Spring Rock Climbing at Buck’s Bar Dome
After a very wet winter and early spring, the sun is now out, the granite is dry, and the days are longer which makes for some absolutely beautiful climbing conditions! One of my favorite, nearby crags is Cosumnes River Gorge located just outside of Placerville, California. Cosumnes is home to some incredible climbing routes ranging from 5.4 to 5.13 and offers everything from friction slab and finger cracks to burly offwidths and chimneys! Many routes have easy access for setting up top ropes and if you plan on leading, a single rack from .2-3, a set of stoppers, and a few alpine draws will get you up just about anything. Right now, we are going to focus on the climbing at Buck’s Bar Dome! From the roadside parking at the trailhead, it’s only a 5 minute walk to access the top of Buck’s Bar Dome and maybe another 5 minutes from there to get to the base.
My Go-To Routes
Dinkum (5.9) - When you walk down Bucks Bar Dome and into Dinkum Gully, you’ll come across this wonderful splitter, finger crack. The crux is short but awkward, wide section about 3/4 of the way up. Once through there, it’s easy climbing to the anchor. (The Gear: a blue Totem or Black Diamond .3 protects the crux move really well! Single rack of cams from .2-1 and stoppers will easily get you to the top)
Drastical (5.9-) - This route seems to be a bit underrated which blows my mind! Work your way up to a nice ledge and continue of the right leaning finger crack before some runout but easy climbing to the anchor. (The Gear: there’s really only a few spots to place gear on this route so you don’t need much! A blue Metolius master cam, a red Totem, and a green Totem or similar sized cams in that order protects the route sufficiently.)
Test Piece (5.8) - This very aesthetic line is located down in the Main Area of Bucks Bar Dome and can also be accessed very easily from the top for top roping. It starts with a lieback and about halfway up you’ll find the short crux where the crack gets a little wide and flared. Once through the crux, you can either lieback or switch to straight it jamming to the anchors. After setting up the anchor on Test Piece, make sure to top rope Adhesion (5.10c) to the right on the rounded arete! (The Gear: an orange Totem or Black Diamond #2 protects the crux move. Singles cams from .5-2 and maybe an extra #1 depending on how confident you are with hand jams will get you to the top.)
Live and Learn (5.8) - Located on the right of the Great Flake just below Bucks Bar Dome, this route starts up glorious hand jams for a majority of the climbing before finishing with some lower angle terrain to the anchors. (The Gear: this route eats up .75 cams. A single rack of .3-2 and maybe an extra .75 can get you to the top.)
Unconquerable (5.8) - This route features a little bit of everything! Hand cracks, face climbing, stemming, and liebacking. Although it is possible to lead with large cams, most tend to just set up a top rope to climb it.
Bat Roof (5.9) - Located inside the Great Chimney in the Main Area. Climb up small ledges up to the roof. For the roof, avoid using the chimney and instead use underclings until you can reach a good jam above. After the roof, follow the ramp to the chains. For setting up a top rope, carefully hike/downclimb to chains. Can also be lead but I imagine decking in the Great Chimney would not be pleasant.
Beginner’s Crack (5.6) - Just like the name implies, the Beginner’s Crack is a great way for the new climber to hone their crack climbing skills! There are a few variations to this route but I think the most fun one is continuing up the crack on the right once you get to the comfy ledge halfway up. You can also stay to the left and climb up the slab and knobs to the chains. Top Rope access is very easy. (The Gear: bigger cams from #2 to #4 could work for the lower half. If continuing up the right crack, smaller cams from .2-.4 and stoppers will protect it quite well. Note: make sure to not block the good holds with gear!)
Magic Beans (5.8-) - Another route that doesn’t seem to get as much traffic, this climb follows some knobs up the face to a ledge before some continuing up slab to the anchors. Either set up a top rope from the top of Bucks Bar Dome or lead The Pod (5.7) which goes up the blocks and short roof to the left to access the anchor.
After a day of climbing, if you find yourself passing through Diamond Springs, make sure to swing by Solid Ground Brewing for a beer and food! Swap stories from the day with a cold pint of Kabru IPA and some handcut fries and Ugly Nugz!