The Bookend

Season raptor closures MORE INFO >>> The following areas are closed from March 3-July 31: Twin Owls Bat Flake Batman Pinnacle Batman Rock Lightning Rock Checkerboard Rock Thunder Buttress The Parish For more information, go to the NPS website: http://www.nps.gov/romo/planyourvisit/area_closures.htm Keeping climbing areas open and conserving the climbing environment

Bookend from Bookmark. Climbers are visible on P5...

Description 

The Bookend, about 400 feet high, is the last cliff of the Book group, lying just to the west of the Book and the Bookmark (as seen from the Black Canyon trail). It has quite a variety of climbing, including the unique Orange Julius (5.10a); perhaps Lumpy's best slab route in Climb of Ancient Mariner (5.10a); and several long chimney routes on its south face.

The cliff is divided by a chimney known as the great dihedral; this lies on its eastern aspect, just right of the prow dividing the S and E faces. The chimney is very narrow at the bottom, and then opens up, reavealing a smooth wall inside with an obvious wide crack (Hot Licks). To the right is the long narrow slab of Ancient Mariner; to the left lies Orange Julius, which weaves a devious line up the aforementioned SE prow and is further identified by a large triangular roof near its bottom. The South face has three or four long chimney lines while the west face is fairly uninteresting and has one or two routes. The odd new-age bolted face route and 5.12ish crack test-piece can be found here and there throughout the cliff. The Bookend has some definite 3-star routes, though not nearly as many as the Book, and it is always less crowded.

Descent: quite uncomplicated for Lumpy Ridge: head NE from the summit, go down a short, easy gully/chimney, and then walk/bushwhack around down to the base of the cliff.

Getting There 

From the new parking lot, take the west trail towards the old Twin Owls parking lot ~0.6 miles. Then, hike west from the old Twin Owls parking lot for about a mile, turn right for the Book, and then left after a little ways for the Bookmark. An unmarked spur trail leads west shortly before the Bookmark, ending at the SE prow of the Bookend. Orange Julius and the Great Dihedral should be visible above and right. Some tricky scrambling is necessary to reach routes from Orange Julius rightwards--see the individual route descriptions.

The Classics

Featured Route For The Bookend

Climb of the Ancient Mariner 5.10a  CO : Lumpy Ridge : The Bookend

Quintessential Lumpy slab climbing. Hike up to the Bookend (not to be confused with any other cliff involving the name Book), and starting from the southeast corner of that rock, scramble up slabs and grooves up past the obvious large triangular roof of Orange Julius, to a higher alcove. Keep a lookout on the approach for the route's landmark, a clean, narrow slab with a green streak on the right side of the [Bookend]-- the alcove lies below it...[more]   Browse More Classics in CO

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The Bookend