Start up the face of a short flake before you start into the crack, or just scramble up the side of the flake ramp. Climb a short crack section with good pro, and top out after the crux. Be careful of sleeping bats. It is possible to walk off here or build a TR anchor with pieces up to 4" in the crack.

Just like most of Castlewood, this is a short but fun route that may or may not have seen previous ascents. If you have any info regarding this route (name, FA,

etc

.), please feel free to contact me.

Short Ribs (submitted as Fruit Bat)

The Scoop

You Name It

Rain Dance

Petrified Turd

Hot Tuna

Cactus Flower

Teething Biscuit

Caramel Corner

Bubbo Goes Solo

Gorilla Milk

Pushing Buttons

Banana Flip

Meat Market

Tortilla Flats

Rat's Nest

Pretzel Logic

Strawberry Jam

Rain Dance Crack

Pie In The Sky

Penny Horse Ride

Hot Fudge (variation)

Frosted Flake

Rainbow Bread

Peaches and Scream

Hot Fudge

Zucchini

Banana Shake

Banana Peel

Blood Pudding

Bubbo's Crack

Shake and Bake

Banana Chimney

Gatoraide

Hamburger Helper

5.10 Gorilla Milk Direct

Carmel Corner Layback

Bozo No No

Pecan Pie

Hamburger

The Cornucopia

Donut Hole

Licorice Stick

Franktown Brewery

Carmel Popcorn

This is around the corner from

Banana Shake

on the North side of the Banana Tower.  Ascend the easy ramp.

Climb the face through the concave scoop.  Look for an old 1/4" part way up.  Some hard stemming/smearing is the crux.  Stay in the trough the whole way up.

This route lies to the left of

Licorice Stick

. Start at the thin vertical seam 5 feet off the ground. If you actually start this, head towards the left-facing corner.

This route follows the face to the right of

Rain Dance Crack

.  It is tempting to go to the crack sometimes, but persevere and stay to the right.  Climb into the big cave pocket at the top for a rest and finish the route right below the bolts.  (Finish with

Rain Dance Crack

).

A short crack left of

Hot Fudge

that is completely filled with guano--very unappealing.  Let's just say this--there are some routes that were never meant to be climbed....

The route is listed in Hanson's old guidebook as 5.9+. It seems to have been lost in obscurity for quite some time now. I spent an hour scrubbing lichen and sweeping pine needles off and brought this little gem back to life!

The initial boulder problem is the crux, and it's possible that something down low has broken since the FA. A crashpad is the best protection for this section. The crack (and the pro) starts about 15 feet off the ground. A couple pads and a couple pieces makes for a fun, gritstone style route.

This is one of the first climbs you see when heading up the trail to the Grocery Store Walls. It is to the left of the big roof climb "

Donut Hole

". Climb the face to the left of the

Petrified Turd

corner crack. Cheers to you if you can start from the ground because the first feet are about five feet up. Otherwise, traverse in from the right off of the giant block. It gets tougher the higher you go. Beware of the beehive about ten feet away to the right.

Start in the right-facing dihedral and stem up high.  Undercling and reach high for a small pocket.  Finish with another reach for a higher pocket. This is a pretty fun sequence of moves.

In the large corner in the Grocery Store Walls, locate a wide crack with a block on top (

Caramel Corner Layback

).  Caramel Corner is the ledge system that forms a ramp to the left of the wide crack.  Starting on the main wall, follow the obvious ramp and follow it up the climb.

Stay on the face to the left of the crack. Start with a small cruxy sequence down low, move up to a crimp ledge, climb a few easy moves, then mantel from a jug. There are no bolts or bolted anchors.

Also, knowing a lot of these walls were once climbed by someone, if you have the F/A or a name for this, let me know.

Start on the far right side of the columns and ascend the RHS of the face.  It is not a bad route, but it is not as good as the direct line.

This route is around the corner south of

Petrified Turd

.  It can be identified by the large U-shaped trough about 25 feet up and a chalked undercling crack near the base.  The route starts on in the crack and a crimp to the right and moves up the chalked holds to the small cobbles and over the ledge.

