Climbing Assembly Hall Peak - Heavy Metal Route - San Rafael Swell

Overview

Thu

61° | 34°

Fri

68° | 34°

Sat

68° | 43°

Sun

60° | 42°

Mon

63° | 37°

( Rated 3.0 / 1 Ratings )

1 Todo Lists / 1 Ticks

RATING: 5.10 A0 3-Pitches

LENGTH: 3-5 hours (2 miles)

MAPS: Bottleneck Peak, UT

SEASON: Spring, Fall

GEAR: 2-60 m ( 197 ft. )Ropes - 1 set of Cams, Quickdraws (10 or so)

Thu

61° | 34°

Fri

68° | 34°

Sat

68° | 43°

Sun

60° | 42°

Mon

63° | 37°

Assembly Hall Peak

Assembly Hall Peak looms over the San Rafael campground. Although the upper pitches are poor quality, the first pitch is really good, and the views from the summit are second to none. I know several groups that have bailed from the start of the third pitch. It is indeed run-out and looks tricky. Those comfortable with desert runouts and sketch factor only!

Assembly Hall Route

Getting There

The trailhead starts at the San Rafael Campground. To get to the San Rafael Campground, depends on where you are coming from:

From the North

Just before the town of Castle Dale, at milepost 39.4, go east on the signed San Rafael Swell Access road. Reset your odometer as you turn off the highway onto the dirt road. 12S 500218E 4341289N / 39°13'15"N 110°59'51"W

Continue on this road, passing a cattle guard after 12 miles, and reaching a 4 way junction at 12.7 miles. 12S 518059E 4336281N / 39°10'32"N 110°47'27"W

Continue east at this 4 way junction for 2.4 miles to the signed Buckhorn Wash road. 12S 521483E 4335782N / 39°10'16"N 110°45'05"W

Go right, down Buckhorn Wash about 9.5 miles to the San Rafael Campground. 12S 529457E 4326049N / 39°04'59"N 110°39'34"W

From the South

Take the exit 131 from I-70 (about 30 miles west of Green River), turning right. This road goes east, paralleling the freeway for a couple of miles before turning north. 12S 529541E 4303709N / 38°52'54"N 110°39'34"W

Follow this road 19 miles to where the San Rafael campground is, and the bridge over the river. The cattle guard marks the lower end of Buckhorn Wash. Start from the campground on the south side of the river. 12S 529065E 4326048N / 39°04'59"N 110°39'50"W

Assembly Hall Route

Route Description

From the campground, you have a great view of the entire route. It starts on the north west side of Assembly Hall, below the obvious bowl. Leaving the campground, follow an old road, and washes to the gulley leading up to the base of Assembly Hall. There is a cliff band up high that had a fixed rope to facilitate climbing it when we did the route (7/7/2007). Once above this cliff band, it is a short distance to the base of the climb.

Pitch 1: Below the bowl are several cracks. The route starts in a hand crack in a corner on the right. The hand crack is short (10 m ( 33 ft. ) ), then traverse left and up to a bolted anchor on easier ground. (5.9/5.10)

Pitch 2: Scramble 3rd and 4th class up the bowl to the base of the steep headwall. As you near the headwall, you can see the rappel anchor high on the right. The final pitch climbs a bolted line a bit left of the bolted anchor.

Pitch 3: The final pitch has many bolts (7+), but is no sport route. The first bolt is about 10 m ( 33 ft. ) up. You can get a small cam in midway up to the bolt, but the rock quality is very poor. Follow the line of bolts to a small overhang. Place a small cam here, and then traverse right and up to easier ground and the final bolt. Due to rope drag, we built a gear anchor here.

The rappel anchor is off to the right from the last bolt, and easy scrambling gets you to the top. Admire the views, particularly of Window Blind Peak. It is an amazing perspective on the area.

Scramble down to the rappel. Rappel 60 m ( 197 ft. ) back to the base of pitch 3, scramble down the bowl, then make a single rope rap 20 m ( 66 ft. ) from the bolts at the top of pitch 1 to the ground.