Maybe Pinnacle, 5.7-5.11

Overview/Approach

The best collection of moderate trad and sport pitches in all of the Stronghold can be found on Maybe Pinnacle, a lower dome located just to the east of the main Rockfellow Group.  Scott Ayers has a reputation among some locals of over-bolting and more specifically bolting over cracks.  I personally think he has done a ton of great work in the Stronghold and like anyone getting at it, has his jealous detractors.  And I am almost exclusively an alpinist and trad climber who prefers not clipping bolts.  He took great care regarding bolting on Maybe Pinnacle of not crowding routes or making up contrived variations and avoided bolting over cool crack features. On my first trip to the wall I climbed 11 of the 16 published routes.  I thought 10/11 were good to exceptional routes.  I have never come away from a dome in the Stronghold with that solid of an impression.  Most of these routes are tall and offer decent sustained climbing.  A handful are 170’+/- in length.  All of this good climbing is supported by a beautiful shaded setting at the base of the climbs.

The Shadows Trail dumps you at the middle of this southeast facing wall at the base of two outstanding 5.9+ mixed climbs, Here and Now and Axe of Cochise.  Both routes are well thought out with Axe offering an off-width crux near the end.  The better routes from here are to the left, featuring a fantastic full trad route by the name of Furiously Happy, 5.8+, a cruxy, for the grade, sport climb named Uncertainty Principle, 5.11, a sustained 5.9R featuring a beautiful diagonal hand crack named A Different Shade of May and finishing to the far left are two outstanding 5.7+ mixed 170’ climbs named Cataclysm in Repose and Magical Realism.  There is also a decent sport climb to the far right named Mischees, 5.10-.

There are two climbers’ trails that veer off south of the main canyon trail on the east side of Cochise, Lost Canyon Trail and In the Shadows Trail.  Shadows Trail is the 2^nd one and does not leave the trail until near the top of the main trail at the start of the waterfall.  There is an obvious rock gully that has to be crossed on the main trail.  At this gully there is a large boulder with a tree just up hill.  Instead of crossing this rock gully, head up hill to the left and find a relatively well traveled and cairned climber’s trail that trends southwest up the hill to the first domes below the Rockfellow group.  In short order you can make out Maybe Pinnacle behind Beginning Pinnacle.  It has a broad chicken plated northern arete (a route named Invisibilla).  Continue on the trail as it turns to switchbacks through boulders and brush, until it turns north for a short bit before arriving dead center of Maybe Pinnacle’s east face at Axe of Cochise and Here and Now. 

Routes Listed South to North on the South and East Facing Walls

Cataclysm in Repose- 170’-5.7+***/ Long, secure and enjoyable solo or mixed lead at the grade.  A half a dozen bolts protect the entire second half.  The first half takes gear.  You climb the left side of the vertical arch from the alcove that contains Cataclysm and Magical Realism.  Both climbs are almost identical in grade.  Magical climbs the right side of the arch and hugs the arete more, whereas Cataclysm trends left away from its crack system to large plates.  Fixed anchor on top.  Move from there to a fixed rap anchor to the NE, a short distance.  Can rap to the ground with a single 80m or make two raps with a lessor rope.  Single rack to #1.  Mix of slings and draws.  Route receives PM shade.  (the routes to the left are on Likely Pinnacle) Dow

Magical Realism- 170’-5.7+****/ Long, secure and enjoyable solo or mixed lead at the grade.  Climb up the right side of the vertical arch actually stepping on it at times and continue up the long arete through 8 bolts +/- to a fixed anchor.  Move from there to a fixed rap anchor to the NE, a short distance.  Can rap to the ground with a single 80m or make two raps with a lessor rope.  Single rack to #1.  Mix of slings and draws.  Route receives PM shade.  Dow

Noise of the Stars- 170’-5.8+***/ I thought this was a great 5.8 lead, but the guide book author backed off of it in 2023 and a budding 5.8 leader I had with me barely made it through.  Hard for veteran climbers to tell the “+” on a 5.8, but obviously this one deserves it.  Climb the obvious left facing off-width at the base of an arete between where Cataclysm and Magical are and the rest of the routes that are published in the guide as of 2023.  From the OW, continue up face to a cool crack system with some good stemming to the shared fixed anchor with Magical and Cataclysm.  The ground is steep and the pitch long adding to the strenuous factor for the budding 5.8 leader.  Single rack to #4, larger if the leader is not use to easy OW.  Mostly slings.  Single 60m rope gets you down the shared rap to the northeast (short distance) in two raps, an 80m gets you down in one rap.  Route receives intense sun all day.  Dow

Nancy Boys- 150’-5.8+*/ All the routes on Maybe Pinnacle offer good climbing on solid rock, but Nancy Boys is one of my least favorites.  It has an awesome left leaning horizontal crack it uses for a few meters, but that whole crack is part of A Different Shade of May, so I do not give it much credit for that.  It is somewhat sustained for a 5.8, scrambling the right side of a ramp against the wall and climbing intermittent cracks and chicken heads to the left side of the obvious horizontal hand crack above.  Climb a few meters of this crack to a ledge with a rap anchor out right.  Continue up and left through a bolt and steep face and end up at the shared station with all the routes to the left of Nancy Boys.  A few bolts, single rack to #2.  Mix of slings and draws.  Single 60m rope gets you down the shared rap to the northeast (short distance) in two raps, an 80m gets you down in one rap.  Route receives sun until late afternoon.  Dow

