Pinnacles—Machete Ridge
MVP
Online resources—I really appreciated all the blogs I found that provided a trip report for this climb. It made it so that I never felt lost and gave me extra confidence for the day.
This blog provided the original inspiration for me to climb this route. It also has some nice pictures and gave me the idea to take pictures of the route using 3D Google Maps so that I could better stay on the route.
Summit Post and Mountain Project gave great beta for the route finding and the route itself. It was awesome for me to pre-visualize the route and then see it be pretty accurate to what I had pictured. That’s how good these resources were!
Peakbagger provided a GPS track that I downloaded (courtesy of one Mr. Michael Toffey) onto GaiaGPS so that I could even more easily stay on track. I used it to get to the start of the route and then I didn’t use it much, but it was nice to have as a piece of mind.
Lastly, I exported this blog post and had it as a note on my phone so that I could refer to it during the climb. This one has lots of high-quality pictures; unrelatedly, it’s also the most feel-good of all the resources. Just check it out if you want to know what I mean by that.
Climb Review
Pinnacles is all volcanic rock, but unlike those at Berkeley or in Marin, the rock here is brittle and disintegrates as easily as children laugh. It makes everything spicier, especially when the bolts are old and aren’t glued in.
For the climbs on the west side of Pinnacles, it’s best to park on the... (wait for it) west side of Pinnacles. There is no road through the park, so one’s gotta choose. The Chaparral Parking Area (at the end of the road on the west side entrance road) opens at 7:30 am and I’d recommend getting there early to really stretch the day.
To get to the start of pitch 1, we followed the GPS tracks of Mr. Toffey to the lone pine tree almost at the top of Machete Ridge. It was quite the hike with sections full of choss and a few 4th class sections to warm us up for the climb.
The trails and the ridge were pretty clean in terms of trash or other waste. I picked up a single wrapper that I saw at the start and a chalk bag that was left behind at the lower gully exit.
There was a bathroom at the Chaparral Parking Area.
Old Original (5.5; South Face)—What an amazing adventure this route is, though if one is looking for purely rock climbing, it’s a snoozer. The route is 6 pitches and out of the 6, there is maybe a pitch and a half of actual rock climbing. Having said that though, the other 4.5 pitches are absolutely unforgettable strolls with extreme exposure, unforgettable rappels (unfortunately due to having to work extremely hard to recover the rope), and just unforgettable adventuring. At the end of the six pitches, there is an optional 5.5 rock climb up the middle tower that I don’t currently recommend (I didn’t climb it) due to both of the rappel bolts being spinners (this is why I didn’t climb it). Then, there’s the descent down, which was either horrific or super fun, depending on how much you like your heart rate rising due to the possibility of a slippery and exposed traverse that must be done off of a small tree that is actually rock solid, but sure doesn’t seem big enough. At the end though, if the cave is open, the hike back to the car is rather wonderful and is a great end to a very full and adventurous day.
The Reepschnur—you descend on the orange rope and pull on the white Purline to retrieve both lines
What I Learned
We made such a good time that at the end of the first pitch—when we could see The Citadel—we wondered if we could head over and claim the Costanoan route. Well, those dreams died pretty quickly when we found how difficult it was to reclaim our rope after rappelling on such low-angled terrain at Pinnacles.
For the second (and third) time in my life, I used the Reepschnur rappel method to rappel. Unlike the first time, I used the Petzl Purline I purchased a few months ago as my retrieval line instead. The system worked really well as I would have hated carrying another 70m rope or would have had to rappel two to three times for every one of the Reepschnur rappel. On the downside, the backup carabiner knot did introduce extra friction when retrieving the rope. But given how hard it was to retrieve the rope even on short pitches that we did with just the 70m rope and how much harder it would have been with another 70m rope instead of the super slick Purline, I’m not sure if it was any more difficult than the alternative.
Having used the Purline, I ordered two things for the system as soon as I got home. One, I got a throwable rope bag for the Purline. I bought it as the thin Purline tangles super easily and it was difficult to throw down the route—the bag should fix both of these problems. Two, I bought a Petzl Tibloc as the ascender will help me retrieve the rope much easier than the munter solution I improvised.
Given the color of the rock, it was really difficult to find the bolts on Old Original. Still, we found all the bolts that we needed to make it a safe climb.
I didn’t bring my chalk bag as I felt that I wouldn’t need it given how short the actual climbs were. I was right—I never missed them.
We over-packed and ended up with extra quick draws, accessory cords, and slings that we didn’t use, but honestly, I’d pack the same thing again for a similar route as it was nice knowing that I had extra materials to work with if we ran into some unknown issue.
Except for the descent, I stayed in my climbing shoes for the full six pitches and my feet reminded me how much they hated being in them, especially by the end. Next time, if I were to climb this again, I think I would switch to either normal or approach shoes for the easiest routes to give my feet a break.
We knocked on most of the holds and most of the time, the rock was hollow. While that increased our stress levels, it was good to know how much pressure we could exert on the rock, given how easily holds break at Pinnacles.
