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May 10, 2026
Located in the crags above Idyllwild, the Celestial 7 is possibly the longest established technical climbing linkup in SoCal, climbing and summiting seven major formations including the popular Tahquitz Rock. The day would start with a romp up White Maiden's Walkway on Tahquitz, then continue east onto several more formations, eventually ending on the summit of Dark Angel Buttress before leisurely descending the Devil's Slide Trail to complete the loop. This was a great fun day, recommended for those who like long flowy climbing. We simul-climbed each route in one long pitch, often running it out on easier terrain. Pitching out the entire linkup would require 40 pitches of climbing and would be highly unnecessary considering that most of the terrain was chill and cruxes were generally short.
On the previous day, we had hiked up and cached water below many of the formations, as well as climbing two of the routes themselves to scope them out. We climbed Altar Buttress in order to get familiar with its routefinding, and White Maiden's since we would be climbing it in the dark the following morning.
Formations climbed
| Peak | Elevation | Topographic Prominence | Summit Coordinates (lat/lon) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tahquitz Rock | 8,004 ft | 116 ft | 33.76029, -116.68320 |
| Far East | 8,000 ft | 30 ft | 33.75964, -116.68194 |
| Hinterland Buttress | 8,201 ft | 20 ft | 33.75839, -116.68114 |
| Indian Buttress | 8,073 ft | 20 ft | 33.75853, -116.67897 |
| Altar of Algoot | 8,633 ft | 45 ft | 33.75657, -116.67868 |
| East Temple | 8,410 ft | 20 ft | 33.75714, -116.67663 |
| Dark Angel Buttress | 8,653 ft | 125 ft | 33.76198, -116.67310 |
Routes climbed
| Name | Grade (YDS) | # Pitches | Quality (1-5) | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White Maiden's Walkway | 5.4 | 6 | 4 | trad |
| Crest of the Far East | 5.8 | 4 | 2.5 | trad |
| Hinterland Buttress Traverse | 5.8+ | 6 | 2 | trad |
| Indian Summer | 5.10a | 3 | 4 | trad |
| Altar Buttress | 5.8 | 12 | 2 | trad |
| East Temple Traverse | 5.8+ | 4 | 3 | trad |
| The Dark Angel | 5.10- | 5 | 2 | trad |
Gear
- 50m rope
- cams: singles .1, 3, doubles .2-2
- 15 alpine draws
- 2 microtraxions
Total Stats
8 miles
5,600 ft gain/loss
Approach
Tom and I departed from Humber Park at 4:33am, taking the standard Tahquitz approach trail to the base of White Maiden's Walkway, located on the main prominent buttress extending north on Tahquitz Rock. It was a surprisingly warm morning, with me ditching the jacket after just 5 minutes of hiking and not putting it on again.
Route 1: Tahquitz Rock via White Maiden's Walkway (5.4, 900 ft)
It was getting just light enough to make out the north buttress of Tahquitz as we started up our first route of the day. Since we had climbed it once the previous day, routefinding was a breeze. After locating the start dihedral of White Maiden's, we made quick work up the left facing corners above and finally straight up the juggy face. There were many ways to go, all of them chill and well protected. 30 minutes later, we were standing on top of the route. A short jaunt east brought us to the summit of Tahquitz Rock.
start of White Maiden's Walkway (photo taken the previous day)
ascending at first light
We scampered down the North Gully descent (class 2-3) to the base of Far East.
Route 2: Far East via Crest of the Far East (5.8, 600 ft)
The start of this route was located about 150 ft up climber's left from the toe of the buttress. A couple rope-lengths of easy arete romping brought me to a couple overlapping slab moves which marked the crux. I clipped a microtraxion immediately after this, then continued up and right diagonally to a ledge just right below the summit. We uproped here and scrambled about 30 ft to the summit.
start of Far East (photo taken the previous day)
fun arete romping
From the summit, we scrambled west to easier terrain, then veered north to the saddle between Far East and Tahquitz where we had been just an hour earlier. We once again descended the North Gully back to the base of Far East where we picked up our bags and continued south to Hinterland.
Looking back at Far East
Route 3: Hinterland Buttress via Hinterland Buttress Traverse (5.8+, 1,000 ft)
A 40 ft dihedral about 50 ft climber's left of the toe of Hinterland Buttress marked the start of this route. This was climbed along with some dirty cracks to the top of the first tower. From there on out, we basically stayed on the ridge, occasionally deviating to the left as the terrain became easier.
start of Hinterland Buttress
halfway up
summit
From the summit, a short bushwhack to the south brought us to the next saddle, then a quick descent northeast down a sandy gully back to the packs. Back at the base, the many splitters of Indian Buttress were clearly visible a short distance to the south.
