Trip Reports - 6/29/00 Texas Greenbelt Limestone

- by Mike Tennant

Reimer's Ranch & The Seismic Wall

With ten hours of driving behind me I crossed the border into Texas dreading the next six. I finally arrived in Austin early in the morning and it started to rain. I spent the day getting familiar with the area, stopped by REI to pick up the Texas Limestone II guidebook and headed off to the Austin Greenbelt for a look at prospective climbing areas. I was able to get a peek at the dry creek bed of Barton Creek, but due to trail closures, I left without seeing any of the climbing areas.

View larger photo of Jenn

Upon returning the Greenbelt next day with Jennifer Hogan, we were in total awe to find that the once dry creek bed now had over six feet of water in it with people whizzing by in kayaks. "Cool," I thought, "but it is really going to suck if we have to cross that thing with all our gear." We walked along flooded creek and passed a couple limestone walls that contained several bolted routes. It looked quite promising if the rain would only stop, which it eventually did.

On day three Jenn and I headed out to a place on the Greenbelt called New wall. We came upon a crack system that started just over a low undercut ledge. It looked reasonable. We geared up; I popped up over the ledge to a good platform and searched for a spot to place my first piece. Everything I touched seemed to flake off in my hands. I started having flash backs to the horrid Florida limestone I so fondly knew and realized that this was not a good line. Upon closer inspection, nothing looked solid. So, from 10 feet off the ground the down climbing began. Let's just say that climbing up over an undercut ledge, no matter how tough it might be, is so much easier than climbing down that same ledge.

Upon safely reaching the ground, I cleaned my shorts and we looked for a better line. Just around the corner we found another crack system that appeared quite nice. This system was about 5-10 feet away from a popular bolted route, Meet the Flintstones, and actually looked like it had been lead before. Again, we geared up and I headed up to the first ledge. This time things looked and felt pretty solid. The top of this crack system linked up with the anchors of the adjacent route, so I setup a top rope from there. Jenn and I played around on different variations of this line for a while. Then the sky clouded up and a light rain began to fall. We packed up and thought it would be a good time to eat lunch hoping this drizzle would soon pass. In no time at all, the clouds dissipated and the sun came out drying the limestone walls.

Enlarge photo of Jenn

After lunch, Jenn and I headed off to a place further upstream called the Seismic Wall. We followed the path down to the flooded creek bed and it didn't look too bad. "Oh, it only looks about knee deep," I said as I started wading across. I began to have second thoughts when the water level started encroaching on my chest. "Hmmm, maybe it's a little deeper than I thought," as I turned back to see poor Jenn with water about her neck looking like a Labrador retriever dragging a duck to shore. At that point the creek began to shallow and we made it across somehow managing to keep our gear from getting soaked. After shaking dry like a soggy poodle, Jenn and I geared up for the climbs.

The Seismic Wall consists of a section of overhanging limestone shelves leading up to a roof. This portion of the wall is flanked by an easy slab to one side and a wall with overhanging bulges on the other side. None of the routes on this wall are officially named in the Texas Limestone II guidebook, but all of them are bolted and rated accordingly. I have indicated the number of the climb as listed in the guidebook, Texas Limestone II, as (TLII #?).

We started off on a slimy 5.10- bolted layback (TLII #7), affectionately dubbed, "The slime crack." I wasn't prepared for how slippery the rock was, as I typically do not climb with grease on my shoes, but I soon became very skilled at the fine art of "Scooby-Doo." It wasn't pretty, but somehow I managed to slither my way up the crack, lock off an arm bar and reach for what felt like the last bar of soap I dropped in the tub. Reaching the anchors I set a TR and rapped down. Jenn inched her way up to the anchors commenting on how slippery it was, but she did manage to hang on to the soap-like rock. We then did a nice 5.9 finger crack variation of the same route (TLII #6) and cleaned the anchors. The next climb we did was a 5.8 slab (TLII #3) to the right of the overhangs. It was not nearly as slippery as the first climb and overall it was a pretty decent route. Jenn went up on lead, rapped down and I followed in suit. We finished the day with an overhanging 5.10 (TLII #9) that contained a series of thin ledges. It was heel hook heaven and a pretty fun route. After a short swim on the way back to the car, we cleaned up and went out for Sushi to finish off the evening.

See larger photo of Mike

The next two days (days four and five) Jenn had to work, so I was on my own. I went back to the Seismic Wall and headed downstream to a place called the 5.8 Sanctuary. Finding some very short routes, I decided that it wasn't worth setting up a belay anchor and headed back to the Seismic wall. At the Seismic Wall, I set up a solo belay anchor on a 5.7 slab (TLII #2) to the right of the overhang. After a nice warm up on that, I moved to a 5.8 slab (TLII #4) just next to the previous climb. As I was rappelling down from the climb, a few local climbers (Seth and Becky) showed up. They were quite friendly and we chatted for a while as they set up to climb. I watching them climb the two routes I had just finished and they offered to belay me on an overhanging 5.9 (TLII #5). It was a very fun route, perhaps my favorite on the wall. Upon finishing the route, Seth and I noticed a finger crack that made it's way up to a ledge and joined the sport route I just finished. We commented on how that would be a pretty neat variation of the previous route. Perhaps another day.

