17 Apr 2025 - Trip Report: A Golden Hour Multi-Pitch in Pine Creek Canyon

If you haven't heard already, conditions in Pine Creek Canyon are prime for climbing already!

One of the best ways to climb in Pine Creek (especially on south and east facing aspects) is to get a afternoon start around 2:30-3pm when those aspects go into the shade as the sun dips down under the Mt Tom ridgeline. You get the ambient warmth of the spring/summer temps without feeling like you are melting in direct sunlight and also the granite gets ever more grippy as it cools off.

Two of our staff members (Marion, a recent addition to the team here, and Colin, also an AMGA-trained guide for Sierra Mountain Center) went out for some quick pitches after their shifts yesterday to take advantage of ever-lengthening daylight. Marion has wanted to visit Pine Creek and also truly break into trad climbing this summer, going beyond just usually bouldering, so Colin offered to facilitate some informal practice.

Here's the report from Colin:

Trip Report

Current As Of: 17 April 2025*

After Marion's shift finished, we made the short drive up from town to Pine Creek Canyon and parked at the PSOM Slab parking area around 4pm. Much to our surprise, there was no one else there so we were psyched to have the place to ourselves and take as casual a pace as we desired!

The shade had just finished creeping down over the entirety of the south/east-facing PSOM Slab making it ideal for climbing. With the primary goal of getting in practice at placing gear protection on lead and a secondary goal of general rope and station management, I selected a combination of the two routes The Big Deal (5.9, II, 3 pitches) and The High Life (using as pitch 1) so we could accomplish both in a scalable fashion as desired. The line offers a great mix: moderate crack climbing, solid protection, and just enough spice to keep things exciting—a.k.a. the right amount of challenge for someone who has climbed a bunch but needs to gain beginner experiences in trad leading.

We got to the base of the routes just before 4:30pm and racked up. I led the first pitch to demonstrate gear placement since The High Life can be a bit techy for beginner practice even at 5.8 and also give Marion an opportunity to warm-up on the granite given this was her first time in Pine Creek. After the warm-up pitch though, Marion was ready to take the sharp end. We talked through options on how to rack your gear and then she launched up the first pitch of The Big Deal, a long 40m 5.7 slabby crack pitch that generally ranges from hands to tips. She did a great job taking her time on a marathon of a pitch to evaluate placements and put in a ton of gear (nearly the entire double rack and they were all average or better)! We went up one more pitch after that before making the call to rappel so that we didn't run out of daylight. Once back down on the  ground, we shared some neon sour gummy worms to celebrate a productive sesh and headed back down to the car and town.

In terms of weather, day temps were in the mid 70s, but per the usual, it cooled off quick in the shade in addition to there being a slight breeze. We both wore long-sleeve shirts with Patagonia Houdinis over them and were generally warm enough, both body and hands. We'd definitely recommend having various layers in your bag so you can adjust after the approach from the car or have some to put on a couple pitches up if need be.

In terms of the rack we used, we took the recommendation from Tai Devore (a former Eastside Sports staff member) in the first-ever and only Pine Creek Canyon guidebook and were very pleased—enough gear without excess. This is similar to the Mountain Project recommendation, but not exactly the same.

All in all, it was a classic mid-week evening session in Pine Creek: The granite felt fantastic—clean, textured, and cool to the touch. Each belay stance gave us a chance to take in the golden-hour light sweeping across the canyon walls and wildflowers dotting the slopes below. The lack of crowds made it feel like we had the place to ourselves. Gotta love the Eastern Sierra!

As always, don't hesitate to call us at store (760-873-7520) if ever in need of adventure ideas or conditions information!

(And if you need a Pine Creek Canyon guidebook or a new rope for your own Pine Creek adventure, we got you covered with free shipping! All you have to do is join our email list and place your order with us online)

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View of sunset on the White Mountains and the Owens Valley from the top of The High Life. We essentially had the canyon to ourselves as we only saw two other cars the entire time.

View up canyon of sunset on Mt Tom from the top of The High Life

Marion plugging gear on the first pitch of The Big Deal like she's done it her whole life!

*All trip/conditions reports are subject to change, increasingly so with each passing day since the observation(s) were made. They are provided as a tool to assist your adventuring, not to replace your own risk management and decision-making. No information in any trip or conditions report published by Eastside Sports should be considered definitive in its information or directive in its recommendation.