Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
|
|
|
Topic Author's Original Post - Mar 5, 2009 - 03:36pm PT
|
Last week we traded the cold rain of Seattle for the sunshine of Southern Arizona. We’ve wanted to visit Cochise Stronghold for quite a while, so with some helpful info from Greg (Steelmonkey) not to mention his offer of a stay in the Inez Drixelius Memorial Suite at the end of the trip, we headed south.
We didn’t have a lot of time, spent much of the time we did have wandering around rather than climbing, and forgot to take the camera up most of what we did climb. So this will be mostly a tourist-type photo report, but I hope it’ll remind some of you of the good times you’ve had there and encourage the rest of you to put the place on your road-trip list.
And since we’re already married, there’ll be no stories of summit bling (a la Callie and Dave), and no need for speculation (see Skip and Eric’s Las Vegas report). Just a few pictures of a fabulous area.
And a fairly confusing one for the first-time visitor. The rock formations are a little reminiscent of J-Tree, but they’re ten times bigger and the terrain is not the flat sand of Josh, but seamed with steep gullies and heavy bush. Joshua Tree for Grown-Ups.
First view:
Okay, it wasn’t really our first view. We foolishly decided that the best place to start would be on the east side, where there was a campground with picnic tables and toilets. Well, there was such a campground, but it was small, full, and just not very pleasant. So we drove over the Middlemarch Road (no problem, you could do it in pretty much any car) and finally came out on the west side at Sheepshead – which is the big lump on the right end of the picture.
Kept going… going… going… way out into the flats to the west and north and eventually curving back in to a campsite at road’s end.
Beautiful spot. There were three other parties scattered around the road-end area, but there was so much room that it almost felt like we were alone.
The view to the north and east: Whale dome is on the left, Westworld Dome in the Middle, and Squaretop in the distance on the right.
Probably hard to gauge the scale from the photos, so here’s a close-up of Whale dome, with Moby Dick marked in Yellow. It’s six pitches (although the last one is just a short scramble) – so a lot bigger than it looks.
Most people call it 5.8, which felt about right, but a lot of the pro on some pitches is tied-off chicken heads, and there are long runouts – up to 100 feet on the fifth pitch – so a fairly serious undertaking for the grade. And from what we’ve heard, it’s also pretty typical of the style adopted by most new-routers in the area. Long runouts, and pushing the natural pro idea to the limit. My hat is really off to these climbers (at least a couple of whom post here). It may not be Himalayan mountaineering, but it’s cragging at the highest possible standard.
Another feature of the area is raptors (and the climbing bans instituted for their protection). On one climb, as Mari was just about to top out, a Peregrine floated into sight right above her. It was facing a nice headwind and just hung there, drifting gently side-to-side for almost a full minute before sliding away in search of something smaller to eat.
But there are raptors, and then there are raptors. We saw this one just outside the Stronghold
Fortunately, our campsite had an equally fierce protector, and we felt safe
Don’t know what this formation is called, but it towered above our campsite to the south.
And here’s Cochise Dome from the west. The popular “What’s My Line” is on the right skyline.
On our last full day we headed for Phoenix, with a half-day stop to climb on one of the Mt. Lemmon Crags. I don’t know the name of the crag (at the 11-mile pullout), or of the route we did, but it was really enjoyable. Moderate amount of traffic on the road below, including hundreds of bicyclists, but we had the entire crag to ourselves.
After close to two decades of internet interaction – first on rec.climbing and now here – I finally caught up with Greg Opland. In addition to showers & bed & breakfast, he and Felicia provided guide service the next morning at Pinnacle peak. Suburban cragging epitomized. Here’s Felicia rapping from whatever we climbed first,
And Greg on his way up a fun little hand crack.
We’ll be back.
|
|
survival
Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
|
|
Can't wait to get there.
So bummed (still) that we missed the sushi...
Thanks for the good pix!
|
|
survival
Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
|
|
Ghost, I think you'd like it here too. Just a hop skip and a jump....
|
|
MisterE
Trad climber
One Place or Another
|
|
Nice TR! Glad you guys finally hooked up with Greg!
Speculation...hahaha!
|
|
ontheedgeandscaredtodeath
Trad climber
San Francisco, Ca
|
|
We put up a route on Whale Dome to the right of Moby Dick. We named it Call me Ishmael. It goes up a couple of pitches to a ledge, then through a 30 foot cave/tunnel(!!)--the "blowhole"--to access an arete that goes up a few more pitches. Never seen anything like it.
I love that place.
|
|
steelmnkey
climber
Vision man...ya gotta have vision...
|
|
Nice report David! Glad you had a great time. Wish you'd had a higher climbing to hiking ratio, but there aren't many cooler places to hang out. Was great meeting you guys!! C'mon back any time!
|
|
Chiloe
Trad climber
Lee, NH
|
|
Another breath-of-fresh-air TR -- starting with the great title!
|
|
steelmnkey
climber
Vision man...ya gotta have vision...
|
|
Here's a few shots from the end of Mr. & Mrs. Ghost's trip that I caught... :-)
As I said...y'all are welcome any time to the IDMS™ (Inex Drixelius Memorial Suite).
