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| Hike & Climb | 11.40 Miles |
3,748 AEG |
| | Hike & Climb | 11.40 Miles | 10 Hrs 38 Mns | | 1.51 mph |
| 3,748 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Weaver's Summit has been on my to-do list for years, but I've kept putting it off until I could go with someone more experienced. But this weekend, I just decided to go with my own experience ....
I did invite a friend to come along, though he has less experience than I do.
On to the adventure ...
We arrived at Peralta TH around 7 am. Still a fair number of spots in the main parking lot at that time, but I was a little surprised how busy it was that early--not just at the TH but all along Peralta Road.
That said, on the trail itself, there wasn't much traffic at that time. We made it to Fremont Saddle and took a few photos before dropping into East Boulder Canyon. I hadn't hiked through here since the fire. Lots of regeneration, but it's going to be awhile for the larger stuff.
We turned off the trail at a cairned spot, even though it was a bit sooner than my downloaded RS route. It worked out fine, and as we began to scramble up to the base of the Needle, we gradually veered toward and then joined the HAZ route. On the return, we took the HAZ route all the way back to the trail, which I would recommend (though curiously, there is no cairn where the HAZ route connects to Peralta trail).
There is a nice, large saguaro on the side of the climb that provides a good landmark for the approximate route. I'll include in the photos.
The scramble is steep, but not a bushwhack, and it went by faster than I thought it would--particularly with all of our climbing gear and rope.
Arriving at the base of the notch/saddle between the north and south Needle summits, we encountered a group of three that just finished descending after spending the night on top, and another group of 3 gearing up for the climb.
As per the description, there are 4 pitches. The first two are a continuous climb up the initial chute. At the top of pitch 1 are bolted anchors and chain, which have replaced what used to be a pipe in the rock. The group in front of us roped up for pitch one. We just scrambled up this section, and I didn't view it as particularly technical.
As it turned out, pitch 2 was the only one we roped up for. I lead climbed it, placing 3 anchors along the way. At my experience level, it was plenty technical  . I was happy to arrive at the chockstone, which I navigated underneath. Next time, I'll try the right or left side, both of which are more technical.
I top-roped belayed my partner's climb from the bolted anchor with rings above the chockstone. As he was coming up, a group of two more arrived at the base of the climb.
The third pitch is right next to the chockstone, and involves a short, 15-foot (ish) climb that navigates around a slightly protruding rock face on the left. Because the protrusion forces you right--towards the exposure--it can be slightly unnerving without protection, but with one or two moves, it's not a problem. We free climbed it. Just above pitch 3 was an anchor (webbing and a ring), which we used to short rappel on the way back down.
From the top of pitch 3 to the bottom of pitch 4 is a semi-lengthy--and fun!--scramble. Some exposure, but not crazy.
The bottom of pitch 4 is just beyond the slick rock face over which we would rappel on the way down.
As noted, pitch 4 has significant exposure, but is easily climb-able, due to the plentiful jugs--great foothold and handholds. As long as you don't let the head games get to you, it's basically like climbing a ladder. We free climbed this one as well.
At the top of pitch four, the bolted/chained anchor for the rappel is just off to the right, and there is a final, relatively gentle scramble to the summit.
The group of 3 in front of us were starting their rappel down, as we popped out of the climb up pitch 4. We wished them well, and went on to enjoy the summit in solitude.
The two campsites at the summit are small but well protected, and other than the pain of carrying up more gear, I'd love to watch the sunset/sunrise from this vantage point.
After taking in the vistas and grabbing lunch, we began the descent after 20-30 minutes on top.
The first rappel was great--straightforward and sheer, without obstacles. At the base of the rappel, I was able to look down to the chockstone at the top of pitch two and saw that the group of two who trailed us were STILL on pitch 2. I hoped they were ok.
We scrambled down to pitch 3, to find that the group of two were still making their way up pitch 2, and the group of three in front of us were also waiting to be able to descend. So, it was a bit of a traffic jam, with all three climbing groups of the day converging on one spot.
We hung out above pitch three until the ascending group got up pitch 2 and 3. Then, we coordinated with the group in front of us for the rappel. They fixed their anchor and used the full length of their rope to rappel all the way to the base of the climb; then we used their rope as a pull and rappelled down our rope. It was nice not to have to set up an additional rappel.
From the base of the climb, we scrambled back down the approach slope and were happy to be back on an actual trail. On the return, there was very little traffic, and we enjoyed beautiful--and very clear--skies and afternoon sunlight. Great for photos.
The last part of the trail (as is often the case) seemed longer than I remembered, but plentiful water in the creekbed and nice views made the return trip great.
Glad to check this one off my bucket list, finally. And glad to have gained some additional climbing experience in the process. |
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The campsites aren't big though and seem more suited to sleeping bags vs tents. My friend had camped up top before but I really didn't want to haul any more gear than I had to up exposed areas and, after being up top, I was happy about our decision. We enjoyed as many moments as possible up top and decided it was time to head down so we could time our hike out to beat the heat and hopefully give us some time hiking in the dark. I think the temps were low 80's but we had been feeling that sun and were ready for a break from it. 
