Total Soul

Total Soul is an eight pitch route on the North Buttress of Three O'Clock Rock. This is slab climbing, though with a remarkable variation to it as the climb follows a dike for two pitches, passes several interesting overlaps along the way, and has the rare distinction of being one of the routes that actually "tops out" on Three O'Clock Rock.

The difficult climbing is mostly bolt protected but the leader must carry and know how to use gear. Gear is particularly helpful for the long crack section on P4 (finger-tip-sized stoppers and up to a wide-hands cam size). It also may be helpful to place a piece or two on P2 and P7. See the attached topo for bolt counts per pitch.

From the base of Silent Running, head left and uphill from the point where the hiking trail reaches the rock. A few hundred yards later, the base of the climb is marked by a bolt on the right wall, maybe fifty feet below where the bushes give way to a rock chimney/gully system that forms the deep cleft between the North Buttress and the South Buttress.

Chains are in place at all the belays so you can rappel the route. The top two pitches are more easily rappelled by an alternate route in the trees on the right (north), for a more vertically oriented rappel.

The first of these two raps is from a set of slings on a medium sized tree, thirty to fifty feet right of where the route tops out. The second, less than a half rope below, has a chain anchor that is often overlooked, so there are slings on a large tree nearby. When you reach the anchor at the top of P2, you can do one rap to the ground with two 60-m ropes if you head towards the gully.

Gear to 2" and ten or eleven draws. Hoard your #1 Camalot until nearing the end of pitch 4 or bring an extra.