Zig Zag/Touching The Sky, 5.8***

    Gear Used:
  • 60 meter rope
  • gear to 2 inches
  • slings/quickdraws
March 28, 2008

The Drive

Mt. Erie is one of the few crags in Washington that is easily accessible from Seattle. By easily accessible I mean less than 3 hours to reach. It usually takes us about an hour and 20 minutes to get there from my front door. After driving I-5 North for about an hour take SR 20 West for about 15 minutes. Take a left at a stop light (still SR 20) and drive towards Deception Pass. Take a right at Campbell Lake Road and another right at the Mount Erie Grocery which leaves you on Heart Lake Road. There is a small pull off shortly after the store for the Snag Buttress trail otherwise continue another mile for the state road to the top of Mt. Erie and access to the Powerline Wall and the Summit Wall.

From the parking lot you hike up the trail. You quickly find a fork with a sign that warns you that the trail is closed. Ignore it and take the right hand trail for a bit until you see another trail cut up the slope on your left. Follow it until you are at the base of Snag Buttress.

Zig Zag/Touching The Sky, 4 pitches

Pitch 1, 5.6

We started off by climbing the first two pitches of Zig Zag to get up to the big Snag on the ledge. The first pitch is a fun corner with good gear that climbs to the base of a low angle ramp system.

Mt. Erie
Dylan climbing the first pitch right before the belay.

Pitch 2, 5.6

The second pitch is more easy climbing but the gear can be harder to place and is a bit more scarce. You basically traverse up and to the right towards the big snag.

Mt. Erie
Dylan climbing the traverse with the sound in the distance.

Pitch 3, 5.8

The third pitch is the start of Touching The Sky. It's a line of bolts that start at the right of the snag and cruise straight up the face. It is a bit awkward to get to and instead of down climbing the ledge system to the first bolt I traversed on an easy and juggy ledge straight to the third bolt and then went straight up. This was a pretty short pitch with the crux being right below the belay ledge.

Mt. Erie
Dylan at the crux of the 3rd pitch.

Pitch 4, 5.8

This was the exciting pitch! You start by stepping left from the belay and then heading straight up the wall. The climbing is steep and challenging. After about the third bolt you have a funky overlap that you have to climb over which felt like the crux to me. We ended up having a weird rope drag issue that made leading this pitch horrible. Every time I had to clip a draw it took all of my strength to pull the rope up. It completely drained me. I belayed Dylan up and we made one rappel down to the ledge and then two rappels from the snag and back to the ground. All in all it was a great route.

Mt. Erie
Dylan climbing the steep last pitch.

-Useful guide books-

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