A Different Shade of May- 90’-5.9R***/ This route features the single best feature on Maybe Pinnacle, a right to left diagonal hand crack on great rock.  The “R” part is real.  You start just right of the ramp for Nancy Boys.  Climb up easy face to the thin under cling.  I placed a few micro cams in here and made the crux move of the climb over the small bulge.  The holds above are not as positive as they are on the 5.8+ routes to the left.  The climbing above the micro pieces is at the grade.  Trend up and right and if you want, clip a bolt on Uncertainty Principle before eventually gaining the beginning of the nice diagonal hand crack.  Place gear at will in the hand crack as you move your feet below and eventually turn out of it on a ledge with the rap up and right.  This is the mid rap station of the standard rap for this side of Maybe Pinnacle.  A bit spicy, but cool route.  Single from micro to #3.  Mix of draws and slings.  Single 60m rope gets you down.  Route receives sun until late afternoon.  Dow

Uncertainty Principle- 100’-5.11***/ One of the better 5.11 fully bolted pitches in the Stronghold.  Sustained 5.10 through 11 bolts +/- to a fixed rap.  Two cruxes, an aggressive move left to right at about 1/3^rd height to a small horn.  At 3/4^th height, you are in search of a possibly missing foot or finger feature, a one move blank spot that is hard to dyno for mortal 5.11 climbers. Eases up after that.  A great sport route that graces a full-page photo in the local guide.  Draws and 60m rope.  Route gets PM shade.  Dow

Complimentary Varibles- 5.11/

Furiously Happy- 135’-5.8+****/ This is my favorite route at the grade on Maybe Pinnacle and one of my favorite pitches at the grade in Cochise.  It looks convoluted from below but climbs and protects really well.  The local guide calls it PG, but I felt it protected well.  It starts to the right of the bolted Uncertainty Principle and Complimentary Varibles.    Run up parallel cracks and traverse left to do a short chimney move against a massive flake to access an upper diagonal, right leaning, crack that is super fun at the grade.  Climb through hand jams and chicken heads to when it makes sense to move one crack left into a wider crack where a chicken wing or two comes into place.  Continue up this steep right leaning crack to where even with the fixed rap for Here and Now. Make one exposed traverse move right to the chains.   Single to #4, and the route will take most all of it.  Lots of slings or double rope technique to avoid rope drag.  Route receives decent shade mid-afternoon.  Full single 60m rope rap to the ground.  Dow

All the World's a Stage- 5.11-/

Here and Now- 125’-5.9+***/ Not as good or challenging as Axe of Cochise (despite the local guidebook preference), but definitely worth doing.  Just another great route on Maybe Pinnacle.  Start just left of Axe of Cochise and climb the wide crack with good feet out on the right slab.  Here and Now and Axe of Cochise join at the “axe” shaped block. Stand on it as you would for Axe of Cochise, but from there climb up and left to clip a bolt below a roof.  Pull the roof on its left side and continue up and past a mid-rap station on a ledge.  Trend up from this fixed rap on discontinuous cracks that direct you rightward to a bolted face that leads to rap chains (2023).  Single rack to #4 with plenty of slings as the route wanders a bit.  Half a dozen bolts.  Full single 60m rope rap to the ground.   Dow 

Axe of Cochise- 135’-5.9+****/ One of the best single pitch trad leads at the grade in Cochise.  Climb up a nice and substantial left facing flake to the block (the shape of an axe head).  The last move from the flake to the block is the first crux.  Stand up on the block and start climbing large face features over steep ground climbing a short corner or two.  Below the obvious right leaning off width corner is a bolt on the right face.  Make some face moves at the grade on great rock to the base of the off width.  With a wide stem and chicken wing, climb the off width.  A #3 protects at a constriction.  A #5 or #6 would allow for more confidence for someone pushing the grade.  After a hard move or two, that could easily be 5.10-, finish off at Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me’s anchor (I left old carabiners on it as of 2023) up and right.  80m allows you to set up a top rope.  70m will make a rap to blocks to the north.  Single to #4, plus a #5 or #6 for the budding leader at the grade.  Route receives PM shade.  Dow

Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me-115’-5.10/ Not recommended.  The majority of the climb to the final slightly overhanging chossy face is below grade and the upper short face is chossy and grainy.  Dow

Snarkolepsy- 5.10+/

Gaucho and Chena- 5.8-/

Mischees- 100’-5.10-***/ A much better lead than Wait Wait.  Just a short trip down a good climber’s trail north is an arch forming a small bridge at the base of a fully bolted route.  Step up onto the mini arch and climb fun overhanging jugs on excellent rock up to grainy slab above.  Make some thoughtful and sustained slab and edge climbing for the 2^nd half of the route to a rap anchor.  Route gets early PM shade.  Dow

Invisibila- 250’-5.8PG/ Not recommended.  Mostly a long scramble with a few 5.8 moves over chicken heads that can be slung.  Just right of the bolted line of Michees, start scrambling up the low angled weakness to the upper north face ridge line of Maybe Pinnacle.  Turn left and start climbing the spread-out chicken heads making a few mantle type moves at the grade.  Belay on top with gear or slung features. Scramble down to the fixed rap of Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me.  Plenty of long slings.  80m rope or simul a short distance.  Route receives mostly shade.  Dow