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September 25, 2026
The East Face of The Sorcerer is home to many of the best granite trad routes in California, with Atlantis being no exception. Atlantis follows a series of clean flakes and splitter cracks for about 500 ft. From the top of Atlantis pitch 3, an additional excellent single-pitch route (Lost at Sea) can also be done.
Peaks/Towers climbed
| Peak | Elevation | Topographic Prominence | Summit Coordinates (lat/lon) |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Sorcerer | 7,880 ft | 100 ft | 36.10792, -118.48105 |
| The Magician | 8,248 ft | 413 ft | 36.10952, -118.48473 |
Gear
- 70m rope (70m required for rappels)
- cams: doubles 0.1-0.75, singles 1-3
- cams: doubles 0.1-0.75, singles 1-3
- small nuts
- 10 alpine draws
- 10 alpine draws
Total Stats
5.8 miles
1,700 ft gain/loss
Approach
This was the standard Needles approach. A 2-mile trail hike from Needle Spring brought us to a small notch below the old fire lookout. From there we descended north for a few hundred feet and then traversed along the north side of the needles on climber trails and easy cross country, making our way over to the Witch-Charlatan notch. From the notch, we descended south down a gully to reach a platform on the east face of The Sorcerer.
Pitch 1 (5.10c, 120 ft)
There were two prominent left-facing flake/corner systems at the base of The Sorcerer's east face. Atlantis started on the rightmost of these. I climbed this by using a mix of jamming and laybacking, finishing at a bolted anchor on top of the flake. The #3 cam was nice to have on this pitch and would not be used after.
Pitch 2 (5.10b, 100 ft)
I began by traversing left for about 10 ft, utilizing an undercling flake over a small overlap to some ledges. These ledges led straight up on easy terrain and a short splitter handcrack to a bolted anchor below a slot. This anchor was for Thin Ice. I clipped one of the anchor bolts and traversed dead right for about 30 ft to a second bolted anchor.
Pitch 3 (5.11c, 120 ft)
I had fallen off this pitch in 2022. Now it was time for retribution. The pitch began with a thin left-facing flake which only took gear smaller than 0.3 cam size. I placed a couple pieces, futzed around for a bit, and took a deep breath before punching up the flake in an athletic scrunchy layback. I continued up this flake as it got easier up to a slopey ledge with a rest, then climbed the obvious 0.75 splitter above to a bolted anchor.
looking down pitch 3
Lost At Sea (optional but highly recommended, 5.10d, 100 ft)
From the pitch 3 anchor, Lost At Sea is the amazing left-facing flake heading up and right. Although it felt easier than similarly graded routes at The Needles, it was decently sustained. This pitch dead ended at a bolted anchor in the middle of a blank face, so it was required to rappel back to the pitch 3 anchor.
David following Lost At Sea (photos taken in 2022)
Pitch 4 (5.11a, 150 ft)
Although not containing the most difficult moves, this pitch was decently involved. I started off traversing left around a bulge which took tiny gear but was not as hard as it looked. After turning the bulge, I headed up and right on an easy right-facing corner before the route split in two options. The first option was a 10a flake on the left. The second was a 11a corner on the right. Since I had taken the flake last time, I decided to take the corner this time. The climbing in the corner was sporty and not the most difficult but the gear was tiny (0.1 cam equivalent and smaller) and it was a little puckery thinking about falling and zippering all those tiny pieces. Past the corner, I was deposited on a ledge and made an easy mantle onto the huge sub-summit ledge with a large tree. There was no bolted anchor here and I built a gear anchor with the hand sized pieces I had remaining. It was also possible to sling the tree.
second half of pitch 4
I fixed the rope for Mason to jug up, then scrambled about 30 ft of class 3 to the true summit, basking in warm sunlight. It had gotten a bit chilly in the shade with a strong breeze.
summit of The Sorcerer
Descent (3 rappels with single 70m)
Just west of the tree was a bolted anchor. Rap 1 went straight down to a smaller tree with slings. Rap 2 descended skier's right in the direction of a fallen tree trunk on a bushy ledge. About 40 ft below this ledge was a ledge with a bolted anchor. Rap 3 went straight down from this bolted anchor to the ground.
The raps deposited us about 50 ft from our packs. We put on our shoes and ate a quick snack before walking back, summiting The Magician along the way up the old fire lookout stairs.
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