Hike Temple Mountain San Rafael Swell BLM, UT

May 20, 2023 — Temple Mountain is an iconic peak in the San Rafael Swell, but its technical rating has always been a deterrent for me. Our group of six decided to give it a shot, a couple of competent trad lead climber friends among us ready with gear. Thrilled we were able to reached the summit, its loose terrain and extreme exposure make this peak less than a favorite. We all hopped in bed of Bryce's truck as he chugged us up toward the base of Temple Mountain, where we sustained more injuries than when actually climbing the peak. Leave the graded Temple Mountain Road and head north here (38.66573, -110.68190). You'll need some clearance, but not 4WD. Surprised at how far we were able to drive, we parked before the road became impassable at a pull-out.

We continued up the now rocky, abandoned mining road that led north. The road gains elevation steeply and then starts southeast. I'd intended to just take this road as it makes one very long switchback, but my friends noted a very fun, Class 3 gully using solid rock. I highly recommend going this way to add some fun to the ascent, and to get your scrambling mindset jumpstarted. The gully plopped us onto the upper road, where we just continued ascending, now on loose Class 2 scree/talus. Using a series of little ramps and a couple of Class 3 moves on loose terain, we found ourselves on the south ridge of Temple Mountain. The views became gorgeous, and we could see the technical portion of the route ahead.

Matt Lemke described the route we chose to take, and while it worked out well, Shawn managed to locate an easier route down from the summit that I wish we'd taken. I'll do my best to describe it, but he barely remembers what he did. Rather than continue along the crest, this alternative route leads along a wide bench to the left, then heads up a low Class 5 chimney. This leads to the saddle separating Temple Mountain from its western summit and from here there's some Class 3/4 wrapping around the ridge spires to reach the same point where the standard route tops out. Again, we didn't go this way, but it might be worth exploring as an alternative.

I'll assume you're continue along what seems like the standard route, like we did. Heading along the ridge is an initial Class 4/5 move that is avoidable by dropping a few feet below on the right. Both the ridge and the bypass lead back up to the first required crux of the route, a low Class 5 series of moves on ledgy blocks, awkward since one of the larger ledges juts out inconveniently. Most of us chose to wait for a handline to be dropped by one of the less fearful climbers in the group.

Above the first required crux, we scrambled up massive, potentially deathly loose Class 3 boulders and reached the base of the technical portion. Rated YDS 5.4, we all thought the mantle moves and serious exposure should at least warrant 5.5-5.6. We noted a pretty vertical wall to the right of the climb, which is where we'd be rappelling from the rim later.

As I was gearing up, prepared for a lengthy wait as the trad leaders presumably and responsibly would be placing ample gear to ascend safely, I noticed Karson was already past the crux and had topped out on the summit ridge above. I blinked. He'd just soloed this wildly exposed nonsense? Shawn and Matt followed, as did Chris. Bryce and I looked at each other, thrilled the other had more sense of self-preservation than these whackos we'd decided to be friends with. Chris built an anchor for us above using a wide crack. After tying in and pulling the first Class 4 move over a large boulder covered in scree I started cursing at those above, declaring their insanity. The route continued around a corner and I chose to use it as an arete. The exposure was very real. A final few moves on blocky ledges led to a final pull to gain the summit ridge.

After we were all up, we headed east toward the summit along the wide summit ridge, which had expansive views to the mostyl flat desert below. The summit came into view ahead, a conical structure with some fun Class 3/4 on mostly solid rock. The summit block was barely big enough to host all of us. We returned to the top of the crux pitch and rappelled using webbing that was already assembled around a boulder, located just east of the top of the climb.