Book of the Desert

This is the massive dihedral on the north face of Sonora Dome.

Fun stemming and jamming up an epic feature. Enough footholds and handholds exist for someone without any crack skills to have a good time.

The Book was originally done in two pitches, but could be done in 3

P1 - 5.6: Start up low angle/right facing corner of mini buttress that leads to a platform directly underneath the main dihedral. Continue up using the corner system and a series of small rails until you reach a larger rail to make a belay...This is a good place to ditch the #4. (~65 ft)

P2 - 5.7: Continue up dihedral for one giant mega pitch to the top. About half way through this pitch is the crux which you encounter right before a small platform in the dihedral, this could be another option for a belay if you want to break up the length. 40 feet from the top, break away from the dihedral onto the open face on very good holds to easy blocky summit exit...this is unprotected but seemed friendlier than cleaning the incredibly grungy final 40 feet of dihedral. (~200 feet)

The dihedral peters out to a nice ledge on the top with a decent sized tree to use as a belay point.

Descent: continue easy 5th and 4th class scramble from the tree ledge to the summit. Hike north to the notch and scramble down the drainage gully that takes you directly to your packs.

Located on the North Face of Sonora Dome. Easily seen from FS Rd 4073 once you've entered Chino Canyon proper. Make sure to approach the dome by crossing the dry creek about 1/4 mile downstream of the dome from the road. Slowly work your way up the gradual hillside instead of approaching directly underneath the dome.

Nuts, Double rack to #3, +extra #0.75, #1, & #4

All natural, no bolts!

No rappel to the base, highly recommend bringing approach shoes to the top for the hike down