Caver's Route is probably the oldest roped route in the RRG. No one knows for sure, but it dates back at least to the 1950s when a group of cavers were practicing their rope skills on the cliffs that towered over the Red River. The route ascends a gigantic fracture that splits the south end of Tower Rock from the rest of the monolith. The route is clean, fun and will leave you worn out.
Caver's Route can be done in various ways, but for optimum communication between leader and second, four short pitches is the way to go.
P1 - Starting at an obvious off-width crack, climb to a spacious ledge and belay. 5.3, 25' P2 - From the ledge, work your way up into the first chimney and climb to another ledge, clipping a single bolt in the chimney about 30' up. 5.3, 50' P3 - The cave pitch. From the belay, scramble up on blocks into the cave, then crawl slightly downward to a passage where you can see through to the other side of the tower. Worm your way through the passage into a narrow corridor, where you can stand and bring your partner(s) through. 50' P4 - From the corridor, move up into the squeeze chimney above and climb past large blocks to a tree ledge. Climb a short flake feature to a spacious corridor topped by a bombay chimney. Find a way to gain the chimney (possibly the trickiest move of the whole route), then continue up to the top of the tower. 5.4, 100'
After enjoying the view and photo opportunities from the top, look for a pine tree with slings and rap rings on the west side of the tower. A short rap from here will bring you to a ledge and another slung tree; from here, a 60-meter rope will barely reach the ground for the final rap.
Location
Starts on the west side of Tower Rock at an obvious off-width crack, about 20' right of Razor's Edge/Curving Crack.
Protection
Minimal to none. Nuts and/or tricams can be used for belay anchors; a Big Bro is handy but not vital to protect the chimney moves.
This route is a ton of fun and not technically difficult, but, even if you take gear there are places where the leader or a follower can not fall without risking injury. So use caution if you are planing to take less experienced partners.
Detailed beta of what we did follows (there are other variations). Stop reading now if you want the full adventure.
Take very little gear, it gets stuck in the chimneys and makes them even more awkward. I would take a set of smaller tricams, a blue big bro (#4), a quickdraw, and a sling or two over the shoulder.
Start on the west side in a short offwidth with good face holds and climb 25ft to a large ledge. A #4 big bro can be used as pro for the leader, otherwise plan on soloing. A belay can be established on the ledge if you want to stay close to your second.
Continue up into the chimney. The bottom is pretty mellow and then a single bolt at about 20-30ft up on the climber's left side protects the more difficult moves towards the top. Squeeze up and onto another ledge and scramble up some blocks into the now larger chimney. We tied the rope around a horn to belay, there may be other options.
Now, crawl and squirm into the cave/chimney. Once you get inside you can see through the hole to the other side. After a few feet of crawling you can stand up and inch out along a ledge towards the east side of the rock as the tight squeeze chimney opens up above and below you (but doesn't get any wider). Once you get to the end the big bro can be used to anchor the belay for the next vertical pitch.
Climb up the tight (for me) squeeze chimney weaving around several large chockstones. If you're carrying cams you'll be sorry on this pitch. The leader could place tricams or other small gear, but it is probably more hassle than it is worth because the chimney is too tight to maneuver your arms/gear around easily. Once you mantel up onto the next ledge head back west through the now wide chimney onto a very large vegetated ledge. The tree with rappel slings is located here.
For the final pitch use a ledge system to work your way back-up into the wide chimney. There is an exposed high-step move that the leader can protect with a small tricam. Traverse back along the chimney (for the third time now) as you work your way up and out onto the top on the easy eastern end of the chimney. Once the second cleans the tricam, they are exposed to a pendulum fall onto the ledge below in the unlikely event that they were to fall.
Enjoy the view. Do a short rap back to the large ledge on the west side and then do a long rap off of a large tree with slings. A 60m rope is just long enough to get you to the ground near the start of the route.
By saxfiend Administrator From: Atlanta, GA Oct 27, 2009 rating: 5.4
This is a memorable adventure that anyone should thoroughly enjoy, no matter what your lead level! The chimney moves are tight and thought-provoking but fun, and the squeeze tunnel has to be seen to be believed.
As already mentioned, gear is pretty much superfluous; other than clipping the bolt on P2, I essentially free-soloed the route and felt safe doing so. I did place a solid nut for a belay anchor at the top of P1, and a black tricam performed the same function for the P3 belay.
For the sake of good communication with your partner, I'd recommend against linking pitches.
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