Did You See That?

Another stop in the "not necessarily worth bringing your rack for but worth doing if you brought your rack" tour, aka the Milagrosa trad circuit.

In John Hinrichson's on-line guide he says that a "thin crack (5.8) with good gear leads to a ledge; walk left to larger crack (5.10) that takes good but slightly tricky pro. A variation is to follow the finger crack (5.10) to the anchors of Welcome to Milagrosa." After reaching the ledge the finger crack appeared to be the better choice as the big crack/chimney looks pretty chossy. Indeed, while climbing the finger crack I found myself stemming over to the big crack on a few occasions and on one of those occasions the rock on the side of the big crack broke, sending me for a ride on a green C3 which thankfully held. Next time I'll forgo the stem rests, tempting as they are, and just climb up the finger crack which is pretty fun with a bulging crux move near the top. The finger crack is a little chossy but good gear and solid locks can be found.

As is typical of Milagrosa gear routes, this won't be mistaken for a classic but is worth doing if you brought your rack.

Starts a few feet left of Welcome to Milagrosa in an obvious, and by Milagrosa standards, attractive-looking crack.

Light standard rack to a #2 camalot for the finger crack variation (which, as I say, appears to be the better option off the ledge). I can't comment on the larger crack except to say that it may be chossy. A red C3 protects the finger crack crux but there are other options as well. If doing the finger crack variation you can clip the chains on Welcome to Milagrosa. If doing the left-hand, larger crack, John's guide suggests that there are chains at the top, but I didn't notice any from below.