Especially if you leave all that tasty beer in the fridge on your way through to the airport!! :-)
Pinnacle Peak in northern Scottsdale (route we took to the top shown)
Ghost starting up Birthday Party
Ghost near the top of Birthday Party. Mrs. Ghost and Mrs. Monkey below.
Mrs. Ghost headed up Birthday Party.
Mrs. Ghost and Mrs. Monkey kicked back on Sundeck Boulder below the Peak.
Mrs. Ghost headed up the Silhouette variation to the top of the Peak.
Wildlife sighting...
Mrs. Ghost (Mari) doing a fine job on Chug-A-Lug, a nice hand crack below the north side of the Peak.
|
|
Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Mar 6, 2009 - 03:27pm PT
|
Interesting side note on our experience. As most of you probably know, there are no in-print guidebooks to the area. (Which is just fine with me) But scanned pages of the old Kerry Guide are available online, and there is also a vast amount of info on individual routes on places like Mountain Project.
But interestingly, what we found was an inverse correlation between the clarity of the information presented, and its accuracy. That is, the more detailed and clear the directions seemed, the more likely they were to be dead wrong.
As an example, take our approach to Cochise Dome, home of the popular "What's My Line." A guy who was camped in the area told us that the trail we wanted split from the main trail, but someone had piled branches up to hide it. That's pretty vague. No distance, no landmarks, just "at some point there's a hidden trail."
However, we also had detailed and clearly written approach beta from someone's post on (I think) Mountain Project. This told us to follow the main trail until the switchbacks ended and the trail headed straight east over the main saddle. At this point our side trail would break off to the left.
So, after a short hike on the main trail we spotted a distinct side trail, with a few branches piled in the middle. Not hiding the trail, but almost marking it. However, we were still in the middle of the switchbacks, and a long way from where the main trail straightened out and headed east toward the saddle. So on we went.
Ha. Eventually we realized that we were getting farther and farther from any sensible approach to where we reckoned Cochise Dome ought to be, so back we went to where we should have branched off in the first place.
But the wrong directions were so clear!
This was not an isolated incident, but something we encountered repeatedly. And it left me wondering why anyone would go to so much trouble to write detailed instructions that are so compeletly out of touch with reality? Particularly given that an accurate description wouldn't have been any harder.
Yeah, I know, believing anything seen on the web is an "at your own risk" proposition, but still...
|
|
Jingy
Social climber
Flatland, Ca
|
|
which one of those was "the grown up"?
Cool, thanks
|
|
kinnikinik
Trad climber
b.c.c
|
|
Ghost, the stronghold is obviously challenging to get where you are going. After many visits it can still twist you around.The Kerry guide is quite cryptic at best, but seems to attempt to preserve the adventuresome nature of the area. Cochise wouldn't be the same without allday bushwacks to find the route your gonna do tomorrow! Cool trip,very jealous. Cheers
|
|
Melissa
Gym climber
berkeley, ca
|
|
I'm guessing it's in memory of her being around more. Last I heard, she moved to WV.
|
|
Dirka
Trad climber
SF
|
|
Bump!
|
|
Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Mar 6, 2009 - 06:28pm PT
|
As far as I know, Inez is still among the living. She was a long-time denizen of rec.climbing, and a good friend to many of us. She retired from work at UC Berkeley a few years ago and moved to WV. But Greg calls the guest room in house the IDMS in her honor.
Greg said he'd heard she had been spending time in Germany lately with her mother, who is ill.
|
|
Crimpergirl
Social climber
Boulder, Colorado!
|
|
Nice TR. I made my first trip with Dave in November. I'm happy to see Steelmonkey climbing and not barfing on your trip! Heh heh!!
It seemed the directions to climbs were often lacking meaning some real thrashing in a place where every bush/plant has thorns on it. I thought the approach to What's my Line was the crux of the climb! Some friends of ours never got to the base of the climb following the directions they were given.
Still, it was great fun and a nice place to hang out for a couple of weeks.
I *think* I posted a TR, but maybe I forgot.
|
|
steelmnkey
climber
Vision man...ya gotta have vision...
|
|
Far as I know, Inez is still around (out in West "by God" Virgina), just haven't heard from her in a while, and figure she's probably over in Germany at the moment, or otherwise occupied. I just laid that name on the spare bedroom for David as I knew that he knew Inez and would appreciate it. :-)
Barfing - Dang... guess I deserved that one. Stay clear of the Kung Pao Chicken at the Chinese joint in Benson!!!! That was a really bad call. I want you to know Crimpie, that I specifically warned David and Mari about all the "slab" climbing in the Stronghold. :)
I felt bad about the WML incident... I probably had much better beta for David and for some reason it didn't get sent with all the other stuff.
|
|
Ezra
Social climber
WA, NC, Idaho Falls
|
|
Makes me want to visit even more.
best
-e
|
|
Dr.Sprock
Boulder climber
Sprocketville
|
|
We need TR from Sedonna.
How come nobody ever goes out there anymore.
|
|
Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
|
|
The Stronghold is adventure climbing and may it always remain so. The two Kerry backcountry guidebooks were produced without the involvement and cooperation of the principal locals like myself. Consequently, errors abound and the onus is back on the climber's judgment in route selection.
If you want to shoot fish in a barrel, Mount Lemmon's bounty of bolt ladders awaits you. No sure bets but a good game in the Dragoons!
|
|
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!