This is kind of a crappy climb in and of itself, but the whole experience is fun and worth doing.
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I woke up at 4 am, drove 5.5 hours from Salt Lake, and climbed The Cheesebox before heading further south to climb Mexican Hat (and then drove to Moab to make a really long day). I read somewhere online that the climb was 5.5, so I took a rope and small rack with me to self-belay on the cruxy parts. Once I got to the base of the route, though, it looked easier than I thought. I ended up free soloing the thing and then downclimbing it. I don’t think it’s quite 5.5. It’s generic “easy 5th.”
The hardest part of this route is definitely getting to the formation and getting back to the trailhead. I got lost in White Canyon both ways.
Here are my times:
- 0:00 – Left the car
- 1:18 – Got to the base
- 1:27 – On top (it doesn’t take long to climb)
- 1:38 – Back at the base of the route
- 3:00 – Back at the car
Below are some pics and a printable one-page PDF beta sheet.
The Cheesebox.
Click to view and download the PDF
The Cheesebox from the trailhead.
The bottom of White Canyon, looking into Cheesebox Canyon. The exit out of the canyon to The Cheesebox is marked.
The route.
The 4th class traverse section.
The crux section. Crumbly.
The rappel tree.
The summit block, with my Nalgene there for scale.
View from the top toward White Canyon and the trailhead.
Downclimbing the crux.
View from the canyon rim before descending down into the canyon on the way back to the car.
On the way out of the canyon.