Corrugation Corner, Lover's Leap, Main Wall 5.7

  
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Lake Tahoe, California, USA

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The GPS coordinates for this route are shown below. See the GPS Marker Legend at right for details on each marker. Click on the Marker to see the actual GPS coordinates.

Approach
Pick up the Old Pony Express Trail 50 feet east of the campground bathrooms. After a few hundred yards, when perpendicular to the Lower Buttress, turn right onto a climbers’ trail. After 100 yards you reach the base of the Lower Buttress. Turn left on a faint climbers’ trail that skirts the base. After a steep 100 yards the trail angles left and moves into some small talus in a drainage. A faint trail winds its way toward the Main Wall and joins a more defined climbers’ trail before the Lower Main Wall. For Tombstone Terror and the first pitch of Traveler Buttress, move up and left onto Tombstone Ledge. For all other Main Wall routes, follow the trail up and right for 100 yards until you gain the Main Ledge and can move back left.

As an alternate approach that causes less erosion, walk the Old Pony Express Trail until you pass a large tree that fell across the trail and was cut out. Thirty feet farther is a trail that leads up the talus directly to Main Wall.

If climbing Traveler Buttress or Corrugation Corner, approach with only the gear, food, and water you need on the climb. If you pack heavy and leave extra stuff at the base, plan on spending an extra 45 minutes after the climb to recover it.

Descent
Allow 20 minutes from the summit to the Old Pony Express Trail then another 10 minutes back to the campground. From the finish, find the climbers’ trail that heads east and parallel with the edge of the cliff. Hike for 10-15 minutes, eventually joining the East Wall descent to the Old Pony Express Trail. NOTE: Descending west from the summit seems faster but this way is tricky and not recommended.

Lover's Leap, Main Wall - Corrugation Corner 5.7 - Lake Tahoe, California, USA. Click to Enlarge
The the longest 5.7 at Lover's Leap.
Photo: Chris McNamara