I found the traverse between the upper gully and lower gully during the descent to be the most terrifying part of the day. But, I led it, didn’t slip, and didn’t injure myself, so it wasn’t too bad I guess. Just a good test of my faith in my climbing gear, Rai, and the small tree that we anchored off of.
I carried food, water, clothes, shoes, and my first aid kit in an Osprey packable backpack that I got at the Craggin’ Classic bouldering event. I was surprised at how robust the backpack was given its super light weight. I would have probably found my running vest to be a bit more comfortable with the same size, but given how much I brushed up against the abrasive rock, I’m also pretty sure the running vest would have ripped in the middle of the climb.
We learned that on pitches where there wasn’t much climbing and it was more walking, we had to give each other a lot more slack than usual as a tight belay would lead to a jerky moving motion as the rope would pull us back. We also learned to hold the rope with one of our hands so that if there was a tight belay, the hand could help us manage the pull force of the rope and would allow us to smoothly walk without falling.
Fears Faced
I started Rock climbing two years ago to overcome my fear of heights and Machete Ridge was the confirmation that I’ve made tremendous progress. If I had put myself on pitch 4 two years ago, I’m not sure I could have moved an inch due to all that exposure. Instead, I found myself confidently walking upright, knowing that I had nothing to fear. What a journey!
Friends
Rai was my partner in crime for this adventure and it was so much fun! The jokes started pretty much as soon as we got in the car and didn’t end for the whole day. We ribbed each other in good fun and supported each other as much as we could. I couldn’t ask for a better partner for an adventure like this one.
What Happened?
4.4 miles, 8 hrs 44 mins, 1020 ft of ascent
When my plans to go to Joshua Tree for Thanksgiving blew up, I found myself going on to the Coalition Crag discord to see if anyone wanted to climb in Pinnacles. Fortunately, I found Rai there and he agreed to join me for Machete Ridge (we’re also planning on climbing Costanoan in a few weeks if the weather holds out). He passed all the tests when I climbed with him at Mount Tam, so it was on.
He arrived at my house about 10 minutes early at 5:50 am and we headed towards the Pinnacles west entrance. I think we talked mostly about climbing and traveling, but to be frank, I don’t remember too clearly as it was much too early in the morning for me.
When we arrived at Pinnacles, it was just a couple of minutes before the place actually opened, but when we drove by the visitor center, we saw a ranger who got out of their car and was walking in to start their shift. We parked and started walking in to check-in. They turned around and asked what we wanted, and when I flashed my annual pass (which might have expired a month ago...), they told me that I was fine to continue on. Before we got back in the car, we noted how warm it was and that we might have overdressed.
At the Chaparral Parking Area, we quickly recanted our temperature statement as it was just about freezing. As we put on our gear, we kept taking short breaks to warm our hands as it was absolutely freezing. We both wore our harnesses fully racked with our equipment (I had 6 draws, two slings (triple, double), FRS radio, camera, gri-gri, ATC, third hand, and a bunch of locking carabiners) and carried the rest on small backpacks (Purline, 2L of water, food, climbing shoe, first aid kit, snacks, and sunblock). After double-checking and checking each other’s kit, we started hiking—clinkin’ and clankin’ as our equipment on our harnesses announced our approach to the great Machete Ridge.
We were huffin’ and puffin’ getting to the start of pitch 1, but thinking back, it wasn’t so bad. I mean, not so bad if one had an adventurous mindset, as there was plenty of scree, lots of steep uphill, and a little bit scary class 4 section.
At pitch 1, I took off my down jacket that I now regretted bringing (as I wouldn’t wear it the rest of the time), we roped up, and I led the first pitch. At first, I couldn’t find the two bolts, but they were there as soon as I started to think “This is a bit run out.” The first pitch was extremely short and I was able to belay Rai, who ran up the route.
The Citadel looked so close!
We stopped for a second at the anchor station to talk about the second pitch (what we expected, what we would look for, how many bolts there were, where/how he would belay me, etc). We switched leads and Rai started to walk to a catwalk that moved away from the anchor station when we spotted The Citadel. This is where we started having fantasies about doing both routes in one day (and maybe one day we will!). He continued on but was unable to find the bolt to secure himself, but the route was so easy that after a bit of searching, he walked over to the anchor station. There was a little bit of exposed walking, so I think he stated that he scooted along his butt. When it was my turn, I walked up and found the bolt (it was definitely hard to see and it was on the left shoulder of the rock instead of the right that Rai was expecting). I then walked the section that Rai scooted along—because I really wanted to challenge my fear of heights and I wanted to stay calm in the face of the extra risk. I made it just fine to the anchor and it was now my turn to lead again.
The third pitch definitely looked scarier than it actually was, as it’s a cliffside traverse with bolts at your feet that you need to bend down to clip. But much like everything else about this route, once I committed, it wasn’t so bad at all. Just slow and easy made the traverse rather easy. Then there’s a short boulder problem, and there was a nice tree to belay off of. Much of the beta talked about a manzanita tree, but that one looked unhealthy, so I ended up walking a bit further to a stout pine tree, setting up an anchor on there, and then walking back to the manzanita so that I could see Rai as he followed.
