Roach's perspective is different than yours, and his guidebook may not have used techy gadgets to be more accurate.
I see many people on here ”blame” Roach for so much. I kind of don't get that.

Anyway, how was the conditions of the rap off the summit? What about other rap stations? (i.e., slings/webbing/leaver biners and/or rings)

d_baker, it's not an issue of ”perspective.” Roach says the route listed is 9.3 miles. We did that route and it was 12.5 miles. These are objective facts, not mere preferences that depend on one's ”perspective.” You say that you don't get it when people point out these discrepancies-I will try to explain: When planning a trip, knowing the distance to be traveled is important. If you are told a distance that is off by about 35% that makes trip planning much more difficult. If mileages are not within a 35% margin of error then there is really no need to even bother giving them as they will do more harm than good. As for Roach's possible lack of ”techy gadgets” humans have been calculating distances far more accurately than this for hundreds of years.

In Roach's defense I do find his ”roach points” to be pretty accurate and a great way to compare different routes.

My partner is the gear expert but I'll try to provide some info on the subject. There were 3-4 slings and two links (not sure the exact term) that didn't show any wear for rapelling off the summit. As for the other rappel stations I remember laughing every time we saw one (because there was no need for it) but we didn't check them out.

in regards to difficulty of Teakettle and Dallas.

My comment to the possible lack of gps unit when he wrote his book could explain the discrepancy in mileage you found and what he wrote.

The trail may have been re-routed since Roach published. I don't know for sure. But that could be another reason for the discrepancy.

Sometimes I wonder if people realize some of Roach's (and others) books are dated and conditions and locations of trails and such change over time.
I take a guidebook as a ”general guide” not a, ”I was just there yesterday” so this info is 100% accurate.

I've read his description recently (before your post) because I might climb Dallas in a couple of weeks, hence my question about the rap stations. Your post about mileage will be taken into account, so thanks for that.

The rap stations you didn't use may have been used in the past when conditions were far different than yours, when there might have been snow or ice on the route, so climbers might enjoy a rap instead.
Nothing wrong with that.