Lonely Vigil

Approach

Follow approach directions on main page under Getting There. If taking the 5.7 approach pitch, see below.

Route Description

Knapp gives this route a II 5.9 rating w/o getting into details of what’s what pitch-wise. Ratings of the other authors are quoted below including personal commentary on the ratings.

Approach Pitch:
Pitch 0: 5.7, 30 feet. Climb a vertical groove starting directly below the notch separating Lighthouse Tower from the cliff on its right (when viewed from River Road). Rock is a little chunky but the going is fairly easy. Belay from bolted anchor.

Walk left ~100 feet from the notch following a faint climbers trail till you’re at the base of Lonely Vigil proper (see photo).

Route Proper:
Pitch 1: Burns: 5.10-; Green: 5.10a. 100 feet. Climb a crack system directly in line with the notch between the main summit and the sub-summit (on the right when viewed from backside) above. Going is not very sustained and consists of a series of “boulder moves” through bulges separated by good rest stances. Though there’s a squeeze section ~30 feet up, most climbing is thin hands and fingers. Belay on a large ledge at the base of a “boxy” wide chimney with a thin hand crack on right hand side. Belay off of fixed nut and hex (can be supplemented with cams).

Pitch 2: Burns: 5.9; Green: 5.10. 90 feet. Though this pitch gets a lower grade from Burns then the first, it felt a bit harder. Climb the thin hands/fingers crack on the left side of the gradually narrowing “box chimney”. As the crack closes up ~30 feet up, move right into a gradually widening crack which eventually opens up to a squeeze chimney (within the main “box chimney”). You pass an optional belay (two good bolts on left wall). Above, as the box chimney becomes sufficiently narrow, stem your way up (~10 feet w/o pro). Exit onto a small ledge on left above via good jugs. A hard (route crux?) left facing dihedral above (~10 feet, no crack) brings you to the good belay bolts in the notch between the main summit block (on left) and sub-summit block on right.

Pitch 3: Burns: 5.9; Green: 5.9. 40 feet. Guidebooks give this pitch a 5.9 rating but that’s over-rating it. Feels more like 5.7 or 5.8 at most. From belay, walk a narrow ledge left beneath the summit block. 20 feet out from belay, as you turn the corner you’ll see a nice fat bolt (if you lean out left, you’ll also see another set of belay bolts level with you – this is NOT where you’re heading). Clip the bolt and move up the 5.7 slab. Belay from bolted anchor at the base of the 15-foot summit boulder.

Pitch 4: Burns: 5.8; Green: 5.8. 15 feet (unreliable pro). Make your way up the summit block. Hint: Start on right, traverse left, step up, traverse slightly right and crank on good jugs (mantle)! You can place some cams here and there but don’t count on them to catch your fall. No anchors on summit. You can assist yourself with descent by lowering off the opposite side. Despite what the guidebook suggests, it’s not easy (nor does it feel that safe) to TR your second by throwing the rope over the summit block.

Descent:
From bolted belay atop pitch 3, rap with single rope back down to bolted anchor atop pitch 2. One double rope rap (we used 2 60 meter cords – not sure about two 50’s) brings you to the ground. Other options are no doubt possible. Walk back toward the notch and do another short rap back to the base on the river side.

Essential Gear

Helmets.
Two ropes.
Double Aliens from green to red.
Double Camalots from #0.5 (redundant with red Aliens) to #3. Extra #0.75 may be useful.

Route Overview

Images

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