Lucky Six

Lucky Six is a close to town but still kind of out there route, perched above the Colorado River on the southern boundary of Arches NP. This route has no fixed anchor; descent is via walk off to the east.

Climb easy soft rock to a ledge, then continue on soft rock with chockstones to gain the left-facing corner. Follow the widening less-than-vertical corner through a roof. Make a rightward traverse past a vertical seam then pull through/around blocks to gain a steep thin hands crack. Climb the thin hands to a ledge, then continue on hands/thin hands to the top. Set a gear belay then walk off to the east.

I pulled on a couple cams through the loose blocks after the traverse to gain the hand crack. Future parties should be able to free this bit, maybe at ~5.11. I thought the route was mostly pretty fun, but I'm not planning to rush out for the FFA.

Park at the boat ramp on the north side of the Colorado River, just east of where Highway 191 crosses the river. The boat ramp is just past El Segundo. Hike east then north along the river on a dirt road that narrows to a trail. Cross into Arches NP (sign), then cut south (left) at the first spot where you can gain a ramp that leads across the top of the Wingate Sandstone. There are a bunch of prickly pear cacti near the turnoff, and the turnoff begins as a small use trail. Follow the trail south up the ramp, then west along washes and slickrock to the formation. The route is on the west face of a pillar. Approach time is about 30-40 minutes.

To descend, follow slickrock down to the east. Stay close to the cliffline. Eventually, you'll find a short 4th class downclimb with a couple Moki steps and a log propped up to facilitate the last few moves down.

For those with access to Desert Rock, Lucky Six is about 0.5 mi east (right) of The Coo (aka The Coup), on the same Navajo Sandstone cliffband.

(1) 0.3-0.4, (2-3) 0.5-0.75, (3) 1-2, (1) 3, (3) 4, (1) new 5, (1) old 5, (1) 6 (all BD sizes). Also bring several long runners.

The above rack includes gear for the top anchor. I used (2) new #4 and (1) #2 BD for the anchor.

You might also want to take a micro cam or two for the vertical seam at the traverse. I didn't have any, so I'm not sure exactly what size fits.