This place is pretty sweet as far as Sport climbs go. There were even a few silly boulder problems you can find if you look around the base of the upper waterfall. I would imagine there are a few more bouldering problems in the summer when you are okay with falling into a pool of water.

Mike climbed three star 5.8 called Dead Pool that is just to the left of the upper water fall, it can be made into a 5.10 if you start at the lower set of bolts instead of the ones on the upper lip. We ended up climbing all over the place the routes go from some short 5.5’s to some long 5.12 they are all well bolted and really fun. We ended up doing 6 different problems a 5.5, 5.8×2, 5.10a, 5.10b, 5.11.

This trip consisted of Jeremy, Mike, Jason and Myself (Dan). It was a good trip, the only thing I would recommend is bringing as little gear as possible on this trip. The approach is a little hairy and the less stuff you have the better. I would even go so far as to break your gear down into multiple bags so someone isn’t stuck with a 80 lbs bag.

Directions:
As far as getting there, You take the 60 out past Superior like you are going to the Mine but you go past Atlantis which is the first parking just to the right of the tunnel as soon as you pass through it. You got past one more parking area on the right side of the road and on your third area you park. There should be the biggest parking area so far and you should see a trash can at the end of a rock outcropping you are going to drive around. If you go to Oak Creek Flats you have gone too far and need to come back. Once you park you are going to walk along the 60. There is a small path next to the guard rails. When you get to the bridge you are going to need to frogger it and haul ass over to the other side and then drop down you should see a pool of water and a bunch of rocks, you are getting warmer. There are two paths one up the right side, one up the left side. The left side is about 3 small bouldering problems and we found it to be easier. Most people will look at it and think Hell No, just be prepared for a little bit of a challenge on this approach. The right side has a ladder but it requires you to hop over the pond. This may be easier when the water level is lower but you’ll have to decide when you get there. Once you get to the upper Pond area you are in for a treat there are tons of routes all over the place and they are so easy to find a blind person could find them.

From The Pond (Queen Creek) - Parking Lot

From The Pond (Queen Creek) - Mike on Dead Pool 5.8 R

From Mike showing Dead Pool who’s boss.

The drive was pretty quick, sixty minutes, 101 to the 60, 60 out past Superior, go right when you get to the Oak Flats camp ground then drive past the turn off to the camp ground till you get to the end of the road. There will be a little side spot to park before you make the final stretch down to the Mine, it should take about 5 minutes to get back to the spot. You will know when you are close when you pass the Cattle Guard. The signs saying One Way in white are visible from where you will want to park. Mind how you park people do work at the mine and they are coming in and out of this place.

The hike down isn’t too sketchy, there is a semi marked path. You will want to keep an eye out for stacked rocks but for the first part of your journey follow the black water pipe the mine is using back to the wash. Once you get here follow the rocks back. The walk from where you park to the Lower Looner Valley will take about 10-15 minutes.

From Queen Creek

As you walk you are looking for rocks that look like….

From Queen Creek

This place has about 5-6 routes that are 5.9 - 5.11a. The tallest is about 60 feet and are all pretty fun. We setup shop on a 5.9 and went over all the basics of sport climbing for Mike. We weren’t in any hurry and wanted to make sure everyone got some time in on this spot.

From Queen Creek

After an hour or so of climbing we realized one rope for four people probably isn’t enough. Though we still had a great time.

From Queen Creek

The scenery was nothing short of awesome. This place is very photogenic in the late afternoon.

From Queen Creek

Jeremy did get a first ascent for the day so it was good, though there was a nice resting spot on the route.

From Queen Creek

All and all a great day…

From Queen Creek

From Queen Creek

Big props to the Camera Crew… AKA Jason. Didn’t get in many pictures but damn did he take some good looking ones.

The most used thing you will purchase when rock climbing is your shoes.  You should spend some time figuring out what kind of shoes you want.  If you go to a place that has rentals and you are using the rentals day in day out for more then a month, you are hurting your progress as a climber.  Rental shoes are generally cheap rubber with horrible heels and even worse toes.  Anything over a V3 you are really going to have some trouble with as you won’t be able to toe-in on an small foot hold or smear nearly as well as a person with their own climbing shoes.

