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| Cochise Stronghold - Mystery of the Desert, AZ | |
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| | Cochise Stronghold - Mystery of the Desert, AZ | | | |
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Cochise Stronghold - Mystery of the Desert, AZ
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| Hike & Climb | 3.22 Miles |
1,394 AEG |
| | Hike & Climb | 3.22 Miles | 10 Hrs 9 Mns | | 0.32 mph |
| 1,394 ft AEG | | | | |
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| Toprope IV • Trad • 5.9 • 5 Pitches | | |
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none
[ show ]
| no linked trail guides |
| Partners |
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[ show ]
| partners | | | Pro: Mixed trad and bolts | Beanfest!
We joined up with another party of three to make a party of six with two leaders. We took 5 ropes to successfully do this without slowing down the leaders. The two leaders would start and then they send down the top half of one of the ropes so that we could belay the third person from below. Worked well.
I'm climbing with a torn labrum and grade IV arthritis which makes this a big challenge.I haven't really climbed much since my shoulder started to really bother me. I've been doing PT since about June and a lot of canyoneering/caving so I felt I was probably going to be OK. I did very well until pitch 4.
We started at the Sheepshead TH and went about half way up to begin this climb.
Pitch 1 was a nice start to this five pitch climb. It was rated at 5.7.
We did the offwidth over the Wedge - it was like caving. A party behind us went through the crack which was fun to watch. They had read the backcountry climbing book which said, "Engage the Wedge!" This was rated 5.8.
After the wedge was a crack which I did different then the rest as it looked like if they fell it would be a pendulum fall. The way I went required a lay back move which I thought I did quite well. From there you go on a ramp above the Veg (a gully with a shrubs and trees). This pitch is rated 5.7.
You then go up a 5.9 crack that requires a lot of layback moves. At the top of that our lead guy had place some pro to make it so that we wouldn't pendulum if we fell. From there you get up on a thin dike and traverse over to the next belay station passing a bolt added for protection. I was supposed to have removed the pro as I went by. I couldn't go from the layback moves, grab the cam, and then reach up and haul myself onto the dike. I tried and tried and tried. I pretty much broke down. I had to figure out how I could get over to the belay station. I asked the party behind me to grab the cam. Then I used a hand ascender to get myself up to the bolt before the belay station. Joel had to talk me along the dike to the belay station which was hard because I was shaking so bad and pretty much had forgotten how to climb.
At the belay station, I decided I needed to go next. So Joel helped me tie into the toprope and I again couldn't figure out how to get started up the short 5.8 finish. Luckily, one of the leads had moved over to a place where he could watch me and he gave me a couple of tips of where to find some holds. Once I got going I somehow managed to keep my momentum to the top.
I was sooo glad to be at the top! We went over and checked out the window. Then scrambled back to the start of the route to grab the bags we left.
On the way back to the cars I kept turning around to see what we just climbed. The sky was an awesome blue. It was a great contrast with the green lichen. Even with my meltdown this was a great day! |
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