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mooch
Big Wall climber
The Immaculate Conception
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Topic Author's Original Post - Mar 9, 2009 - 02:18am PT
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Hmmm....170 miles from my sweetheart and feeling the same isolation of those left behind in ghost towns like Calico or Killknapp. That's the way it felt when I moved to Ridgecrest last year. The move was a result of an already floundering economy and the sources of employment for a wayward avionics geek....extremely limited! And corporate avionics was a one way, dead end gig. On top of that, I was never a fan of moving to southern California (having spent the last 4 years in the central valley prior to moving to SoCal, close to the Southern Sierra....my beloved stomping grounds!) but that's were my last employer was base out of and Mrs. Mooch was still a part of Uncle Sam's Misguided Children, counting out the days toward retirement at Camp Pendleton. Contract work at China Lake seemed like one of two options at the time and the second choice wasn't looking very fruitful. Fast forward to present day...
Its been close to a year having been in Ridgecrest. Tired of commuting back to Temecula on the weekends, tired of the crummy choices of in-town entertainment and food, tired of the cops who'd rather bust you for rolling through a stop sign rather than assisting the DEA on drug raids of hundreds of meth labs in the desert (the town's source of income I suppose), tired of the city not investing in refurbishing the city roads even if the town is build around a miltary/engineering base with loads of equity to boot. Just tired. But one simple satisfying thing that keeps me sane while I'm here is just 25 miles to the north, in a little out of the way canyon near the town of Trona.....the forgotten but not gone, 'Great Basin Falls'. Devolped by the likes of Greg Vernon, Scott Loomis, Patrick Paul, Luke Strong and Tom Cowie (to name a few), this place offers a bit of magic and wonderment, yet a sense of dark forboding.....that spooky sense someone is watching you (insert ethereal music from 'The Hills Have Eye's'). It was this winter that I finally made it out there and found a hidden gem. Just like a ghost town, the place feels like it hasn't been touched in years but all the wonderful keepsakes still left in place.
First notable thing....the Fall's itself. At the parking area, one can hear the rushing of water cascading to the base of some boulders. But upon closer inspection, the water DISAPPEARS....vanishing into the ground. No evidence of a creek whatsoever. Gone! The upper reaches of the Falls area begins to reveal the "valuables" left behind.....SMC hangers with 5/16 buttonheads. Some rusting., some still looking spry. Not all the "goodies" left behind are relics. A few we found seemed quite new and feel as if they were put to use not long ago.
Here's some of those "ghostly" remains we found along the way:
A look at "Psycho Killer Pillar" and "The Unemployment Face".....four quality routes to be found.
A closer look at "Psycho Killer Pillar"
Ghost-chaser and fellow avionics geek, John Slager follows up 'Psycho Killer Pillar' (5.9)
John midway up 'Psycho Killer Pillar'
We also found delight in digging up a few more like 'Unemployment Check' (10a) and 'Loomy Tunes' (.10b)....complete with creaking expando to give into the thrill factor (thanks Scott!). And on the opposite side we found the ghastly appeal of 'Scotty Goes Straight' (.10a). In the upper falls dark corridors, we stumbled upon 'Frosted Flakes' (.10a), a somewhat water worn, balancy and sustained slab route:
Having poured through the left-behinds of the old schoolers, I now have a greater appreaciation of the Mojave area and ghostly calling that has been calling me back ever since!
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survival
Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
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Cool mooch, it's those moments man!
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Dirka
Trad climber
SF
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Sweet.
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ß Î Ø T Ç H
climber
O a k t o w n
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Good read and photes . Reminds me of some stuff I used to explore near San Jacinto . Not that we want the pad-people to descend on the place , but looks pretty good for bouldering too .
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mooch
Big Wall climber
The Immaculate Conception
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 9, 2009 - 04:05pm PT
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Actually, the place is pretty boulder-less (unless you like super highballs tales of terror). But just up the road, closer to Ridgecrest is a a great place to boulder. Behold...Wagon Wheel!
Cool V2 traverse...
Funny little V0...
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mooch
Big Wall climber
The Immaculate Conception
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 9, 2009 - 08:45pm PT
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Cosmic -
Sorry for the "leave out"....not intentional since it was mentioned "...to name a few". Consider yourself "a few". teehee! As for Luke's last name.....we can thank Vernon and Moser for the misprint of his last name (as per pg. 180 of 'The Domelands' guide). Its all good Cosmic-ghost. :)
Yeah, I need to get out and do Panamint. Looks tasty. The guidebook only shows 'Crack A Smile' as simply a "5.7". its is 5.7, no? Sending you an email soon.
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mooch
Big Wall climber
The Immaculate Conception
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 9, 2009 - 08:59pm PT
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Great shots Dwain! Birdshit Crack looks nice. Of course, I'm teasing a bit.....even though I can imagine hear the voices of you guys enjoying the fruits of the place. Thanks for the offer on Panamint. Got a partner who wants to take a stab at it on the sharp end. Alos got my eyeballs on 'Altered Beast' as my next "scare-fest" =o
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mooch
Big Wall climber
The Immaculate Conception
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 9, 2009 - 09:04pm PT
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Nope. Haven't done any boulder problems over there yet? Only been there once and did the routes mentioned. I think Wagon Wheel will keep me busy for a time, especially after work. As summer rolls around, gonna head up into the hills and get my mitts on Church Dome, Bart Dome and a few others up in The Domelands.
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mooch
Big Wall climber
The Immaculate Conception
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 9, 2009 - 09:16pm PT
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Keep 'em coming Cosmic! You say Greg still lives in Trona? Still climbs too?
