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1700 Hits
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79.78% Score
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11 Votes
Page Type:
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Mountain/Rock |
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Lat/Lon:
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34.05420°N / 116.1028°W |
Activities:
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Trad Climbing, Sport Climbing |
Season:
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Spring, Fall, Winter |
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Overview/Approach
At Your Pleasure and Upper Mohave
Walt’s Rocks offers some of the more difficult trad climbs in all of Jtree. Mojave Queen (5.11a) might be the most sought after while Lifeline (5.13d) might be the hardest crack route in the entire park. Besides Mojave Queen there is a plethora of recommended 5.11 trad climbs on the lower and upper Walt’s Rocks: Step Function (5.11c), Crack Queen (5.11a), Drag Queen (5.11cR), White Rain (5.11aR), Killer Queen (5.11b), 1995 Budget Closure (5.11a), Upper Mojave (5.11a). Miramonte is a fan of this area to say the least. Throughout his guidebook he is sparse with his “star” recommendations, but when it comes to Walt’s Rocks, he slaps three and four stars on many of the routes. This praise no doubt is due mostly to the quality of rock and seams that run through both these faces. The only highly recommended moderate trad climb on either wall if Perfect Fingers (5.10a) and it is deserving of the praise it receives. Although the upper wall is rather significant in size by Jtree standards, there is only one 5.8 and 5.9 to be had and the 5.8 was not so deserving of the three stars Miramonte handed it. Walt Shipley, Peter Croft and Kevin Daniels established most of the lines.
Upper Mohave, 5.11
I have included Squirrel Rock with Walt’s Rocks as it really does not deserve its own beta page. This is a squirrel shaped rock (looks like a squirrel from just the right angle) located on the right side of the access gully to Upper Walt’s Rocks. There is nothing spectacular on it.
Walt’s Rocks is one of the more remote climbing locales in the park as it gains quite a bit of elevation and can take several hours to reach on approach. Park at the end of the Queen Mountain road which is a dirt road that runs northeast (Barker Dam Road for just a short while, keep right) off of Park Blvd on the east side of Sheep Pass. Hike north along an old road. Cirque of the Climbables are the cliff faces and towers that come into view high up on the hill (Queen Mountain) to the northeast. Stay right at a junction and meander up switchbacks to circumvent the Cirque to the right. Cut back left to hike on the bench on top of the Cirque picking up a cairned trail that leads to the summit of Queen Mountain. There is a summit spur on the right as you near the summit. Continue along the trail, descending into a short valley/wash to the northwest. Upper Walt’s Rock is a the large face in the distance to the north with an access gully leading up to its right side. Lower Walt’s Rock is on the left and down from that gully. There is a small bushy canyon that connects the two.
Route Description(s)
Routes Listed Right to Left as you face the WallsLower Walt’s Rocks
Squirrel Rock
- Step Function- 90’-5.11c**
- K2R- 100’-5.9*
- Lifeline- 80’-5.13d***
- New Reality- 80’-5.12d***
- Perfect Fingers- 100’-5.10a****/This is the easiest "classic" 5.10a I have led at Jtree and I assume that has something to do with it being a younger route. Did it as the sun went down and its position gave me a spectacular sunset! Also ran into some bats in the upper portion where it jogs right. I used a Metolius 00 and off-set wire to protect the start which I suppose is the crux to the route. Other websites call it 5.10b, but as before mentioned, I found it easier than many other 5.10a’s in the park. Great backcountry type setting, neat crack, worth the hype from that perspective. Dow
- Cowboy Junkie- 80’-5.11c** (way off to the right on a different feature)
- Hellish Planet- 100’-5.10d**
- At Your Pleasure- 110’-5.8***/This is the lowest graded climb at Walt’s Rock. Follow the right side of the huge chimney via a nice hand crack with plenty of features the whole way. You have your choice of finishes. Straight up gives a fun steep move or two or veer off on the diagonal crack up and right and it will remind you a bit of Dogleg in Hidden Valley. There is a bad block at the junction where you make that decision. I would avoid placing any gear directly above it if you plan on doing the traverse option. Dow
- 1995 Budget Closure- 55’-5.11a**
- Where are You- 50’-5.10a*
- Unknown- 65’-5.10a*
- Killer Queen- 50’-5.11b*
- Upper Mojave- 70’-5.11a**
- Mojave Queen- 140’-5.11a****
- King of Queens- 100’-5.11b***
- Unnamed- 100’-5.12a***
- White Rain- 100’-5.11aR****
- Rain Man- 80’-5.10d**
- Drag Queen- 100’-5.11cR***
- Crack Queen- 100’-5.11a**
Squirrel Rock
- One Nut Needed- 50’-5.10b**
- Searching for Nuts- 50’-5.10b**
- No Nuts Needed- 50’-5.11a*
- Escape to Queen Mountain- 120’-5.10a**/This route was much easier than any 5.10a I have led at Jtree nor did I think it deserved any stars or recommendation compared to other routes that get praise in the park. Start in a crack to the far right of Squirrel Rock (dead tree-2014) and climb it until you reach the upper bolted face/arête and climb easy ground to the top. Slung belay with a fixed rap to the left. Dow