Campaign Crystalline / Shark Fin, AZ

This southwest-facing, 110' granite wall can easily be seen by looking east from the fire ring at the Sycamore camp. There may be a few potential routes on the right side of the wall, but only if you enjoy climbing past some very large honeycombs and on loose rock. There are four and a third completed routes on this formation.


You may be wondering, why a third? Because my first ground up solo ascent at Campaign Crystalline was quickly aborted after hand-drilling a first bolt on lead hooks and then gaining the main ledge above, only to discover the biggest wild bee colony that I've ever encountered in my life! Luckily, they were unbothered by me, but about a two decades later assessment determined that the colony was still alive and well. I have not checked their activity recently and only included this crag in a historical context.WARNING
If one chooses to climb here, I'd make sure the colony is abandoned, inactive, or do it on an extremely cold and windy day (as we did the first free ascents in February 2000).

The official route from the Sycamore camp walks the road north to the next steep wash that originates from the saddle south of the Shark Fin or head northeast, crossing a nearly impenetrable acacia bramble, eventually dropping into the same previously mentioned wash. Continue up the wash, bearing left (east), exiting onto the talus before or at the first fork. The talus ascent is steep, but several faint paths lead to the crag.

2024-01-07 pseudalpine