Heart of the Sunrise

This adventurous and fun route heads straight up the steep panel of rock about half way between the South Face on the left and the South Crack on the right. It involves loads of 5.10-ish crimping and thin footwork, with a few 10+ or 11- bits sprinkled in throughout. In general, you tend to follow sections of leftward traverses, bust moves up or out right over bulges, and repeat again and again. There's still a bit of lichen here and there, though it comes off easily and will clean up nicely over time.

We both lead it from the ground to the saddle on the East Ridge in one big (about 190 foot) pitch. Rope drag wasn't too bad, especially with judicious use of longer draws or slings, though you could definitely feel the weight of the rope while clipping on the top third of the route.  However, many might opt to climb it as two pitches (there's a midway anchor), or just climb the first pitch and lower (35 meters, 11a) to the ground. This has excellent position and a beautiful setting up there, so enjoy! Being on the south face, this route is better in cooler fall or winter or spring days.

This route starts at the base of a tree, about 20-30 feet uphill of the

South Crack

and maybe 30 feet below the

South Face

start. Look for a bolt just above where the big tree meets the cliff and where the approach trail along the base requires a bit of scrambling.

The first pitch has 13 bolts with a two-bolt Mussy hook anchor/lower-off station above that. There is a bit of a runout between bolts 1 and 2 on easy terrain, but a #2 and/or #3 Camalot could be used if needed in that lower section. The second pitch has 3 bolts, then an optional grey Alien (or grey 0.4 Camalot) could be used up and right before traversing up left to join the

South Face

and

East Ridge

finish for 30 or 40 feet of easy (5.5?) and unprotected terrain. Most climbers solid at 11a/b won't probably need any gear besides quickdraws and slings for the bolts.

If going to the top of the second pitch, rap off the previously existing 2-bolt anchor on the East Ridge Saddle. Then one more 35 meter lower or rappel from the mid anchor gets you to the ground. Note that a 70-meter rope is required for this lower or rap, and it's so close that the ends should be knotted.