Start on the face of a flake to a large alcove in the wall, then move up to an overhang. Once past the overhang, the fun starts. There is a rock projection from the wall. Mantel, then finish with another cruxy move to the anchor.

This climb is not in Tom Hanson's guidebook or any other guidebook I have seen. If someone has info on this climb (FA, name, dates, etc.), please let me know.

That being said, my group of climbing buddies have grown to know this climb as "Meat Market".

Look for some small ledges to the right of

Rat's Nest

. The start is where the 5.10 is. Pull up onto the 5 foot shelf using a few face holds and a weak sidepull. Follow ledges to the top.

Heading north from the climbers' trail junction with the cliff locate a crack with a pocket/ hole a few moves off the deck.  The first move is tricky to figure out but after that you climb up through the pocket and crack with a great nut placement at the top of the first crack.  Pick your own line from here, with many variations possible.  The last move off the ledge to the top is a face move to the bolts.

This climb starts about 20 feet right of

Rat's Nest

. Start below and right of a large concavity about 10 feet up. Angle right around the concavity and follow pockets and ledges to the top. It looked like this route was bolted at some point and then chopped.

Climb the offwidth, which is actually fun. I give it a 5+ rating for the OW. ;-)

This route is located by taking the Climber's Trail to the Grocery Store Wall, then hiking North along the base of the rock to the very end of the wall.  The routes on this face are all North-facing.

Just right of the five bolt route (

Bozo No No

) on the Grocery Store Walls, climb this fine route.  Start below the thin crack and climb up to it, using mostly face holds the whole route.  Finish to the double bolts or straight above the crack.

(The climb is on the wall just left of this picture.)

Begin at a left-facing dihedral.  Move to the right at the horizontal crack and finish on the middle of the face on column #2.

The climb starts easy and warms you up before you get to a small overhang. Mantel and look for the jugs above. Continue on the face, then finish to the canyon edge right above.

I would wish that I was the FA, but chances are someone climbed it before me. It's not bolted, not in any guidebooks, and very overgrown with vegetation. If you have any info, message me.

As

Hot Fudge

is generally described as a traverse from under

Donut Hole

, this line runs from directly under the crack. There are one or two nice jugs at the start which lead into a very small pinch and a great lunge to the left. That is definitely the crux and makes this line significantly harder. This then leads into the

Hot Fudge

crack, which I would rate an 8-. Nice climb.

Frosted Flake is located directly left of

Caramel Corner

.   It is easily identified by the large anvil-like ledge about  20 feet off the deck.  Climb up the face and do a tricky  mantle onto the top of the ledge.  Keep going up the pebbles  until you get to a small cave.  This is the crux.  Check out the small tunnel created by the water.

This has a nice balance sequence right before the TR anchors.  There is not much for hands on it, but there is a solid right foot balanced by an interesting undercling.  It is a fun little route!

This route starts below the ledge about 8' up, then more or less follows the fall line of the rope from the anchors.

About ten feet right of

Hot Fudge

is a large flake on the ground.  Start right of this flake and climb up to a flake about 15' up.  Climb this flake to the ledge above and get on the big ledge.  You can finish with a direct finish on a nice face to bolts above if you're toproping or are willing to run it out.  The other finish traverses on the ledge left to an obvious weakness in the cliff.  Protect the crack and climb up it (harder) or climb a few moves on the face on the left.

Start in the right-facing corner under the roof, traverse under the roof using the finger crack, pull around the corner (crux), and continue up the good crack to a small bulge. Then head up the ramp and up to the top--look for the bolts. This is a nice crack climb.

Follow the angling ledges right of

Peaches and Scream

.  Once on the tier follow the path of least resistance to the top.  I find going left of the crack on face holds then moving to the crack works best.  Note: The 5.4 + rating is given since this route isn't quite 5.5- but is definitely harder than a meek 5.4.

The route starts on the ledges just left of the trees on the right side.

Climb the right side of the tower past some nice features.

