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I heard a few people mention you can climb the Needle without gear and that there is a way to "scramble" up it.

Anyone know which side of the needle the Scramble starts on and which trail you would take to get there?

Thanks,

TIM

The easiest route is on the east side to the "notch", Class 4 climbing. The west side has more exposure and somewhat more difficult, but still a high class 4. Both routes can easily be accessed from the Peralta Trail. The west side route is harder than the 4 peaks mother lode, while is east side is not. Most people for the ascent use a rope for protection and for a rappel down. Like all climbs, if one is experienced in climbing, it is an easy climb, but if one is not, it is very hard.

Thanks Sid, I think I will give the East side a shot one of these days.

The first 50 feet or so of the east side could definitely be considered 5th class climbing. It's easy, but I wouldn't want to downclimb it without a rope. Also the last 30-40 feet to the summit is super easy to climb up, but the huge exposure could make the downclimb seem unreasonable. There are sweet rappel anchors at the top and nylon webbing anchors scattered about the climb which make rappelling the easy and safe option for the descent.
I just came back from 3 days of climbing at Joshua Tree NP where running it out is the name of the game. I'm comfortable climbing high unroped and going long distances between protection. I would not want to downclimb Weaver's Needle.
Whatever you decide, have fun!

In response to Matt Hoffman's reply:

I know when to throw in the towel, just want to check it out before bringing any other people there. Need to do some hikes in the inner supes anyways, a side trip to the needle couldn't hurt, well I guess it could

I'll repor back whenever I make it out there.

TIM

Speaking of route, anyone have coordinates for the turn off Peralta Trail if doing the ascent from the west? Saw a rough description in the hike description, but this would be a nice backup

33.428003 -111.374502 This should be close.

Thanks Wally