Basic Rock Climb - Kangaroo Temple/North Face

Our group of 6 (3 rope leads: Myself (mentored), Scott, Dave, plus 3 Everett BCC students: Serena, Talia, Saransh) met at the Kangaroo Pass Trailhead ("hairpin") at 6:10am.  Everyone had spent the night prior sleeping in cars at the Blue Lake Trailhead, which was slightly noisier than expected with climbers coming and going (that is what happens with WA Pass having the first day with a nice weather forecast, after days of heavy rain and thunder). It was a bit chilly in the morning, temperature ranging between high 40s/low 50s, but we warmed up fast after starting the approach at 6:25am. The crux of the day was actually to find the starting point of the approach - after bushwhacking for 10minutes we were en route (note to self, next time follow GPX more carefully at the start). Even though it had rained the days prior (rain stopped the morning of day before climb), the approach including scrambling sections were mainly dry. The whole approach was snow free, and the lake and water sources were mostly dried out.  We had made a good decision to carry more water and not assuming ability to filter en route.

As we approached the scree/scrambling portion of the approach, everyone put helmets on as the rock was loose. We navigated through what felt like the easiest path, as trail was not easily visible to follow. We arrived at the base of the climb at 9:45am.

P1: I decided to lead the first pitch as a long one, all the way to the 2nd rappel rings bolted on the wall. The rope drag was manageable. There was a stuck red #1 BD cam in the first pitch next to a piton. Navigating towards that and aiming to the small trees right above it, gets you to the bolts/rap rings.

P2: Super short 2nd pitch which went around a corner, ending at a hanging belay just before the blind corner (small gear - black&blue totem and a small nut worked for the anchor). Next time I might rather reco setting up this anchor with bigger cams slightly prior to the blind corner - which would give followers a more comfortable spot to sit and belay.

P3: Traverse, ending with a small flaring crack towards the trees. Some students seemed to have issues in getting to the crack and through it - beta advice was to do right foot jam and trust the feet to grab a small tree up on the left.

P4: Because the group was strong and weather/conditions nearly perfect, we all decided to also climb the optional 4th pitch which felt more like 5.5/6 than 5.7 and was really fun (see photo of Talia below). 

Overall, for gear I carried: Black & Blue Totem, 0.5, 0.75, 1, 2, 3, reduced set of nuts. This was plenty (only needed #3 in the 4th optional pitch). I only used a nut during the climb in the first pitch plus hanging belay, but would not have needed to in either. Rockie talkies for rope leads were helpful during the climb, as one lead got slightly off route at the end of the 2nd pitch (we were able to communicate to help them get back lower to blind corner).  60m rope is enough.

After topping out the climb, folks scrambled to the summit. Gorgeous weather, no wind, no fires, blue skies, felt like mid 60s. I had expected the climb to have at least some wet spots due to the heavy rain in the past prior days, surprisingly the whole route was dry (even if some of it is North facing). We chilled for lunch at the summit and then took a group selfie before heading down to rappels.

When inspecting rappel stations, they included multiple tat all seeming relatively new. There was no need to replace or add to any. We did rappels in lines (did not skip or combine any), sending one rope lead always first with ropes to set up for everyone to follow through. We arrived back at the base of the climb at 2pm, and finally got back to the cars at trailhead at 5:30pm. A great group that moved confidently, which allowed us to have time for the most fun 4th optional pitch, chill at the summit, and check marmots and birds during the approach back. Fun, relaxed, successful day with Everett Mountaineers.