See larger view of cave

The following day (day five) I drove back to the Seismic Wall access and headed downstream to look for a place called Airman's Cave and a nearby wall called Kirk and Alvin's wall. After hiking around in the Texas heat for several hours unable to find either place, I walked back up to the Seismic Wall. As I approached the wall, Seth, Becky and a few of their friends (Lisa, Eric and Kelly) showed up. Remembering the finger crack variation we spoke about the previous day, Seth offered to belay me on it. I lead the crack with two pieces and linked to the sport route at the overhang. It was a pretty fun route, so I set up a TR for the rest of the group. My next and final climb that afternoon was to clean the anchors on my first climb.

On Day six Jenn and I drove out to Reimer's Ranch, which is about 25 miles outside Austin. Reimer's is open Thursday - Monday 7:30 to dark and they are closed Tuesday and Wednesday. You'll need to fill out a waiver and pay $4; it is definitely worth it. Reimer's consists of a fairly long limestone cliff band that overlooks a river below. A small creek has eroded a "path" that provides access to the bottom side of the cliff band. On the way down the creek bed, there is a small cave recess on the right hand side containing a few speleothems. The cave is pretty short, maybe 50 feet long, and the view coming out is awesome. The cliff band is divided into a right and left band from the creek bed access. There are in excess of 110 bolted routes listed in the guidebook.

Enlarge photo of Jenn

Jenn and I decided to climb a wall on the left band called the Dead Cats Wall. We Started with Almost Nothing To It 5.9 (TLII #28), which is marked by a tree growing out on the bottom of the wall. From there we just made our way down the wall one climb at a time hitting My Name Is Mud 5.9 (TLII #29), an un-named and unlisted 5.9/5.10, Dead Cats** 5.10 (TLII #30), an un-named 5.9 (TLII #31), Water Ballet 5.10 (TLII #32) and an un-named 5.9 (TLII #33). Half way through the day we ran into a few local women, Sara and Adrian, whom were bouldering. They were quite friendly and ended up joining us for a few climbs. As we packed up, Sara and Adrian pointed us in the direction of the swimming area and we hiked down to it. It was really nice to finish the day with a refreshing swim in the river. At the point where the creek bed joins the river, there is a rope swing hanging from a tree providing a nice ride out over the water.

With the abundance of climbs and the close proximity to Jenn's' place, we decided to go back to Reimer's the following day (Day seven) and check out the right cliff band. We started on the Prototype Wall with Prototype 5.10+ (TLII #74). An interesting note about Prototype is that near the top of the climb there is a large pocket containing a squirrel's nest. Every now and then the squirrel, perhaps seeking some revenge, will stick her little nose out of the hole startling unsuspecting climbers and giggle a bit as they jumps back from the wall and fall. We didn't see the squirrel this time. After Prototype, we did the adjacent 8-Flake 5.8 (TLII #70), Bisector 5.9 (TLII #71), and Clone Call 5.10- (TLII #72) trio. These three climbs have different origins but join near the top and share the same anchors. We decided to take a break for a while and went down to the river for a quick swim and to eat lunch. Wanting to get another climb in before we left, we walked down to the Crankenstein Wall to climb a mixed route called the Back Off Crack 5.9 (TLII #107). It is a corner system with a crack running half way up, the crux being just above where the crack ends. Two pieces of pro put me up to the single bolt protecting a tricky face move and then it was a short distance to the anchors. Upon finishing the climb, we decided another swim was in order and headed back down to the river. We relaxed in the water for a while and then headed out early for dinner in downtown Austin. One of the nice things about Austin is that it certainly isn't lacking in nightlife.

See larger photo of Mike

On my last day (day eight) we didn't actually plan on going climbing, but a phone call from some of Jenn's friends (Danny, Katie, Ross, Bill, Aaron, and company....I actually do not remember all of them) whom were heading down to the Seismic Wall and we couldn't resist. We showed up at Seismic Wall and were somewhat surprised to find that the previously flooded creek bed was now dry again. Soon after, the rest of the group showed up and we set up several top ropes for all to enjoy. It was a pleasant relaxing afternoon that we finished with a trip to Maggie Moos for ice cream.

The next morning as Jenn headed off to work, I headed back to the land of the gyms. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to climb at Enchanted Rocks on this trip. Perhaps next time.

Text, photos, and links submitted by;
Mike Tennant

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