Ascent Notes for: Sands of Time - 5.9 popular Average Rating : 3.88/5

Done it a few times

If this route got as much traffic as the routes at Lover's Leap get, I think overall it would feel a lot sweeter. Unfortunately, there is abundant dirt and moss on many sections. In exchange for the sometimes dirty climbing, you get an adventurous experience while seeing possibly nary a soul (as we did not) and big exposure with serene and beautiful views.

The most awesome sections for me were surmounting the p2 roof finish and, of course, the long road of p5 fingers on the beautiful face (very Tuolumne-esque!).

The p8 squeeze chimney is not for typical 5.8 leaders; put someone well above the grade on the sharp end for this one or be well honed in offwidth technique. Hopefully your feet are large enough to heel-toe the hard sections (mine were not!).

Did with Daniel W. on his B-day. Pitch 5 is awsome.

Tried rastaman and was kicked off... don't want to talk about it! thought we might as well use our time. pretty good route... like the positions you find yourself in up on the dome better than the actual climbing. the long 5.8 fingers was the highlight and that's about all ill remember. kinda like calaveras' royal arches equivalent... although a little more exposed and less ledgy.

I love this route. Do able but challanging for me.

Figured we'd climb this route for an easy day of climbing on an old classic. Turns out the route is mostly uninteresting climbing in a gully with few cruxy moves. The wide section was hardly what I would consider wide or offwidth. Most of the route was grainy and green and almost 4th class. The 5.8 finger crack was definitely a highlight of the route but hardly worth the effort to get there. The 5.6R pitch to 12 O Clock ledge was more like 5.6 (5.0R) and uninteresting climbing up huge features as well. The Time Traveler variation to the first few pitches looks like it would be a much better alternate start than the boring first several original pitches. This route is anticlimactic except for one pitch but does gain some altitude quickly and has some good views. Worth doing once, but not a destination climb.

Wow! Just looking at this line a year ago from Gemini Cracks I had to climb it. Now that I have I absolutely love it. I will be back to do it again. It's big, classic, sustained. Pitches 1,2,4 & 5 being awesome. The pitch 5 crack with it's awesome way up there on the face feel easy pro placements was the high light.

The step left after moving the belay above pitch 2 or 3 is hard with weak pro. I'd give it a 5.10a for a few moves perhaps because a fall could be not so good.

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