BETA PHOTO: Eagle Wall from the lower Painted Bowl with routes...
Description
This is the easiest way up the Eagle Wall. Given the length of the approach and descent, it's a long day. Due to lack of fixed anchors, you cannot rap this route so plan on going over the top (leave extra water, etc in the creek bed before heading up the the base of the wall).
I found the crux pitch a bit scary for 5.8, there is pro but some 15' runouts, but a 5.9 leader should have no problem with it (except for this one pitch, the rest didn't even seem 5.8). The final pitch used to be very runout but there is now a bolted alternative.
I've heard several negative opinions on this route from people who would give it one or even zero stars. The rock is not as good as it is on other routes to the left. I enjoyed the length and position of the route, so I give it 1.5 stars rounded up. If you are up for the challenge, Eagle Dance or Leviation 29 are much more highly regarded.
Follow the approach ramp up and right, past the start of Eagle Dance and Levitation 29, until you reach a sort of a col where you can look down into the Painted Bowl. The route begins at the col. We found the route fairly easy to follow using Swain's description, just follow the easiest line up cracks to the right of a buttress leading up. We thought we would be able to chat with friends on Lev 29 but this is around the corner and no communication was possible.
After about five pitches there are two alternatives: (1) head up and then angle left as in the first photo, or (2) traverse right to an obvious left facing corner (easy), belay and then climb the corner (crux). The second alternative seems to be slightly harder but is followed by many parties (including us) because it is such an obvious corner.
Eventually you will reach a final slab, the original 8th pitch went up and left 5.5X to the summit. However now there are a bunch of bolts leading straight up at about 5.7 for a much less terrifying finish.
Swain claims the descent can be done in an hour, but this is speedy. We followed his descent description and made no wrong turns; we were not in a hurry as we were hoping our friends on Lev 29 would catch up so it took us at least 2 hours.
By the way the "descent times" quoted above are just to the spot in the creek where you turn off to the base of the route. You still have almost 2 hours from this point to get back to your car!
Also, do not confuse this route with the more well known Rainbow Wall, the steep wall up Juniper Canyon.
We diverged from the line drawn on the photo for Rainbow Buttress. Instead of going left after the Black Tower, we headed right for the large left-facing corner in the photo. The corner is the crux pitch. Afterwards, some loose chimneys get you to the final slab.
10b4me brings up an excellent point. In fact the dihedral he mentions in the photo looks like the crack we climbed too, so I think we didn't go where the line goes either! I drew the line from a photo in the Urioste Guide, which definitely shows the route going left around this dihedral (see all route photos showing route 7-12). The route "7-13: Kaleidoscope Crack (5.8)" in the Urioste guide is shown going just right (?) of that prominent dihedral.
Unfortunately I didn't bring a camera during my ascent, and don't have a great memory of where exactly we went. However I do remember traversing right into the base of a corner that looks a whole lot like the one in the photo. The question remains of whether this is the Rainbow Buttress route or some variation ...
Swain calls the crux pitch "an obvious, left facing corner" which looks exactly like the dihedral in the photo, but he also mentions "extra #3.5 and #4 friends" for this pitch, which doesn't make sense to me as I don't remember it being wide at all, in fact the crack was often pinched off at the crux of this corner.
Ooops. Didn't change the name field the first time around. Sorry 10b4me. Anyway, the belay at the base of the corner takes #3, 3.5, and 4 camalots, or maybe some big hexes. Additionally, there is a section maybe 150' above that belay where the crack widens to take bigger gear.
Red Rock Odyssey includes a chapter about this climb, with a description and photo of climbing the right-hand dihedral.
By John Hegyes From: Las Vegas, NV Oct 18, 2005 rating: 5.8
We climbed Rainbow Buttress last week. This climb was a lot of fun and I found it to be difficult for the grade - definitely an old school Joe Herbst-style 5.8. The hike in was tough, it took us three hours. We stashed our approach gear next to the pair of pine trees that marked the start of the ramp out of the North Fork to the base of Eagle Wall.
The route finding was straight forward. Pitches 1 and 2 featured nice dihedrals and large belay ledges. Pitch 3 had an awkward off-width. In the DeAngelo guide, he refers to the variations at the top of pitch 4 (the top of the Black Tower) as the Original Route that goes straight up, and the Dihedral Variation to the right. When presented with this decision, our choice was obvious, we headed for the striking dihedral and we were not disappointed. This is how the route goes in the Swain guide. As a matter of fact we were able to link pitches 4 and 5, bypassing the belay station on top of the Black Tower completely. The long 5.8 dihedral was tricky climbing - the central crack closes down to a thin seam. Some sections could only be protected by thin RPs quite some distance apart. The final, eighth pitch goes up rotten rock on a pink face. I don't condone retrobolting, but to consider going up this 5.7 face on rotten rock without the sporty bolts would have been crazy, and would have ruined an otherwise great day.
The walk-off took four hours to get back to the car at the Oak Creek trailhead. Finding the way down was no problem, we just headed for the castle of dark rock to the east (George Washington Tower) and stayed on the north side of it until we reached the saddle and then headed south. The scenery was unworldly, especially the marble-like water trough with colorful swirls that took us down to the North Fork and our packs.
By steve p From: Scotia, New York Apr 5, 2006 rating: 5.8 R
We did this route this past week and found it to be a hidden jem. The rock is very good until the last 2 pitches, gear anchors, nice ledges, great views, stunning walk-off. We did the original route that goes straight up from the tower instead of traversing to the large white corner. The seventh pitch using this method is really interesting. Very run-out on less than solid patina flakes (none broke though!) for 60M until you get to the large pine tree at the base of the last pitch. We then headed up and right across pink rock to a wide crack facing left in a small corner of sorts. From the summit to the car in a casual 2:50 minutes. Highly recommend - and we didn't have to clip a single bolt!
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