Open Book

An excellent topo is posted in the photo section. This description is a supplement to that.

Pitch 1: Head up fun, well protected 5.6 warm-up terrain to the base of the corner proper. Hand jam for 10 feet, then through a short wide section(#4 camalot useful) to a decent ledge. Beautiful. Gear Belay. 190'.

Pitch 2: Another longer wide section off the ledge(#4 again, but small nuts protect crack out left, along with semi-tipped out #3 at top work okay) puts you below a crackless roof. Clip an optional sling belay anchor and smear out the face.(2nd best move of climb) Continue up easy blocky terrain to a slung chockstone. Belay here or gear belay up 10 more feet is more comfortable. 190'

Pitch 3: This pitch is a gimme. Tunnel up through a whole in the rock, avoiding the gaping chimney on the right,then up left on 5.5 terrain to the top of the dihedral onto the saddle. Great view! Gear belay or sling chockstone. 150'

The topo shows the next section as pitch 4, but it is a ropeless 3rd class scramble, so I will not call it a pitch. Scramble up right to the highest point in a notch. Belay here on fat ledge. 100'

Pitch 4: Highest quality pitch I thought. Climb the beautiful hand crack that tends right up to a ledge, over the hundreds of feet below. Proceed left up a 5.5 slab to another fat ledge. (Note: this last slab section is very easy, 30-35 feet long, but there is no pro available. A fall here would be very serious, but it is quite easy as long as you did a good job with runners so there isn't much rope drag. Plus this is good prep for the next pitch!) 100'

Pitch 5: Most unique of the pitches. Climb straight up from your belay to a big whole in the summit block. Tunnel through either the right hole(smaller but better for rope drag) or the left(bigger, but worse for rope drag)to the other side. Then comes the coolest part(or scariest) of the climb. Make a 5.8(topo says 5.9?) move off a fat ledge and lieback the unprotectable arete for 30 feet to the summit. Like the previous section, this could be bad if you fall, but the hardest part is right off the deck. The last 15 feet are 5.4 or less, so its only about 20 feet you need to worry about. We did not see the fixed pin mentioned on the topo. 3 bolt belay(1 bomber, 2 old). 120'

Sign the register and enjoy the super cool summit!

Descent: 3 raps. Rap off the summit block directly west(the way you finished the climb) down to another saddle. Hike from here due west along ridge down to a fat tree. Rap once from here to either of two more tree anchors. Rap one more to ground. 2 60m ropes will get you down in one. Hike back to the base of the climb to your gear.

If you drove to Upper Hell Roaring Trailhead, hike 1/4 mile to the confluence with the main trail that started at the lower trailhead. If you started at the lower trailhead, hike 2 miles to this point.

From the two trails intersection, hike 2 miles to Hell Roaring(HR) Lake on really flat terrain. Upon reaching the lake, a view of the finger can be seen for the first time by looking directly west.

From the lake, find the trail that leads to the toilet(marked) and follow this trail(not super distinct, but good enough) all the way to the west end of the lake. It skirts the lake quite closely. (Note: This is not the trail that leads to Redfish Lake, which is marked upon arrival at HR Lake)

When you reach the west end where a stream enters the lake, head north on the same trail up very steep terrain for about a half mile. You will eventually reach a pond, and then a bigger blue unnamed lake. The finger will be quite close now.

From this lake, hike around the south end on a trail, and take the path of least resistance up the drainage southeast of the finger, avoiding the cliffs east of the finger. Skirt the base of the finger heading north, then west up steep scree to the base of the route, which is the obvious clean 45 degree corner/diehdral on the north side of the finger. Time from trail intersection: 2.5 hours, (4-5 miles?)

1 60 meter rope. Standard rack is more than adequate. Most will want a #4 camalot or equivalent, but not required. Lots of runners. Topo shows their gear recommendation.