The Incredible Hulk July 2026 with Mike

View of The Incredible Hulk from our campsite in the evening

Tuesday July 7, 2026

I flew to Reno where met Mike me. We made the drive past Bridgeport, CA to the Twin Lakes campground where we parked our car. The hike to the base of Incredible Hulk was approximately 4.5 miles with 2,500 feet of elevation gain. We completed the approach in just under three hours, placing us at our campsite around 7:30 PM with about an hour of daylight left to set up our tents and cook a quick dinner.

The following morning we awoke early but got off to a later start than desired, because I was having some stomach issues. Finally we departed camp around 6:40 AM, hiked to the base, and started on our way up The Red Dihedral (5.10b). Some low 5th-class scrambling led to the proper start. Our plan from the beginning was for me to lead the odd pitches and Mike the even ones. Mike got us to the base of the dihedral proper, and I started on up. This was a sustained corner for 100+ feet, but I felt strong, energetic, and confident. Unfortunately my foot slipped about two-thirds of the way up (the hands are good, but the feet are largely just smears at times) and I took a short fall onto a solid cam. Oh well, so much for the clean send! At the top of the corner I reached a welcome rest with a big jug to hang on and decent feet. After gathering my strength, I made a final move up and right through a bulge with thin handholds – I honestly felt this move was, although technical, over very quickly and not as challenging as the long corner which led up to it.

Mike took us on some easier climbing which led to the "splitter crack". I took the lead on this as well; the SuperTopo guide listed it as 5.9, but I have to say I felt it was firmly in 5.10 territory (and Mountain Project concurs). The crack was thin, and the feet were sparse in places. But this one I made it up without a fall.

Above the splitter crack was generally easier climbing, with one or two 5.9 moves thrown in. The most memorable part was of course tunneling through the "Keyhole" at the very top. I was trailing my pack for this entire chimney pitch with a double-length (120 cm) sling, and although I had no trouble getting through the keyhole with my body, the pack got stuck in a v-shaped groove. There was just enough slack in the sling for me to turn around, reach way down, extend the first tether with another 120 cm sling, and pull the bag around the sticking point. Mike met me at the top, and we celebrated!

Mike celebrates at the top of Red Dihedral

The descent made me nervous but was straightforward. There was a long section of 4th/low 5th class scrambling to the south along a ridge. Near the end of the ridge we peeled off to the left towards a solid pair of bolts for a long rappel. This placed us in the descent gully, which we followed back to the campsite. There was a short section of very steep terrain halfway down, which now has two bolts making it easy to rappel instead of downclimb. The bottom of the gully consists of some pretty unpleasant scree. I moved slowly and carefully.

Our plan was to spend the next day (Thursday) resting, hoping perhaps to tackle another long climb on Friday. But Mike's wrist/hand had started hurting badly on The Dihedral, and it wasn't doing any better when we woke up the next morning. Not wanting to hurt himself even more, we decided we would rest on our laurels hike out that day instead. Before we did that, however, we walked up to the base of Tradewinds (5.11). I thought I would give the first pitch a go, since it was short enough that I could lower off the first set of anchors. Well, even this first pitch slapped me down. Powerful moves with only finger jams in many sections and no feet to speak of except a few poor smears. After hanging on gear maybe three or four times, I pulled my way up to the first bolt, sacrificed a carabiner to the mountain gods, and lowered myself back down. If I want to try this again, I'll need to return with someone stronger than myself to set up a top rope!

We hastily made our way back to camp, broke down our tents, bags, and other gear, and begin the trek back to our car. My feet were very sore and tired by now, and the pack felt very heavy. I went slowly, picking my way carefully over boulders and talus, not wanting to twist an ankle on this hike with the top-heavy pack pulling my body in strange directions. I believe it still took us over two and a half hours to make it back to the parking lot. I was exhausted, but it was another successful trip into the wilderness.

Eldorado Canyon June 2026 with Kishen and Heather

Kenton starts up pitch 2 of The Naked Edge

June 25, 2026

Eldorado Canyon - there was rain overnight with more rain in the forecast, so we were looking for a spot that would stay dry. We ended up on the West Ridge and on the Redgarden Wall and did three climbs, all of which managed to stay completely dry.

Kloof (5.11a) - A boulder problem for the first 10 feet. Then decent holds on very overhung rock until a big reach out left from a layback stance to a jug over a notch. Easier terrain leads back right to the top. Almost felt "gym-like".

Darkness 'til Dawn (5.10a) - Textbook hand and fist jams. A full 35m open book. Some fingers here and there, with lots of stemming. No obvious crux. A truly wonderful climb.

Grandmother's Challenge (5.10c) - An easy crack leads to a fist crack leads to an overhanging wide fist crack. It widens even more near the roof which yields underclings. Above the roof the climbing eases to 5.8 and ends at a tree. Done as one very long pitch.

June 26, 2026

Today I made another attempt at climbing The Naked Edge (5.11b). I led pitches 2 and 4, with Heather leading pitch 1 and Kishen pitches 3 and 5. It was really close this time, closer than I've ever been, with a single foot slip below the bombay chimney denying me the satisfaction of a clean ascent. After that one foot slip, I grunted my way into the chimney and finished the pitch without incident. Key was to get into chimney position sooner rather than later. After the chimney, the next clutch hold is high above the roof and out right. It's a big reach, but I was able to get there with my right hand, then match on it (need to save energy for this, the hold isn't huge!).

Perhaps even more exciting than this lead of pitch 4 was my clean follow of pitch 5! At the boulder-problem start of this pitch, I first tried to follow Kishen's path, a more direct line upwards and slightly to the right. However, I found this challenging, and after coming back to the belay, I instead traversed far right off the belay to the chalked-up larger holds. From here I had an easier time moving back up and left along the rail to the vertical crack. Above this point, I was able to get some solid hand and fist jams, and I gradually worked my way up with these until I could layback the corner. This I did until the climbing eased up. Also key to my success, I believe, was conserving energy for this final pitch.

Of note on pitch 2 - the #1 camalot placed after moving around the corner is key, but there is very little gear to be had above it. There is however a very solid micronut placement maybe 6 feet above the cam which adds some great reassurance.

I will be back again but am very pleased with how the route went this time.