Gollum's Playground

Gollum's Playground is a fun bouldering area at Case Mountain with a variety of routes, both in type and difficulty, most of which just waiting to be established.  The rock here is generally coarse with many sharp holds and some smoother/softer ones. It is along side a portion of the Yellow trail, which runs parallel to the long vertical wall.  This is one of the largest, if not the largest, bouldering spots at Case.  From left to right when looking from the Yellow Trail, there is a long vertical wall (Main Wall), a long Overhanging Wall (or cave if you really want to call it that), and a smaller vertical "Quartz Wall" with two veins of quartz running up it.     The "Main Wall" is nearly perfectly vertical and segmented into 3 obvious sections.  The middle of which has the smallest holds and presumably the hardest problems (still needs to be established).  The others have a bit larger cracks and holds.  The vertical walls are made of very solid rock.  Most of the holds are thin horizontal cracks.     90 degrees from the "Main Wall" is the long "Overhanging Wall" that is fully featured with lots of positive holds.  There is a large amount of potential problems here and you can do some really fun traverses as well.  Some of the holds have sharp spots, so watch out where you put your hands.  The rock is very solid for the most part, but some loose pieces can be found, especially down low, so it's not a bad idea to check out the thinner flakes before cranking on them.  There are lots of crimps on this wall mixed some side-pulls and larger flakes.  Many of the routes have some big moves and heel hooking is often a good option.     Looking from the Yellow Trail, the Quartz Wall is immediately to the right of the inlet to the Overhanging Wall.  It isn't as wide as the Main wall but still has room for a couple easier problems currently waiting to be established and potentially one harder fingery problem. There are 2 veins of quartz running vertically up this wall that make it look cool and give it its own character as well as some horizontal cracks.     There are also 2 nearby walls; Chipmunk Wall and Lego Wall, SW of the actual Playground proper, which are good for beginner warm-ups or just for funsies.

    Harder routes along with several others still need to be established by someone better/stronger than myself and the routes listed here are in no way comprehensive or the complete picture of the potential here.