BTW, ever know the whereabouts of Vernon? He seems to be a bit of an enigma these day. Kinda like Ron Carson (although I know what Ron is up to these days.....no longer climbing and enjoying his family).
Birdshit Crack is at The Pit area, no?
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Jingy
Social climber
Flatland, Ca
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Bad AZZZ TR, Bra!!!
No idea where this place is, but would love to see more of it.
Nice
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Salamanizer
Trad climber
Vacaville Ca,
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Wow, Trona, talk about obscure. Great Basin however probably gets a little more traffic than you might think. I've only climbed there a couple times, but I've been there a bunch. On a nice mild day, it's not too uncommon to find someone climbing there.
I was born in Trona (well technically Ridgecrest) but lived in Trona for my first several years. My parents lived there most of their lives but thankfully moved away, but I still have relatives there, so I visit often. There's lots of unclimbed rocks in them hills and a few quality bouldering areas too. I wouldn't call it a destination, but definately a place you can travel around and explore indefinately. A sandrail or motorcycle helps.
Bring shovels, boards and fill the back of your truck (if you got one) with sand.
Small world!!
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Zander
Trad climber
Berkeley
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I want to climb there too. If I only knew where it was?
Thanks for reporting in.
Zander
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mooch
Big Wall climber
The Immaculate Conception
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 10, 2009 - 12:07am PT
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Trona is roughly 25 miles northeast of Ridgecrest (if all else fails...Google Maps works ;). The Falls are 7 miles northwest of Trona and actually pretty easy to get to. If you have a copy of The Domelands guidebook (by Greg Vernon and Sally Moser), it helps a bunch. If you really want specific directions to this obscure area, email me or Dwain.
BTW Dwain....great talking ot you earlier. Absolutely look forward to climbing with the CosmicCragsman!! And thanks for the history lesson to the place....especially the story behind 'Psycho Killer Pillar'......CREEEEEEPPPYYY!! Oh, when did Luke put that route up? Mid 70's? Guidebook shows no date.
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hooblie
climber
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Mar 14, 2009 - 01:11am PT
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i can attest to the appeal great falls basin. a dearly missed partner of mine, dave chung, was something of a father figure to scott and in the late eighties we were treated to a tour of this cozy little nook by the exhuberant mr. loomis. the last time thru it served as an interlude on an east bound trip thru death valley to the aforementioned southern sierra. i so appreciated the blessings of the mojave offered straight up, not interperated thru the ontological prism of the NPS. (this means a human can lay his head on the planet without regard to the position of the sun). the exercise of the biomechanical legacy of our quadripedal heritage is likewize tacitly condoned. i'm glad this place has provided us with inspiration and respite from the shortcomings of the municipal jurisdiction also. this has made all the difference to the indominatable souls among us. the stone abides! on a separate note, this is where i learned that a muntner hitch employed on rappel can manuever itself into position to reverse the spring loaded sleeve of a locking biner and free itself in a (skipped) heartbeat. batman abides!
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Ezra
Social climber
WA, NC, Idaho Falls
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Mar 15, 2009 - 11:04am PT
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Beautiful rock!
Thanks!
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Greg Barnes
climber
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Mar 15, 2009 - 11:36am PT
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Nice TR!
First time out there (maybe '95?), a woman drove up with a couple kids while we were climbing face routes (between Trona crack and Panamint Crack on Cosmic's photo). A few minutes later, CRACK, CRACK! She starts shooting a small-caliber rifle at the bushes across from her truck. One of the kids was wandering around in front of the firing line, but off to one side. Actually we were in front of the firing line, but well to one side. We started wrapping things up, planning to go back to the routes right next to the falls, and then BOOM! She starts up with a shotgun. Very loud, it echos bad in that area. We worked our way back to the falls, then bailed - she had stopped shooting by then.
Another time there was a strung-out dude at the top of the falls ready to jump the falls (about 50 feet into a pool of water that was maybe a foot deep). A bunch of us were yelling at him not to do it. We were climbing something up the right side of the falls, and a different group was climbing something up the left side of the falls. They got up above first, penji'd over, and found an anchor near the lip on the left side (I later found out the anchor was placed by China Lake SAR folks for use in rescues). They lowered him down the falls, and he ran off, babbling wildly.
The Southern Sierra Climbers Association used to do climbing events there now and then, and a couple trips involved some bolt replacement, John Barbella & friends did a bunch in 2000 and we did some in 2003: http://www.safeclimbing.org/areas/california/greatfalls.htm
It's in the back of the Domelands guide - which is long out of print, but still in some shops (never was a popular guide - unlike the Needles, one of its sister guides).
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Crimpergirl
Social climber
Boulder, Colorado!
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Mar 15, 2009 - 11:43am PT
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Very nice - love the photos and history! Thanks for posting.
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F10
Trad climber
e350
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Mar 15, 2009 - 11:55am PT
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Great Falls Basin is a good place to hit for some climbs. I've been there 1/2 a dozen times and had the place to my self. Need to get up to Condone? dome and check out those lines.
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Mar 16, 2009 - 01:41am PT
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hey there mooch... say, GREAT POST for this trip report.. lots to read, and a great pictures... will have to learn more about his place.... thanks for the share...
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mooch
Big Wall climber
The Immaculate Conception
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Topic Author's Reply - Mar 16, 2009 - 08:39pm PT
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Yeah, took a jaunt up to Condome but didn't hop on anything (maybe next time with Dwain). Wasn't all that drawn to that area....rock is mostly variable up there. As the Domeland guide states (paraphrased, of course), "...the better quality rock is nearest to the parking area."
Greg-
Do you know if anyone had their eyeballs on Black Ice's bolts? Rusting badly as I recall.
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