Dirk Tyler at the bulge on the 1st pitch of Lonely...
Description
This excellent route is on the E side of the tower. The approach trail leads to the W face, so a short approach pitch must be climbed to get to the other side of the tower.
Approach pitch- climb the loose corner to a good anchor in the notch on the south side of the tower (5.7R, 50ft).
Walk along the base of the NE face of the tower and locate the obvious corner/chimney system on the right side of the face (just look for the chalk).
Pitch 1- jam the hand crack through the bulge to an easy offwidth. Continue up with a mix of face and hand jamming to a ledge in the chimney (5.10-, 130ft, gear needed for belay).
Pitch 2- work up the crack on the left side of the chimney system, pass the rappel anchor, and climb the excellent stem box (crux, RPs) escaping left to a ledge. Continue to the anchor on the next ledge above (5.10, 120ft).
Pitch 3- traverse left, then climb straight up past a bolt to an anchor just below the summit (5.9, 50ft).
Pitch 4- climb up to the overhanging summit block and mantle onto the top (5.8+R).
Enjoy the views on the summit, scream at the people down at Big Bend, then reverse the mantle and downclimb to the anchor at the top of pitch 3. Belay your partner as he/she leads the last pitch and downclimbs back to the anchor. The guide said something about running a TR over the top but I didn't see how that could be done.
DESCENT: Rap 1- 50' rappel to the anchors atop pitch 2. Rap 2- 75' rappel to the anchors in the middle of pitch 2. Rap 3- 150' rappel to the ground. Walk to the anchors atop the approach pitch and rappel to your packs at the base of the SW face.
Protection
2 sets of cams to #3 camalot, a #4 friend or camalot, and RPs for the crux.
When I climbed Lighthouse Tower (~4 years ago) there was a metal spike pounded into the top. If you slung this, it made a decent anchor so that the person downclimbing the final moves had a TR.
I followed the guide and went all the way to the anchors for the first pitch - a mistake! It is very uncomfortable and there's risk of of the leader falling onto the belayer while doing the crux moves right above it! The large ledge that would make a much better belay is about 30-40 feet below the anchors. There's good ~hand-sized placements there. At the top of second pitch I was very happy to clip a wedged sling protecting what I thought were pretty dicey moves above a ledge. I didn't find the summit too 'R' as I was able to place 2 pairs of equalized TCUs (0-3) in the crumbly rock between the last anchor and the summit.
We brought RPs as suggested, but never used them. There's a good small wire (#2 Rock) 6 feet above the rappel station (the one just below the stem box crux), and a great #7 Rock placement 6 feet higher. In 6 more feet the good ledge on the left is reached.
We also didn't use the aforementioned rap station to descend -- looked to me like the rope could get stuck rappelling from the three bolt belay atop the 2nd pitch to the rap station below the crux. Instead, we did a short rap from the last anchor (the chains 20 feet below the summit) to the large shelf on the left side on the NE face (this shelf is 10 feet left of the bolt on pitch 3). From here, it was one long double rope rappel to the base of the NE face (170 feet). We used a 50 meter rope with a 60 meter trail line, and the 50 m just made it to the ground -- I'm pretty sure two 50 m ropes would be sufficient (there's a big shelf 15 feet above the ground, from which one could easily downclimb if two 50 m ropes didn't quite make it).
I'd agree with Stan's comment on the summit pitch: not too bad, mostly just a mind game. There's a good horizontal crack 8 feet below the top, and I placed a #7 Hex on the far right (great directional), then two small cams, and then a #2 Camalot on the left. The old Desert Rock guidebook used to rate the final move 5.8 (and it felt even easier than that to me). Nice route with a super summit.
I don't know how all this bad beta about rapping off started, but the good beta is as follows: one double rope rap to the ground from the bomber anchor on the top of pitch two. Yup, it's that easy. When pulling your rope, make sure you stand back a ways and everything should be fine.
What a great route! I can't believe it isn't talked about more. I'm 5'6" and I imagine the stem box would be pretty difficult for anyone much shorter than me. Although, it looks like you could do some off-width tricks in the wide crack on the right. I felt like the hardest move was actually getting up to belay ledge after coming out of the stemming section. There are some good holds at the lip of the ledge, but getting to them was a little tricky.
As for the rap, we had 2-60m ropes and followed B. Gillett's suggestion. This drops you off right at the top of the 5.7 approach pitch and the ropes pulled pretty easily.
Note - esp. towards the tops of the route, there is plenty of friable rock around, wear your helmet and be extra careful with parties below you.
You can easily rap from the top of the second pitch to the ground with two sixty meter ropes. When pulling your ropes, just make sure you stand back a ways and they should pull fine.
By Tony Bubb From: Boulder, CO Oct 26, 2004 rating: 5.10a
The climb is a fun outing and a very low-stress desert tower. A good one for anyone who can lead 5.10 and doen't mind a little runout on the summit cap.I can see why there is no anchor in that summit cap- since it is pretty crumbly... I wouldn't trust it to rap on. How we managed it as follows: my partner climbed it on lead, placing pretty good gear in horizontals to the lat 2 meters of jug-hauling to the summit (not the crux, maybe rated like gym-juggy 5.8?), then one on the summit flipped the rope throuth the notch on left below the cap, up over the top, and down-climbed on a "TR" over to the other belay. I went up, re-clipped the rope through the pro to run the right direction for my lead, unflipped the rope from below, relead the pitch, then down-lead it, pulling the gear as I cam down. This felt pretty safe and reasonable- better than trusting a bolt to rap from the shattered dinner plate flakes above.We rapped off with a single 70M. Once from the summit to the shoulder towards Dolofright (~16 meters) and one more down to the back side of the rock, all the way to ground just north of the base of the route (~34 meters). A 60M rope would work too, if you are OK with down-scrambling the back side of the shoulder for 15 feet oif easy-to-moderate climbing.
By toddgordon From: Joshua Tree, California Apr 30, 2007
I know;... the 5.8R and no anchors on top is "all part of the experience..." ..but I found the last pitch and no summit anchors irritating.......maybe it's just me.......the rest of the climbing was fun, straight forward, and cool. Did this climb in March 1997 with Dave Evans, Margy Floyd, Richard White, and Dana Adler.
P1 is 120'. I kept going to the uncomfortable rap anchors below the stem box and my 45m rope still touched the ground. P2 & 3 combined are no more than 100' total. P4 looks like it could be removed altogether with a crow-bar! - good pro goes in that horizontal break and would prevent hitting the ledge if you pealed off the very cool summit!
Lighthouse Tower
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