Just inside the notch is a climbable crack that is much easier to protect than the route in the description It might be slightly more technical we still thought it was 56, but makes for some bomber cam placementsAlso, we didn't bring a knife to the summit, but if anyone does, there is a rat's nest of old webbing on some of the bushes near the top We replaced the webbing for a rap down, but we had no way to cut the old webbing out

The crack was a savior for me, it was the only place that wasn't super sandy and offered solid jams stout down climb I though

This was an awesome day in every kind of way Great 56 scramble ascent, squeeze, chimney, slab and crimpy climbs, challenging route finding and a couple fun rappels had to climb back up one as my rope got stuck in a crack when I was pulling it Awesome and challenging day Make sure you are a comfortable scrambler/climber or this will be a scary day as there is a fair amount of exposure

Seven of us completed the route in 45 hours on 2023-02-05 There was a little snow on the north slopes but not an issue; even in the gully The keeper was full and avoided by using the anchor on the slope above it RDC The puddle below the crack was avoidable by stemming

We used approach shoes La Sportiva Kaptiva for me There are no fixed anchors; you make your own There is a fixed piton partway up, and you follow a flaring crack that will take a few cams Everyone needs to be experienced, because for the lead to reach a good anchor point, the second has to already start up, so there's about 20' of simul-climbing on easy ground with a 60m rope

Took a group of 7, 3 of which were newbies Total time was 35 hrs car to car All anchors looked good We built up a rock anchor on the 2nd rappel but then after reinforcing it found a second set of webbing on bolts LDC as description statedwe just didn't see them No water to avoid Took a 200', 100' and 80' rope Would have been fine with just the 200' but it was nice to have shorter ropes for the shorter stuff Final rappel was LDC behind HUGE boulder Webbing was good Found a second webbing as well in a different ...

4/21/2023 Dry conditions Anchors in good conditions Pity the bolts were removed at last rappel many years ago Now the rope pulls has created grooves in the rock Better route option for the return hike is after crack exit totally worth it angle for the fence on the right when hiking out up the big hill Where the fence meets the two-track road turn right This road merges into the shortcut exit route and saves a couple miles of walking

Road in this time was dry and easy to drive The previous webbing looked to be in good condition This was a tricky rappel since you're basiclly going down a crack and chimney-ishing down

I did this hike on October 18, 2023 At that time the anchor was broken off and not usable The carved steps are helpful but without a rope I didn’t feel comfortable entering the pit There is a very small tree nearby but if you use it as an anchor be very cautious The trunk is only about 2” in diameter and is rooted into a crack in the rock

Went through this week First rappel chockstone has a horizontal crack running through its width