The Gateway

Fun, thin and sustained climbing! Scramble up the easy, albeit scary & crumbling choss pile to gain the 1st bolt (highly recommend stick-clipping the 1st bolt or walking around & up a slight trail that leads to a ledge to the right of the 1st bolt and carefully clipping it. A lot of lose rock has broken off while climbing up to the first bolt. Helmets should be used! After the 1st bolt the rock is solid.)

Traverse slightly to the left after the 1st bolt and up onto the main face. From here the climbing consists of small hold to small hold, with the crux about midway up the climb. Climbing sequentially and thoughtfully will help the climb come together. Very bouldery. If you can climb through the crux & ward off the pump you will find a decent rest a few moves below the anchors.

Solid at 5.12a for the area.

NOTE: In addition to The Gateway there appears to be another route on the left side of the crag (The Gateway is the route on the right side of the cliff) that someone has been putting in. I can't find any info on this climb.

This route faces south and is the first climb/cliff you encounter on the approach to El Diablo Wall and Hell Cave. You can see the crag across the highway from the parking pull-out for the above named areas. You walk around this crag and up a short talus field to gain the 'main' El Diablo area.

5 bolts up to a 2-chain anchor. Good bolt placements. Easy to hike around the back-side of the crag and set a TR. As of the Spring of 2012 all bolts and anchors were in great shape.