A short but fun sprint up the north face of the large block leaning against the northeast face of Watergate Rock.

An overhung start plants you onto a narrow flake/ramp which leads upwards to the crux - delicate smearing where the ramp ends. Well-protected and fun with a variety of moves on good rock. Two stars out of five.

T-N-T

Midday Lightning

Nick of Time

Fifteen Minute Gap

Tricky Dick

I Am Not A Crook

Unsightly Blemishes

Pardon Me

Political Asylum

Malicious Deception

H.R. Hardman

T. Gordon Liddy

White House Plumbers

White Collar Crime

Dirty Tricks

Short but fairly entertaining this climbs the east face of the large boulder with

T-N-T

(5.10c), which lies on the north face.

Climb atop a short flake lying against the face to clip a bolt (1/4") which protects crux face moves. Above the climbing quickly eases off, and while slightly runout the climbing is easy enough to not be a concern. Belay from the bolts atop T-N-T and descend off the low-angled west side of the boulder.

Follow the obvious crimps and pockets up the bolt line to the anchor. There was a storm raging to the West of us which inspired the name, an homage to the famous boulder problem Midnight Lightning in the Valley.

Start up thin crimps to a mantel. Clip the first bolt then power up a fingertips lieback/undercling lip.

This is not a particularly memorable climb, but it does provide an easy way to the top of the formation where TRs can be set for other routes if desired.  It is a crack but there are plenty of face moves to augment it as well.

Climbs the slab midway between H.R. Hardman and Fifteen Minute Gap.

Climb to the top of a pointed spike of rock and then friction your way past two bolts up the short face. Gear belay and easy walk off down and right along the base of the main Watergate Rock slab.

Climb a short and unpleasant offwidth crack, romp up grainy unprotected face and finish by scrambling past blocks. Gear belay and walk-off. Perhaps not a bomb but you could do a lot better even at this formation.

Begin near the left margin of the face, just left of

White Collar Crime

, at a hand crack which thins and dies out after ten feet. Continue up the lumpy face past two bolt to an anchor at the top.

Short and enthralling and one star out of five.

This climbs a thin, curving flake to face on good rock past two bolts (5.11), then moves slightly left to clip the 3rd bolt of Dirty Tricks, which is followed to the top (5.10).

The lower section of this route is tightly bolted, while the upper section, after joining Dirty Tricks, has some gritty rock with somewhat widely spaced bolts. Three stars out of five.

This is the 2nd face route just left of the large leaning block.

Decently well-protected climbing down low on sometimes above average rock lead into an easy but flared, and hard to protect crack. Two bolt anchor (hangers only) are above and slightly to the right of the crack's end.

The name is a take-off on H.R. Haldeman, President Nixon's White House Chief Of Staff, who was involved in the Watergate Scandal and forced to resign.

Interesting face climbing past three bolts that's steeper than it looks. Gear belay and walk-off down slabs to climber's right.

Start atop a boulder about five feet right of I Am Not A Crook. From the boulder, step up onto a thin, detached flake. Climb up and slightly left along a rib of rock that is just right of a chimney to the top.

A short and not especially memorable route left of

H.R. Hardman

.

Begin 20' left of H.R. Hardman and climb the face past two bolts. Decent pro and moves but not as high-quality as the neighboring route.

Thin, technical and well protected steep slab at the bottom to keep you on your toes, while higher the difficulty eases and the bolts become more spaced as the rock transitions from bulletproof stone into the usual JT grain.

Don't be confused by another line to the right,

Malicious Deception

, which joins this route at it's third bolt.

Description

Protection

Routes in Watergate Rock