On the Banana Tower, a freestanding piece of rock on the northern end of Grocery Store Walls, find the east face and set up a top rope.  Climb the east face in the center on good holds with a crux towards the top.

Addendum: a cobblestone has likely pulled out near the top of the climb making it ~5.10+!

Climb the middle of the face up to the ledge.  Head straight up from here to the crux, or take the roof (red) to the right for a fun variation.  This is good face climbing.

Note, rattlesnakes have been found right above this climb.

This prairie rattler was right at the top of the climb Blood Pudding. Watch for snakes everywhere in Castlewood.

The crux is down low. Start in the crack, there are good holds in the crack and good feet on the face, you just have to look for them. Finish to the left on

Bubbo Goes Solo

. Note: it may be possible to finish just to the right of the genuine crack system to the top with a 5.11 (ish?) move.

Climb the arete to the left of

Petrified Turd

corner crack. A short route considering a rather difficult anchor setup. It's better to combine it along with

Cactus Flower

to the left, the pendulum off

Cactus Flower

is rather entertaining, when you set up over Shake and Bake. When you finish the route, your head is three feet from the bee hive.

1: Climb the chimney behind the Banana Tower.  There are several variations here.  You can either stem inside the chimney that makes the Banana Tower or take the chimney on the left; either variation is similar.

This old aid route starts just right of

Licorice Stick

(L-facing dihedral).  The bolt ladder of 1/4" bolts angles right up the face.  Some may be hard to clip without a long reach.  This climb is NOT recommended for free climbing or toproping since the bolts angle so much and are old 1/4".  Nice practice for aiding though.

To the left of

Hamburger

is Hamburger Helper. Look for a small cave, from here climb up to a small ledge under a small notch (crux). Continue up the notch to easier terrain.

This route is to the left of "

The Scoop

", to the left of Banana Tower. Start at the left edge of the face and work your way up towards the center. Mantle up onto the sloping ledge (crux), then finish off back towards the left through a trough. If anyone has any historical info on this climb (name, FA), let me know.

Climb exactly behind the tree in the picture, where the route actually lies.  It is a nice route but is pretty difficult for the grade--fun route.  Stay right up the middle of the face.

Take the wide crack system to the wedged flake and lieback to the top.  It is a pretty good beginner lead with a crux near the top.

This really great sport route is found in the main part of the Grocery Store Walls.  The climb features sustained crimpy climbing using some pockets, cobbles, and two finishing jugs.   This route is a higher quality than the majority of The Wood's climbs. Climb it.

Use the same start as

Rainbow Bread

, but angle right and up the corner.  It is easier than

Rainbow Bread

.

Climb the first crack you see after turning left on the trail to the Grocery Store Wall. There is a tree right in front of the climb. Tackle the slightly overhanging crack (crux). Then finish on easier ground. It is easier to TR, as there is not much gear up high. If you try and lead this and fall, you will probably be impaled by the tree.

This boulder should only be attempted by the most experienced of climbers. Choose your line, and pray you make it. Crash pads will do nothing for you, I fell off and broke all 3 of my legs.

Above the undercling section of

Hot Fudge

, there is a huge hole/cave.  This is the donut hole.  The route heads straight up towards this feature.  5 feet above it, the route traverses right and finishes with the last section of

Hot Fudge

.  This is located on a vertical face just right of the "1" in the picture  It is crimpy, but it is a solid route.

Climb the face up to the black, wet, left-facing dihedral.  This is a major water runoff whenever it has rained or snow is melting.  If you can find it dry, it's a great steep route with as many face holds as jamming.

This route goes up the line between

Pie in the Sky

(1) and

Strawberry Jam

(2).  Start with

Strawberry Jam

and traverse onto the ledge 1/3 of the way up.  From here, it is one reach to the big jugs that are typical of the adjacent routes.

This is a nice climb, but don't be fooled, it's a lot harder than it looks. The route begins just below the cave to the right of

Carmel Corner

. The majority of the climb can be done by stemming between the two walls on the face. There is no defined crux on this route. After the final bulge, traverse back on to

Carmel Corner

.

Description

Location

Protection

Routes in The Grocery Store Walls