The Sespe Snakepits (aka The Soul Hole)
If the Sespegorillaz were a soccer team and Pine Mountain was our home field, then The Sespe Snakepits would definitely be our training ground. It’s called the Sespe Snakepits as it is on the upper Sespe River and is home to every variety of water snake as well as all types of lizards, frogs and turtles. It is literally crawling with reptiles and amphibians.
Even though the Sespegorillaz are quite adept at catching these critters, we don’t go there to play Croc Hunter, we go there to climb and swim (and catch the occasional snake to scare off the touristas). 
The Snakepits, which some locals call The Soul Hole, consist of two swimming holes connected by steep, sandstone cliffs on both sides of the Sespe which winds a serpentine path between the upper and lower holes. The swimming holes are large and deep, each with its own sandy beach and both are partly in the shade.
The cliffs and boulders around the two pools can be easily climbed for jumping and diving or just kicking back in the sun. Every now and then we find garbage left behind by some retard but for the most part, the place it pretty clean. There are pools both above and below this area with swimming/climbing potential but as of this writing, they have yet to properly explored. 
As far as Sespe climbing is concerned, the climbing history at the Snakepits is relatively recent. Development there began sometime in 2007 by a mixture of local and visiting climbers. Climbers, Max Krimmer, Paul Dusatko, Jondo, Ander Rockstad, and Carl Hess as a crew, put up and named all of the obvious lines at the upper pool. And absolutely stellar lines they are. Recently, we’ve come in contact with Max Krimmer, who has shared all of his beta on the areas original development and first ascents.
The Sespegorillaz have been concentrating their development efforts on the area between the two pools where both some highball and short/easy routes can be found as well as a cool mini-roof problem. We’ve done quite a bit of landscaping and route cleaning and there is still a lot more rock to be looked at. The areas full potential has yet to be realized. 
Crash Fistfight turned Carlo and I on to one of the swimming holes on the way home from our 2008 Pine Mountain excursion and we saw clear evidence of climbing activity there.
A few months later, Carlo and I explored the area further and found even more traces of recent climbing activity on the cliffs above the lower hole. 
Venturing further upstream, we sort of stumbled through the brush onto the upper hole. Here we discovered, what appeared to be, several established routes on the rocks around the pool, almost all of them water problems (routes over water and or requires swimming to get to). 
On the shaded southern wall, we noticed that the cliff arched back from a deep overhang, away from the water making way for the pools beach. The cliff itself was dirty and covered with patches of moss and lichen but we saw the potential immediately. In fact the whole area, despite the obvious development, had tons of un-climbed rock. We knew we were onto something there. 
Now, as I’ve highlighted above, the Sespegorillaz were not the first ones to climb at the Snakepits. We will however spearhead the areas future development and try our very best to repeat those first ascents put up by Max Krimmer and his boys. Some of those routes have already fallen and some wont be repeated for a while. And that’s OK ‘cause it gives the young Gorillaz something to work toward. Check back in 2010 for The Gorillaz Guide to the Sespe Snakepits.
If the Sespegorillaz were a soccer team and Pine Mountain was our home field, then The Sespe Snakepits would definitely be our training ground. It’s called the Sespe Snakepits as it is on the upper Sespe River and is home to every variety of water snake as well as all types of lizards, frogs and turtles. It is literally crawling with reptiles and amphibians.
Even though the Sespegorillaz are quite adept at catching these critters, we don’t go there to play Croc Hunter, we go there to climb and swim (and catch the occasional snake to scare off the touristas). The Snakepits, which some locals call The Soul Hole, consist of two swimming holes connected by steep, sandstone cliffs on both sides of the Sespe which winds a serpentine path between the upper and lower holes. The swimming holes are large and deep, each with its own sandy beach and both are partly in the shade.
The cliffs and boulders around the two pools can be easily climbed for jumping and diving or just kicking back in the sun. Every now and then we find garbage left behind by some retard but for the most part, the place it pretty clean. There are pools both above and below this area with swimming/climbing potential but as of this writing, they have yet to properly explored. As far as Sespe climbing is concerned, the climbing history at the Snakepits is relatively recent. Development there began sometime in 2007 by a mixture of local and visiting climbers. Climbers, Max Krimmer, Paul Dusatko, Jondo, Ander Rockstad, and Carl Hess as a crew, put up and named all of the obvious lines at the upper pool. And absolutely stellar lines they are. Recently, we’ve come in contact with Max Krimmer, who has shared all of his beta on the areas original development and first ascents.
The Sespegorillaz have been concentrating their development efforts on the area between the two pools where both some highball and short/easy routes can be found as well as a cool mini-roof problem. We’ve done quite a bit of landscaping and route cleaning and there is still a lot more rock to be looked at. The areas full potential has yet to be realized. Crash Fistfight turned Carlo and I on to one of the swimming holes on the way home from our 2008 Pine Mountain excursion and we saw clear evidence of climbing activity there.
A few months later, Carlo and I explored the area further and found even more traces of recent climbing activity on the cliffs above the lower hole. Venturing further upstream, we sort of stumbled through the brush onto the upper hole. Here we discovered, what appeared to be, several established routes on the rocks around the pool, almost all of them water problems (routes over water and or requires swimming to get to). On the shaded southern wall, we noticed that the cliff arched back from a deep overhang, away from the water making way for the pools beach. The cliff itself was dirty and covered with patches of moss and lichen but we saw the potential immediately. In fact the whole area, despite the obvious development, had tons of un-climbed rock. We knew we were onto something there. Now, as I’ve highlighted above, the Sespegorillaz were not the first ones to climb at the Snakepits. We will however spearhead the areas future development and try our very best to repeat those first ascents put up by Max Krimmer and his boys. Some of those routes have already fallen and some wont be repeated for a while. And that’s OK ‘cause it gives the young Gorillaz something to work toward. Check back in 2010 for The Gorillaz Guide to the Sespe Snakepits.
