On October 26 Zach Lee and I did a new route on the west face of the peak north of, and connected to, Bridge Mountain, The peak is officially unnamed but known locally as Sub Peak or Confluence Peak. We dubbed our effort Satan’s Waitin’, after a Bugs Bunny-Yosemite Sam cartoon where, to escape his fate of remaining in hell, Yosemite tries to replace himself with Bugs. The route follows a natural line up the left side of the main wall, directly below the summit. I had previously attempted the route with Eric Draper and Brody Greer in 2006 or 2007. We climbed about half the route, stopped at the base of a large roof, drilled a single bolt, and bailed. At the time the off-width bulge seemed too much for us, and proved to be the crux when Zach and I finally sent it. The lone half-inch bolt below the crux remains the route’s only fixed gear.

The route begins in the center of the peak, in a high recessed area that sports several fine cragging routes. One long pitch off of the ground accesses an area that allows for some soloing through the vegetated ramps in the middle of the face. We roped up for seven pitches, onsighting the entire route (IV 5.11). It’s an enjoyable adventure, albeit a bit on the sandy side, and it accepted cams and stoppers its entire length. To descend, we hiked south to the saddle between Confluence Peak and Bridge Mountain, toward the Bridge Mountain Arch, and rappelled a route called Take Back The Rainbow. It is possible to descend TBTR with one 60m rope, though two 60m ropes allow for smoother sailing.