Peregrine Falcons are nesting again at Lover's Leap. Please avoid the areas displayed on the map posted below. A closure will be in place at the center of the wall starting in mid-April and ending in September. A detailed listing of closed routes and any changes in the information regarding the peregrine falcons will be posted on the Eldorado National Forest website http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/eldorado. If you require addition information contact Susan Yasuda, District Wildlife Biologist on the Placerville Ranger District 530-547-5317.
Here's a map:
2009 Closure Map Submitted By: Amy Ansari on Jun 15, 2009
3 pitch climb. Pitch one is in right facing open book. Second pitch is a traverse left. Can be hard to find the route from belay. Go out to left of belay onto face. [You might be tempted to go up the obvious corner instead--don't unless you're looking for a more difficult variation--.] Just head toward bushy ledge, (it'll be the one with 6+ people on it). (belay #2). Look for the biggest dikes to go across. Just follow the dikes and gear placements and don't be tempted to start moving left too soon. Go up a bit before traversing left. Third pitch follows the bottleneck crack to the rim from bushy ledge.
5.5? You're going to crush some egos there Salamanzier! heh heh!
As stated above, the safe and sane way to do the traverse is to do it high. You can do it lower for a more airy and less well protected experience.
Also, if bushy ledge is crowded and parties are lining up to do the standard finish, you can do an alternate finish to avoid the line. Head up for about 15-20 feet and then trend up and right under some small overlaps. Decent gear and easy climbing (mostly 5.4-5.5ish) for a ways, until you see an easy spot to pull the overlap and step on top. Remember, waiting in line is for suckers!
By Daniel Trugman From: Los Alamos, NM Sep 21, 2009 rating: 5.7+
This gets a 5.7 in the guide book, which is probably correct if you find the easiest line. We got off route and ended up having to do 4 pitches - 3 at ~ 5.6/5.7 and 1 with a harder move (5.8? 5.9?). Anyways, we hit the harder stuff going straight up / right from the first belay. Go up and left above a fixed pin instead. Tricky route finding on this one, I would only recommend it for solid 5.7 leaders.