Desperate Reality is a 25 foot long, overhanging crack that provides an awesome challenge to any climber who doesn't mind a little pain. Because of the roofs offset nature it is not your typical roof crack. It is more of an awkward grunt fest, fist jams over your head start, which can tire the most fit climber in a hurry. The route has not been led clean by too many people and most who get it have to work the thing. One of the most impressive leads I have seen on this route came from Chris Lenox who missed the onsite taking just one fall then finishing it without much trouble. The route was first climbed by Jon Frank, who named the route in reference to Yosemite's "Separate Reality" - which this crack resembles. Some excellent routes have recently been established on the Desperate Reality Cliff, which is located just to the west of Desperate Reality.

Park on the first pullout past the Refuge Headqarters. You'll be parked next to some granite domes that pretty much rise straight out of the road. Next, get over the top of the dome as best you can. There are no good trail markings, so your best bet is to just head straight on up.

Once you reach a point where you have a clear field of vision all around, look pretty much straight west, and you'll see an obvious large formation/peak which looks like it would yield a lot of routes. This is NOT Desperate Reality, however it's the reference point to get you there. DR is located just underneath that large formation, and just a touch to the right if you are observing from the east.

Make your way through thorn and bush towards the northernmost point of the formation, and as you get closer you'll see what appears to be a cave made by what look like 3 boulders, one resting on top of the other two. This is DR...in reality, it's two huge boulders, one of which probably had a line of weakness. At some point, the upper half of the boulder slipped and now rests on the other boulder. There are chains on top of the climb, but the overhanging nature makes it extremely difficult to TR...