Beck Hill - East Face/North Slabs

The east face of Beck Hill is (seemingly) the standard route up the impressive Beck Hill rock formation. There is a well-trodden trail leading to the steeper sections high on the peak.

See main Beck Hill page

From the big boulder on the unofficial trail, head west, quickly gaining elevation on a decomposing talus slope. The trail should be fairly obvious -- obvious being a relative term. But when I climbed it it was easy to follow. After a few hundred feet of elevation gain, a series of ledges and blocky steps are reached. There seemed to be numerous options at each section, usually by going right or left. However, eventually the goal is to reach a little slot (see pictures.) Scrambling through the slot leads to a beautiful bowl, with the summit pinnacle towering above you. Scramble northwest up some slabs to a notch below the east side of the tower. It would appear that a steep, but feasible class 4 route could be climbed from this gap. However, when I was there, I was solo, and didn't really feel like risking it without a partner on hand. So I dropped down the gap to a beautiful vegetated spot north of the tower -- this is truly a magical place. From there I saw that the north face of the tower, although significantly taller than the other sides, appeared to have a steep but moderate route up towards the summit. I wasn't sure how it would go but this looked like the best option. The route I took started on the left side of the face -- right of a deep alcove. A steep class 3 move led to mellower terrain. The route moved up and right, crossing over two narrow slots as I climbed. There is a prominent bush just below the last summit block. Aim to climb to the right side of this bush. At this point there is a nice flat platform there, and a west-facing wall. A few easy 3rd (maybe 4th) class moves leads up and left, around a corner. From there steep 3rd class climbing on iron-oxide flakes leads to the nicely satisfying summit.

Descent: Climb back down the route, taking extreme caution. While the climbing is not particularly difficult, there is a lot of moss and a ton of exposure. This would be a very bad place to fall.

The following pictures roughly show the key spots in the ascent.

Sticky approach shoes would be best, a rope and some slings for those uncomfortable with exposure. Food, water, camera.