Baalbek

Balbaak means, "better than it looks" in an obscure dialect of ancient Vedauwoo-ese. Many climbers come sniffing around these parts of the Nautilus in search of the first pitch of Captain Nemo (an excellent 5.8 pitch), and walk underneath this classic muttering droll comments about nightmarish wide cracks. Nonsense! This is a worthwhile little gem with varied climbing and a nice finish.

Located right of Bug Squad, Baalbek begins in a chimney sort of an affair with a wedged chockstone. Calmly stem and chimney up to the block, then awkwardly surmount it, and resume chimney detail. A few strenuous moves above lead into a nice finger/hand crack, and eventually a set of new anchor chains. Catch a toprope on Bug Squad (use a lower set of chains on climber's left as a directional, which incidentally will commit you to completing the TR).

Good climbing, nice shade until early afternoon, and reasonable protection.

Wireds, TCUs to a 3" cam (I don't think you need anything bigger). From time to time a sling appears around the wedged block.