We switched leads again and Rai walked the traverse at a steady pace. He found the single bolt that protected this route and made it to the anchor station. I figured that the first part looked super safe and since there was a smaller manzanita bush that I had to get the rope over, I decided to step up to the 4th pitch before being secured on the belay. As I stepped up, I was speechless at how majestic the view was. I was on the ridge that made up Machete Ridge’s knife’s edge—with the ridge dropping off to infinity on both sides, I was dumbstruck. When Rai was ready, I started walking forward and just enjoyed the experience as this was the big reason I was here in the first place.
Pitch 5 only contains rappelling, so I got out my Purline and tied the necessary knots on it while Rai stacked the main rope so that we could throw it down. The throw... was less than ideal. With how low the angle the rappel path was, I could only get the rope 20 feet or so down—it meant that while I rappelled, I constantly had to pick up both strands of rope and throw it behind me over and over again. But there wasn’t much we could do from the anchor besides the actual rappel. Rai double-checked my work, I got my gri-gri on and almost started rappelling down before I stopped. I had to make sure Rai and I were on the same page and that he knew how to rappel using a gri-gri! Once I was satisfied that we were doing this as safely as possible, I started the rappel. I passed by two intermediate belay stations where I assumed that people with a single rope strand could belay down this route. The last 30 ft or so was a completely free rappel on overhanging rock and was probably my favorite part of the rappel. Rai then rappelled down and we started to pull the Purline side of the rope to retrieve both strands. I knew that this would take a bit of force, but I was not aware that I needed to jump on the rope with all 200 lbs of me to start moving the rope. Rai and I basically ended up doing squats with the rope line to be able to retrieve the rope about 2 feet at a time.
The “U” notch signifying the start of pitch 6
Pitch 6 was a short climb followed by another low-angle rappel and it was a repeat of the previous pitches. I climbed a short (and unprotected) climb to the apex of this small ridge, but couldn’t find the anchor so was trying to devise a natural anchor, found the anchor, belayed Rai from top, then rappelled down using an ATC. Now, what was different about this pitch was that Rai then started setting up his rappel and realized that the bolt was quite loose. It wasn’t a complete spinner, but wasn’t bomber either. So he carefully rappelled down and then spent a whole lotta energy pulling the rope down the low-angled terrain.
At this point, maybe it was the lack of food or just over-exposure to fear, but I wasn’t feeling like taking on more risk than required. So I watched Rai climb the optional Middle Tower route and thought that I’d just top rope it once he made it up. Well, there were a few troubling things about the climb and I am glad I didn’t go first. First of all, the first bolt was probably 20 feet off the ground, and a fall (even though it was protected by the rappel anchor at the start of the route) would have been painful. To mitigate that risk, Rai brought the #3 cam that we had brought to help protect the climb—the good news was that it fit in the crack; the bad news was that it was a flaring crack and Rai didn’t have the strongest confidence that it wouldn’t just pop out on a fall. No matter though, as he did not fall and made it up to the top while saying things like, “This isn’t so bad!” and “It looked way worse from the bottom,” even though there was a move I saw 1/2 way up that seemed like he was relying on slopers while stepping up. But he made it to the top and then told me that he did not recommend me top roping it since one of the anchor bolts was a total spinner and the second bolt was one that moved (just not as much as the first). I passed on the climb and Rai carefully—for the second time in an hour—rappelled down on shitty bolts.
That’s the “trail” to the lower gully exit
We then started our descent. We rigged another Reepschnur rappel (on really solid bolts for a change) and rapped down a shorter-than-expected line. Once we were down, we pulled down the rope with gusto (I fell down while pulling the carabinered part of the rope over the lip) and found the first of three rappel bolts. For this first one, we thought we could just rope up and walk down the steep gully, but then I found there was too much moss to make that fun, so I asked Rai to lower me from top—it took a bit of trial and error, but we eventually made it down to the next set of rappel bolts. On this one, we decided to rappel and that was pretty uneventful as we were very practiced at rappelling by this time. At the last set of rappel bolts, I thought the rock looked pretty good, so I just walked it down. Rai wanted to play it safe, however, so he rapped down the final mini-pitch. We arrived at the oft-talked-about meadow and saw the controversial tree that too many people had rappelled down. We instead roped up, anchored ourselves to a small tree, and traversed through some overgrown bushes on a rather steep cliff-side traverse. This was probably the scariest thing I did on the day, as the feet were slippery/sandy and the handholds were hollow (as usual). We then class 3/4 hiked through scree and other slippery stuff until we arrived at the Balconies Caves Trail.
When we got back to the car—it was just about sunset—we quickly put away our gear and drove out of Pinnacles with huge smiles on our faces. We were famished though and Rai found this restaurant in Soledad named Cocuyos Restaurant which had super friendly staff and mucho comida deliciosa. It was then a 90-minute straight shot back to San Jose where we chatted about a single subject—food.
Thanks to Rai for the 4 photos above!