Saints

Approach

Follow the directions on main page for Castle Rock to reach Logger's Ledge (access point to the Upper Castle Rock). The route starts in a 30 foot dihedral 20 feet left of Angel (which in turn is left or west of Jello Tower). The route reaches the top of Castle Rock in two or three pitches. Smoot give the route 5.8; Kramer calls it 5.8+. Both pitch one and two have cruxes of similar difficulty we felt. It's a fun route that is not likely to have a waiting line at the base.

Route Description

Pitch 1: 5.8 - 5.8+, c. 120 feet. Climb up the 30 foot dihedral (starts on a nice pedestal, see photo). Crux comes about 15 feet off the ground where a thin hand crack in the corner becomes a thin finger crack. Below the small roof, step left and climb up 15 feet (easy terrain). Start traversing left. Clip the double bolt anchor and move up the face for 20 feet. Traverse left along a narrow ledge & belay at a large tree.

Pitch 2: 5.8 - 5.8+, c. 160 feet. Move up the low angle slab (dirty w. lichen and moss) to reach an open book 20 feet above belay tree (one piton). Climb 25 feet up the open book (c. 5.7 with some flakes; one shakey piton) to reach a slanting, wide ledge at the base of a short, steep headwall. Clip an old bolt and move diagonally up to arete. Move up the arete then easy terrain to top.

Descent: Follow the standard descent trail from top of Castle Rock.

Note that it seemed to us that this route does not get much traffic above the double bolt anchor on P1. There's much moss and lichen on the upper portions of P1 and on P2; there's also some loose rocks on P2.

Essential Gear

Cams up to 2" and a couple large nuts. Helmets are a good idea.

Miscellaneous Info

If you have information about this route that doesn't pertain to any of the other sections, please add it here.

Images

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