Squeeze Chimney

Located on the sunny side of the Turkey Tail, this route appears as Unnamed 5.8 in the Cheney/Couchman guide. Ken Trout calls it Squeeze Chimney 5.7 in the orange South Platte guide. Either way, it is a fun and typical Turkey Rocks overhanging squeeze chimney experience. It can be done in 3 pitches easily, but would go in 2 pitches as well.

Locate a left facing corner 20 feet right of the start to

Drumstick Direct

. This is the right side of the pinnacle that goes up to

Turkey Turd

.

Pitch 1. Climb the left-facing corner with good hand jamming near the top. Continue up above the corner a few feet and find the least sufferable spot to belay.

Pitch 2. Climb up into the overhanging squeeze chimney. Really, this section is more of a slot. Sling the chock stone and go for it. There is a crack/flake out to the right that may help with this section. It is short but brutal. Once you get into the chimney, climb over some more chock stones and belay in a nice area on a pile of loose stones that fill the chimney.

Pitch 3. Climb up to a big flake, and traverse out to the right to gain an arete. A long section of moderate, lower angled cracks take you to a notch in the summit ridge of Turkey Tail.

Descent - depending on the time of year, you have at least 2 options. If snow is not too bad on the dark side of Turkey Tail, rappel straight down the backside of the tail from a good station in the notch. If it looks like a post hole from hell in climbing shoes, another option is to traverse east out of the notch along the summit ridge of Turkey Tail. At the end of the ridge, look for a rappel station that is located down and to the north. This may consist of knotted slings jammed into cracks. Rappel into the wide chimney/gully with a single rope. Walk along the crest of the ridge for a few feet to the east. Another rappel should be encountered. It consists of knotted slings jammed in cracks and a slung boulder. A single rope rappel will land you near the base of a route named Double Trouble. The base of this route and your gear is just a few steps back to the west. Enjoy.

Use a typical Turkey Rocks rack. The crux involves using a chockstone bigger than a #5 Camalot. Get the picture? Use P for plenty. 1 200-foot rope will work very well.