Lovers Leap rock face, highest point is 200 m from the base.
Lovers
Leap rock face, highest point is 200 m from the base.
Lovers Leap is a popular rock climbing site close to Lake Tahoe with a free camping in nice woods.
We did a route in the middle (5.11 or European 5a ), with three pitches of 50 meters each.
It is a strange feeling, to sit on a sloping ledge 100 meter above the ground, secured to an self-made anchor fixed with four nuts in rock crevasses. A slight pull in the sling prevented me from slipping off the rock ledge. In the mean time I was just waiting for the first climber to do another 50 meters. All you can do is guide the rope, a movement is good, covering height, but no movement is bad, as it signals a difficult passage, so you hold on tightly. The total route took us 2 hours, a bit long. Two girls did a more difficult one, we met them on top going down.
This was my first, and will also be my last time, I am getting too old for this kind of excitement and I don't want to push my luck of the last 35 years. Only once I got a concussion and there were a few narrow escapes.
A good place to climb if you want to avoid the crowds. The camp ground is fine, spacious sites among the trees. A few km towards Lake Tahoe is a lake for bathing.