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Great stuff!! Inspires me to go back to NC for some sweet granite multipitch. Man, those fall colors out there...

thanks Matt. That state has some gems - sandstone, basalt, granite...towers, domes, walls. Granite Mtn is high on the list of places I'd like to try someday - keep hearing about the stiff ratings.

thanks. You should definitely check it out - keep in mind though that much of the cool stuff is closed for nesting every year (Jan or Feb onwards I think).

Trip: Bit O' Arizona Sunshine - Abra Date: 12/1/2012 Trip Report: We’ve dreamt of giving Abracadaver (great topos here & a description here ) a go probably ever since our first visit to the Stronghold some ten years ago. Much of it was lack of skill of course, more of it was intimidation and there were lower hanging fruits to snatch first. We finally gave it a whirl last Saturday and wow!! I can say with certainty that it was the best line we’ve climbed in the Dragoons (no contest) and probably one of the best climbs we’ve done anywhere. A whole lot of climbing is packed into those five pitches with each one offering something different: from water groove groveling, to a full on off-width street fight, to finger and hand cracks, to an easy chimney and of course some delicate face moves are sprinkled throughout. Different pitches seem to clearly favor different climber builds (apparently neither of our builds suits the OW as neither one of us got it cleanly)…think finger size vs. reach but I’ll let you figure out what is best for which pitch. More pretty words & photos here. Hello ladies: Earlier this year we did Cragaholic’s Dream (very nice, 5.10- 6 pitches & 0 bolts): And the classic Forest Lawn 5.9 pitch (holy shit – what a pitch!!!)…Shirley yelling down for a cig halfway up the lieback: Last trip the time has come to try the harder classic. N. face of the Rockfellow Dome – Abra takes the crack system in the center of the photo: Heading up P1 – funky water groove. A party above is in the thick of it on the OW: Shirley on the P2 OW: Shirley following P3: Rest stance before the traverse: Starting P4 – blind placements (for me anyway) in the intermittent crack then cut right up the face: Unknown climbers on the summit of End Pinnacle as seen from the top of the Friendly Flake: View down from the final pitch above all difficulties. Shirley is at the cool belay atop the Friendly Flake: Poor (no) OW technique. Love that Arithona: Gear Notes: bigguns for Abra & Cragaholics. Approach Notes: if driving, turn left before LA to shave off 2 hrs. if flying, go southwest (100lbs of gear can enjoy the trip w. you for free).

Is that the granite one? N. of Bishop but more like 5 miles off 395...not sure about "dome" also.

some great stuff, esp that desert shield pic -- wow! unknown climbers riding the El Puro

Damn, John F. - that's some intimidating looking stuff...holy shit! wife & I on zenyatta entrada in arches

who are these jokers on Astro Elephant? ...oh wait that's us

hey thanks. here's another ant pic: 4 climbers on 3FJ in Aug. 2009. 3 are above the chimnney & 1 at the base...either use your imagination or see the original here.

June 2012. Unknown parties on Iconoclast (I think) & OS

the revolver pic is from march of 2010, pre-refresh. I remember you guys mentioning the hw upgrade on the route later on (many thanks! it's a nice route)

the kone had fun climbing, esp on this pitch (#4 or 5 I think): revolver seemed memorable because it was atypically early in a season (march) & had some shitty bolts, esp. this here pitch (#4?) another vote for the blue crack - spectacular stuff:

amazing stuff John - another holy shit wow moment!

Sad news & a classic book...up there with Bjornstad's 1st ed. Desert Towers one imho. Always get that tingle of excitement & fear when I crack open the Dodge guide. Beautiful (pencil?) sketches too.

if you're just looking to get the sequence down, a tree will do fine:

Great looking route Wayne! The protection opportunities look a bit sparse in many of your shots...

Sean, looks like a fun adventure in a great setting! Hope the mosquitoes were thinned out already. As a side note, we saw this year that Not only did the fs improve the road to the upper hell roaring th but for some weird reason they've added c. 2 miles of new trail that pretty much parallels the old one on the other side of the creek... Bizarre. Cheers. rc

Great looking pitches in there. That 1st pitch crack/flake and the 11- section look beautiful.

It was a pleasure running into you guys last wknd & congrats on the FA. Think we got an ok pic of you guys on the crux (?) pitch but I'll have to look for it. In the meantime here's a lousy pic of the top out...gotta look real close

great book! Tim was kind enough to send me a copy. Like his other work(s), fires me up for Oregon adventure climbing.

PS once that fails it's time to say fuck it and call in sick on Monday.

My favorite recipe: Shotgun some caffeine (couple red bulls, some cold coffee), pull over & sleep for 30 minutes. You wake up feeling like a baby & ready to roll another 600 miles.

"Some folks says 3k of road walking but I've also heard 9k of road walking" might have to do with how far you can drive in...scoped out the trailhead a month ago & it's pretty rough going to drive all the way to the barricade (4X4 & HC & patience seem essential)

thanks! yeah drove to within a quarter mile of the end of the road (way beyond 3 o'clock) & that section seemed quite good. don't think it's worth bringing a bike for that little extra bit of hiking (was super muddy that day too - rained past couple of days back then). have fun.

Was there 4th of July. The road seemed to be in best condition we've ever seen it actually. There was some tree fall blocking the final quarter mile - up to that, it seemed like someone did some major pruning on it. Here's the Dreamer TR