
Burbank
  Jan 26, 2011 - 03:04pm PT
Nice country up there. I recently read Robert Louis Stevenson's Silverado Squaters about living on the flank of St Helena at an abandoned mining camp. Your pictures brought his words to life knowing what he described, thanks.
sub

Sport climber
calistoga, ca
  Jan 26, 2011 - 04:43pm PT
nice TR.
My buddy and I spent a half a day exploring that mushroom shaped rock you mentioned seeing from the far side. It was a pretty easy hike out from the quarry but the rock is really deteriorating, flaky clay. You can hike around to the top but there is not a solid hold on the entire chunk.
neversummer

climber
30 mins. from suicide USA
  Jan 26, 2011 - 04:59pm PT
nice looks like a perfect day
Bad Acronym

climber
Little Death Hollow
  Jan 27, 2011 - 12:39am PT
Always wondered about that rock - thanks, sub.

And thanks, nutjob!
Salamanizer

Trad climber
The land of Fruits & Nuts!
  Jan 27, 2011 - 01:05am PT
Nice TR. I have yet to make it out to the Far Side. I don't tend to get up that way much, but I've done quite a bit of climbing over on Table Rock.

That big dark crack in the dihedral just left of center of your second photo... The one that cuts strait through the tallest part of Table Rock... is an old Roper route I rebolted and freed years ago. The last pitch was an aid ladder next to a wide gaping maw offwidth of which the bolts were hand made out of license plates by Roper himself with 1 inch long Star Drive in bolts attached to them. In that choss, that's like A5+. I pulled all the bolts and replaced them for free climbing accept one which I left as a "heritage bolt" so that others passing by can marvel in it's splendor. Only bolts I have ever placed even remotely near a crack... even though it is 8 inches wide and total choss.

That big blob formation lower down in your photos is called the Turks Head and has most definitely been climbed.
neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
  Jan 27, 2011 - 02:17am PT
hey there say, nutjob...

thanks so very much for the neat share, here...

very nice...
:)
Ezra Ellis

Trad climber
North wet, and Da souf
  Jan 27, 2011 - 12:19pm PT
Sweet Pics, thanks for sharing!!!!
nutjob

Sport climber
Almost to Hollywood, Baby!
Author's Reply  Jan 27, 2011 - 12:27pm PT
Thanks Sub and Salamanizer... great beta for future visits! Sounds like an 8" crack with my name all over it, and Turks Head will stay lower on the priority list :)
survival

Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
  Jan 27, 2011 - 12:42pm PT
Great stuff nutjob. Way to get out there!

Thanks for all the pix.
NutAgain!

Trad climber
https://nutagain.org
  Feb 14, 2017 - 02:51pm PT
BBST - some more aging non-Yosemite climbing content.
Bad Climber

Trad climber
The Lawless Border Regions
  Feb 14, 2017 - 05:00pm PT
Nice to see the old place again. Been years since I was out there. I like what you're doing, Nut, drowning out the political junk. I still have good friends in Sonoma County, so I'll have to hike out there again for some cragging. So nice in the spring!

BAd
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
  Feb 14, 2017 - 05:08pm PT
Give them enough rope and they'll maybe go climbing.
Inspirational and not laden with panic.
Much appreciated, Nutso.
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