Solitude- Lookout Pt.- Index

I had just cleared the crux(s) and was going free again to finish the sustained , steep lead halfway up an obscure yet classic 5 pitch route. Pumped to all get out, there should have been relief at the top hand jams. A thorny vine wove through the crack that I could just barely reach. The spines dug into the skin, both sides of the hand, where some would stay for days after.

I wouldn’t ordinarily write about a local route done at the crags, but I had to share this wonderful route with the hopes of hearing more good things about it. I think my friend Geoff first posted about a Mountain Project link to it. The pictures looked great and I am always on the lookout for sustained thin lines.

The first thing I asked Alex on his lead was “Is there any chalk on it?”. He linked the first 2 pitches into 1 dream lead. He said there was, but we didn’t see much after that. The climbing justifies more traffic though.

Pitch 3 packs a wallop, with a techy crux start to and very thin finger traverse left. I later cleaned the sticker vines out of the finish jams on rappel.

The Chimney after(p4)was short and fun.

P5 was another very fun, varied, and thin crack lovin’ affair. How many routes do you know of that end in a dyno for the summit? We felt like we had really accomplished something that day, and all in an hour and a half away from home. I cant wait to lead 1,2 and 5 on my next go, they are 2 of my favorites for sure. All leads have adequate rests along the way.

I hope the appeal of this route is enough to keep it clean. With the approach and other competitive climbs, it might not however. That is one of the reasons I chose to write about it. Have a go, and let me know how you like it. I think it is a classic, though many may choose to aid a few moves at the crux.

Update 10-20014: Found an early trip report of Solitude on RCNW. Also went back up to Lookout Point and did another Multi pitch route starting with Strange Boar and ending on Black Rock, both of which were very fun. Baby Tapir is real good as well.

Now for some pictures: