Old Man Stone Face
"Old Man Stone Face" is a wonderful climbing area that is unique in many ways. There are approximately eight moderate climbs on the wall that can all be climbed on top-rope. The rock is excellent, similar to that at Green Slabs. It has an almost wave-like appearance of ocean swells and troughs. This makes for interesting sequences of roof moves alternating with very positive footing. If you want to lead the climbs, there are plenty of bolts - almost too many bolts. I have heard the bolting described as looking as if someone had loaded a shotgun with bolts and fired it at the wall. But don't let the bolting patterns discourage you from climbing here - it is a really nice wall.
Another thing that makes "Old Man Stone Face" a great place to climb is its location. It is fairly low on the mountain and is a south facing wall - it is a great place to climb in the winter. I had to trudge through some snow to get there (see snow in photos) and it was very cool and breezy at the top of the climbs, but the base of the climbs were protected from the wind by Manzanita bushes and were bathed in sunlight. This made for a warm belay. The rock was also warm and the climbing temperature was very comfortable.
To get down to the climbs, the easiest way is to set up a rope at the anchors and rappel down. Don't take anyone in there who can't climb out - the Manzanita bush is incredibly thick in this area and walking out looks like a nightmare. I tried to work my way out from the wall so I could take a photo of the wall and it was not fun. After about 100 yards of struggling through the Manzanita, I gave up.
As a general rule, when veiwed from the bottom facing the wall, the climbs progress in difficulty from the left to the right. The climbs start in the 5.7 to 5.8 range on the left and work up to the 5.10 and 5.11 range on the right (Warning: if you are setting up a top-rope the anchors with the easiest climbs are to the right!)
A general description of how to get to "Old Man Stone Face" is given in "Squeezing the lemmon II..." by Eric Fazio-Rhicard. In my opinion, the description is not adequate to get you to the climbs. I will go into a little more detail and will try to help the unsuspecting from getting lost in the Manzanita.
Follow the trail up to Green Slabs area and hike past all the climbs: Monkey Business, Yurt Monkey, Toy Roof, etc. Keep heading uphill and moving south following a drainage towards the top of the ridge. As you start to emerge from the trees and head into the Manzanita, be careful - it is easy to get lost in the Manzanita and it is hell getting out of it. Find the cairns and follow them to the top of the ridge, moving generally in a southeast direction.
When you get up onto the top of the ridge, look to the south. The view should be similar to the top-left photo. About a quarter of a mile south along the ridge, there is a large rock that looks like the prow of a ship. The "Old Man Stone Face" wall is about 30 yards to the west and below this distinctive rock - indicated by the red arrow on the photograph. Follow the cairns along the top of the ridge to get over to the wall. When you are above the wall, the view should be similar to the top-right photo.
