Route Climbed: First Creek Canyon (descended Oak Creek Canyon) Date Climbed: 3/13/02
It was too windy today to do much technical climbing, so I decided to bag Mount Wilson instead. I started at the First Creek Canyon parking area wearing my trusty running shoes, shorts, and t-shirt -- no food, water, jacket or any of that nonsense. I tucked my keys into my left sock and started running. After a few seconds on the trail, a big gust of wind blasted me and my open mouth with sand. Good times.
I fought the wind until I entered the canyon. Then I fought the thick brush. Apparently there are brush-free paths through the canyon, but I must have gotten a little off track. After a lot of scrambling up class 2/3 rock in extremely windy conditions, I reached the summit. I didn't see a register up top, but I did not know to look "in the cairn." I did see a bunch of boards with wire, though. I'm not sure why that was up there...
For a little excitement, I decided to take a different way down. I headed west-ish toward the back of Oak Creek Canyon, then cut down a gully that I though would provide easy access into the bottom of the canyon. Two-thirds of the way down, I encountered about 65m of steep, water-polished rock. It was not downclimbable, at least not in my running shoes. Fortunately, there was an old 50m fixed rope. I did the good old "body rappel" until the rope's end. This placed me at an old two-bolt rappel anchor about 15m above the ground. I had no choice but to down climb. Fortunately, it all went well, and I arrived at the bottom of the canyon safely. I hiked out of the canyon, then ran a few miles across the desert back to my car. Car-to-car time: 4 hours, 31 minutes.
Josh - Mar 13, 2002 5:31 pm
Route Climbed: First Creek Canyon (descended Oak Creek Canyon) Date Climbed: 3/13/02It was too windy today to do much technical climbing, so I decided to bag Mount Wilson instead. I started at the First Creek Canyon parking area wearing my trusty running shoes, shorts, and t-shirt -- no food, water, jacket or any of that nonsense. I tucked my keys into my left sock and started running. After a few seconds on the trail, a big gust of wind blasted me and my open mouth with sand. Good times.
I fought the wind until I entered the canyon. Then I fought the thick brush. Apparently there are brush-free paths through the canyon, but I must have gotten a little off track. After a lot of scrambling up class 2/3 rock in extremely windy conditions, I reached the summit. I didn't see a register up top, but I did not know to look "in the cairn." I did see a bunch of boards with wire, though. I'm not sure why that was up there...
For a little excitement, I decided to take a different way down. I headed west-ish toward the back of Oak Creek Canyon, then cut down a gully that I though would provide easy access into the bottom of the canyon. Two-thirds of the way down, I encountered about 65m of steep, water-polished rock. It was not downclimbable, at least not in my running shoes. Fortunately, there was an old 50m fixed rope. I did the good old "body rappel" until the rope's end. This placed me at an old two-bolt rappel anchor about 15m above the ground. I had no choice but to down climb. Fortunately, it all went well, and I arrived at the bottom of the canyon safely. I hiked out of the canyon, then ran a few miles across the desert back to my car. Car-to-car time: 4 hours, 31 minutes.