If only they’d added the extra ‘s’, then I could have started with how life was in my formative youth. Never mind, Smith Rock located in Oregon, United States is still a worthy place to visit.
Despite its height not being that grand compared to the nearby volcanoes, it’s the starkness of the place and the dramatic cliffs that have that in-your-face appeal, especially if you’re a rock climber.
I’ve been to some of the world’s renowned rock climbing places, the Bastei in Germany, Gorge du Tarn in France, Blue Mountains in Australia and El Capitan at Yosemite, but the number of rock climbers we saw on our day here eclipsed the grand total of all of them. It boomed here in the 1980s and hasn’t stopped since. Two-thirds of a million people come to this one site annually, most just to climb.
Yes, it was a Saturday, but we did arrive fairly early and both main carparks were already full and people in funny-coloured gear with ropes draped all over them and soft shoes were everywhere to be seen. Also, we weren’t as keen as this guy: “First time on something this steep in 25 years and after triple aneurysm brain surgery. The time is now to enjoy everything the world has to offer”.
Though only a moderate 550-feet (168m) in height it’s the way they rise from the river and the green fields beforehand that makes Smith Rocks so enticing and photogenic. Our main initial view is of Misery Ridge and that’s where most of the climbers head.
The compressed tufa (aka tuff) rock can be flaky at times and they lose climbers every so often, but apparently it’s safer than it used to be due to improvements in climbing gear. The last person to die was a very experienced 44-year-old who lived in a yurt. One of his bolts failed and he fell about 25ft (approximately 8m), dying from head injuries — he wasn’t wearing a helmet. When aligned against the shooting and road death statistics in the US heck, it looks about as safe as it gets. If you want to read a true and dramatic personal account of when things go bad, the story of the climber who fell in 1995 should do it.
We are only here to take pictures and the weather is almost cooperating; there’s cloud but also lots of blue sky. Of the number of listed walks we choose the Canyon Trail, the opposite side of the river to all the climbers. When we stop from time to time you think you can see a couple of climbers but, the more you look, the more climbers you see. Some are hanging out, literally, in places rational people wouldn’t want their children to go.
Still, it adds to the drama of the place and our casual stroll allows us to see dozens more either in, or about to be in, precarious positions neither of us ever wish to attain. We pick up the Rope-de-Dope Trail and finally the Rim Trail where we eventually chill out at a lookout overlooking the Crooked River where it does a U-turn around Smith Rock.
As an opening morning to our week at Eagle Crest, it rated highly.