Lichen or Not

Another of the Platte's near-perfect hand cracks, Lichen or Not ascends a short vertical buttress and is punctuated by a 20 ft 5.6 runout on slabs to the anchor.

Hike to Squat Rock and continue on the trail to approximately the midpoint of the rock. As a reference point, you should be slightly to the left of the Squat Rock summit (a blocky boulder cleft by a 5.10 offwidth) and about even with a tree located just down and left from the summit. Thread your way through some large boulders to the base. As you near the base, you will likely look up and say to your partner, "that looks like a great line!." This is your route.

Hand jams with a thin-hands crux will take you to the top of the vertical section. Follow easy ground and then move left, clipping a bolt before a 5.8 slab move. 5.6 slabs take you the next 20 feet to the summit. A 60m single-rope rap will get you to the base of the climb, but be extremely cautious when pulling the rope to avoid the gully to the "climber's left" of the route. We were less than cautious and ended up with a thoroughly wedged cord.

Light standard rack weighted towards hand-sized pieces (an extra #2 Camalot/2.5 Friend is advisable) plus a QD for the single bolt. Tree anchor w/slings at the top.