Kaisa Pietras working an unnamed project at Laurel Falls
Chris Hale works The Rainforest (v7) at Laurel Falls
Jimmy Webb crushes Riverdance Stand (v9) at Dayton Pocket
Chris Sierzant working an unnamed project at Laurel Falls
Ok, so for the last few years you've been hearing of a super-secret
area just 20 minutes north of LRC with roofs the size of Texas'. Well
guess what, it's all true, except of course, the land has just been
donated and is now a state park, making climbing not only legal, but
also guaranteeing free, uninterrupted climbing for years to come.
Many
moons ago, then-Obed ranger Rob Turan (amongst others) began
bouldering the Dayton Pocket area. Nathan Steele, among other locals,
continued development for several years, but other than that, this area
remained relatively quiet. Finally, as Andy Salo was making a
southeastern trip this winter (2006/7), he and Matt Bosley began
exploring new areas on their rest days, including Dayton. In his own
words, " When we first walked into the large cave, we freaked out and
spent the rest of our trip putting in new problems and neglected every
other area in the south. All told, I would estimate that we spent
several weeks out there exploring and establishing new problems.
Somewhere along the way, we met Nathan Steele, a true local who showed
us exactly what had been climbed and what hadn't."
Since then,
development in Dayton has been taken to a new level. Local strong-man
Ronnie Jenkins has gotten in on the action, while many more moderate
climbers have been putting up problems with lighter grades.
The place has something for everyone, and tons of virgin rock still
waiting to be climbed. The boulderfield is steep and some of the falls
are a little sketch so bring the big set, but if you love cranking in
areas long on fresh rock and short on crowds than this could be the
place for you.
I
am trying to compile information so that down the road, when D-Pocket
has been climbed a little more, a guidebook can be made that respects
the areas developers and first ascenders. Drop me a line here about that or any other questions, FA's or overall Dayton spray.