Route 4: Indian Buttress via Indian Summer (5.10a, 600 ft)
This was by far the highest quality climbing on the entire linkup. Since we would be descending the opposite side of the formation, we took our packs with us this time. An initial easy pitch up some discontinuous slabs and cracks brought us up to the highest large tree on north side of the buttress. From there, I continued up an obvious awesome hand-sized splitter to the next ledge. More cracks and face moves brought me to the base of a prominent left-facing corner which was followed to its top. The crux came near the top of this corner, which was a short thin finger crack (be sure to save a 0.1 and 0.2 for this). I passed a bolted anchor at the top of the corner, then continued up a depression to a short headwall to get out of it. The climbing here was dirty, and I may have been slightly off-route (some drawings indicate veering slightly right onto a blunt arete here). After turning the headwall, I veered just left of the summit to build a belay and bring Tom up. We unroped here and did an easy boulder problem to surmount the summit block.
A short and fairly obvious class 2-3 ledge brought us down the south side of the formation, where a short but nasty bout of chinquapin awaited us. We initially hugged the southern edge of Indian Buttress before breaking east straight through the dense chinquapin.
Route 5: Altar or Algoot via Altar Buttress (5.8, 1,700 ft)
I made sure to scarf down a good amount of food before we started up the longest route of the day, which involved a decent amount of navigation around several towers. The route started at the very toe of the buttress at a short finger crack covered in yellow lichen. The first several ropelengths of climbing were very easy, with Tom only placing one piece of gear. The first technical bit (5.6) came at the Mystery Notch Tower which we climbed straight up a crack, protecting it with two cams. An easy ridge romp after this brought us to the Black Tower which marked the route's crux. We climbed a ledge system to the right of the tower initially, passing through a cool cave. Shortly after the cave, a wide crack to the left marked our transition left. A few moves of 5.8 on steeper terrain brought us back onto the ridge. We stayed on the ridge for about another 50 ft before veering right, directly opposite the large tree growing to the left. Although the right side initially looked possibly impassable from below before turning the corner, a cool flake allowed us to hand traverse across with some nice exposure. This was the so called Step-Around Tower. It was easily protectable with a #3 cam. After the step-around, we climbed some loose blocks to the base of the War Bonnet Tower. There were two options here. Going around right would involve a low 5th downclimb on the other side, and going left would involve bashing through some bushes but with easier climbing. We had done the right side the previous day while scoping the route, so we chose to go left this time.
Knowing that the terrain was easy after this from the previous day's efforts, we unroped after the War Bonnet Tower. From here we walked over to the next notch, then turned left and scrambled onto a face with a wide crack in it. Class 4 and occasionally low 5th class moves brought us up to the top of this face and a large sandy ledge just left of the summit. A few class 4 moves on highly decomposing rock brought us up to the summit.
After tagging the summit, we reversed our moves back to the large sandy ledge, then continued south for 20 ft to locate a rap station- several slings around a bush. A short 40 ft rap brought us down to a notch, which we descended south from for about 100 ft before veering east to a larger saddle. From here a large gully could be seen descending north. It was not possible to easily go directly down this at first due to some overhung rock, so we initially stayed on the east (right) side of it, descending parallel to the gully on class 2-3 rock. About 400 ft down, the terrain eased and we were able to access the gully which quickly filled with chinquapin. This was followed back to the packs.
Route 6: East Temple via East Temple Traverse (5.8+, 600 ft)
The temperature had warmed considerably by now, and both of us were sweating and going through water at a high rate. We wandered around for about 30 minutes trying to find the start of the East Temple Traverse. It was not the buttress immediately east of the Altar, but the second one up and southeast.
The East Temple Traverse turned out to be a high quality line and it was a shame that it wasn't done more often, as evidenced by the copious amounts of lichen growing on the route. The first pitch of this route was shared with Solar Winds, which followed a prominent finger crack up the steepest part of the main lower buttress. The moves here were excellent and exposed, and well protected with small gear. After topping out the lower buttress, I continued up the ridge on easy terrain for a few more ropelengths. A final 5.7-ish move (with bonus lichen) brought me to the narrow summit.
A simple and short class 3 downclimb to the south brought us off the formation and into a gully to the east, which we followed down north. This had the worst chinquapin on the entire Celestial 7, and we resorted to downclimbing some questionable rock along the east side of the buttress in order to avoid the thrashing.
Route 7: Dark Angel Buttress via The Dark Angel (5.10-, 800 ft)
From the base of East Temple, we basically made a beeline northeast across a slope to the start of Dark Angel. The first ropelength went up an easy gully, then doglegged left up a junky face (5.7ish). After this, Tom turned right and wandered through a maze of slabs and chossy cracks, frequently wondering if he was still on route. I had to pull gingerly here to avoid breaking things. Overall, not fun climbing until the last pitch.
The last pitch was what made this route not a total junk fest. A traverse across a slabby face brought us to the left side of the headwall with a steep prominent 5.10 dihedral. Tom almost fell off this as a foothold broke in the opening moves, but otherwise it was decently solid. A few hero handjams on steep terrain marked the final moves as we pulled up over the headwall onto easy slabby terrain. We unroped here and walked to the blocky summit a couple hundred feet north.
Descent
From the summit, a short romp east brought us to the PCT, which we followed north for a mile to Saddle Junction. From there we turned left and descended the Devil's Slide Trail for 3 miles back to Humber Park. In all it was a fun rompy day, taking 14 hours total.
north side of Tahquitz seen from Devil's Slide
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