Hype:

Assembly hall peak looms over the San Rafael campground. Although the upper pitches are poor quality, the first pitch is really good, and the views from the summit are second to none.

Trailhead:

The trailhead starts at the San Rafael Campground. To get to the San Rafael Campground, depends on where you are coming from:

From the north:
Just north of Castle Dale, on highway 10, about 2 miles, find a side road heading east. The road is signed Buckhorn Wash. Follow this road about 15 miles to a signed junction, with Buckhorn Wash to the right. Go right, down Buckhorn wash. There are some great petroglyph panels on the way. 9.3 miles down the Buckhorn Wash road, you will cross a cattlegaurd, and the Mexican Mountain road goes off on the left. This is just before the San Rafael river, and campground.

From the south:
Take I-70 west from Green River about 30 miles, to exit 131. Take the exit, turning right. This road goes east, paralleling the freeway for a couple of miles before turning north. Follow this road 19 miles to where the San Rafael campground.

Route:

From the campground, you have a great view of the entire route. It starts on the north west side of Assembly Hall, below the obvious bowl. Leaving the campground, follow an old road, and washes to the gulley leading up to the base of Assembly Hall. There is a cliff band up high that had a fixed rope to facilitate climbing it when we did the route (7/7/2007). Once above this cliff band, it is a short distance to the base of the climb.

Pitch 1: Below the bowl are several cracks. The route starts in a hand crack in a corner on the right. The hand crack is short (10 m ( 33 ft ) ), then traverse left and up to a bolted anchor on easier ground. (5.9/5.10)

Pitch 2: Scramble 3rd and 4th class up the bowl to the base of the steep headwall. As you near the headwall, you can see the rappel anchor high on the right. The final pitch climbs a bolted line a bit left of the bolted anchor.

Pitch 3: The final pitch has many bolts (7+), but is no sport route. The first bolt is about 10 m ( 33 ft )up. You can get a small cam in midway up to the bolt, but the rock quality is very poor. Follow the line of bolts to a small overhang. Place a small cam here, then traverse right and up to easier ground and the final bolt. Due to rope drag, we built a gear anchor here.

The rappel anchor is off to the right from the last bolt, and easy scrambling gets you to the top. Admire the views, particularly of Window Blind peak. It is an amazing perspective on the area.

Scramble down to the rappel. Rappel 60 m ( 197 ft )back to the base of pitch 3, scramble down the bowl, then make a single rope rap 20 m ( 66 ft )from the bolts at the top of pitch 1 to the ground.

Photos:

Maps:

Download map(s): Map 1

My History:

I climbed Assembly Hall on 7/7/2007. Although hot, the route is shaded until mid-day. We found the first pitch really enjoyable, but the rock quality on the 3rd pitch was very poor. I likely wouldn't describe the route as runout, but would describe it as "heady" due to the rock quality on the final pitch.

The summit register container is falling apart. If you head up, please take a new container up for the register.

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