The things to consider when getting a pair of shoes will vary based on who you talk to.  If you are talking to a serious climber they are going to recommend you get “aggressive” shoes.  What they are referring to is how much of an angle the toe of the shoe is set at.  Rather then having a flat shoe you will have one with a very large arch.  They may also tell you to consider a solid ankle so that your heel hooks don’t slip.  Most people who are bouldering and doing sport climbing will have some rather aggressive shoes that allow them to make some rather tight moves on small foot holds.  They will also tell you to get at least a half size to a size and a half smaller then your regular shoes.  This is to make sure your foot doesn’t slip out of your shoe at any point and give you better feeling as to how well you are toed in on things.

Now if you are just getting started and are not serious enough to consider a nice painful shoe a necessity yet, I don’t blame you.  When I heard the way these guys were talking I thought they were nuts.  Then 5 months later I was shelling out for my pair of La Sportiva Vipers, which I got so small that I could only wear for about 15 minutes at a time.  The only reason I wore them for 15 minutes was because it took me 5 minutes of anguish to put them on.  After a few weeks of breaking them in I can wear them for about an hour before my feet need a break, but I love them.  There is a world of difference between the Mad Rock Flash, I started off with and the Vipers I wear now.

I’m here to tell you that the difference between the Flash and the Vipers is massive. The Vipers have much higher quality rubber, heels and toes.  The shoe’s design is far superior in my opinion and of course the price is about twice as much as my starter shoes so, you would hope things would be better.  If I was starting out would I still get the Flash?  Probably and the reason is because I wasn’t ready to feel the pain.  I needed to fall madly in love with climbing before I was willing to put myself through the pain of a pair of performance shoes.

So for those looking for starter shoes find some shoes you like and don’t kill your feet, if you know other climbers see if they have some already broken in shoes that you can buy off them for cheap.  Someone’s used shoes will be way better then the rentals and they are already broken in.  Breaking in shoes sucks, it hurts but once they are broken in the pain is worth it.  So why not skip the pain if you can.  Also if you can get them used from a buddy, after a few months when you are ready to feel the pain of a new pair of good shoes you won’t feel you need to go on the cheap.

At the store:

Now hopefully you are to the point where you are all about climbing and are really wondering how a shoe should fit you.  There are a few things to consider. One size does not fit all.  As you try different brands your foot will fit in them differently.  Heck even withing the same brand your foot will fit differently depending on the model.  This will result in a big pain as you now have a ton of shoes to try on and probably won’t be able to try them out too much.  Most gyms will let you do a route or two in them but then again they may not.  I quickly discovered I love the La Sportiva ankle, which made my decision easier.

How should your foot fit? Well the guideline I use is that your toes should be squished up a bit.  You should be able to feel the knuckles of your toes pressing up against the top of the shoe as they are now flexed like little caterpillars.  Now remember I like the performance shoes. If you are looking for comfy shoes to climb for long periods of time in you probably want more padding and a little bit more space for your toes, though not too much. You will want to be able to feel those small toe holds.  It’s a fine line and in the end it’s up to you.  It’s less a science and more a preference.

Price Range? Well assuming you can’t find a friend who has some cheap shoes for yah, then you are probably going to want to get something semi-comfy and on the cheap.  If you are buying your shoes from a gym you will probably spend around 50-90 bones for the non-performance shoes.  If you are buying aggressive shoes with nice rubber and heels odds are you are spending 100 - 200.  There are some online outlet stores that will have limited sizes and quantities of previous models of shoes.  Though you won’t get to try them on unless you can find someone who still has the old ones in stock. Here you can generally find high end shoes for 30-50 bucks though it will be a gamble as, one size does not fit all.

Types of Shoe: There are slip ons, velcro and lace ups for your standard climbing shoe.  I have become a big fan of slip ons as they are generally pretty easy to get on and off and break in pretty nice.  Lace ups take awhile to put on and can be a pain if you are constantly taking your shoes on and off.  Velcro are a nice in between as they are quick to take on and off and break in fairly well.

Type of Material: One big aspect to pay attention to is what your shoe is made of.  If it is all synthetic odds are it isn’t going to stretch too much as you break the shoe in which means it will fit pretty close to the same as when you first bought the shoe.  Leather will have a tendency to stretch so if you want a tight fit all the time you might need to get a half size smaller.

Places to buy: I recommend a rock gym where you can try the shoes out a bit and make sure they are not going to cause you some buyers remorse.  If you are in Scottsdale or Tempe I know Scott has a shop in ClimbMax (Tempe) and AZ On The Rocks(North Scottsdale).  Talking with Scott or any serious climber is recommended but understand you are going to get a bias from most climbers and it is important you get what you like. If money is your main concern, online outlets are the place to go but you are going to take a gamble.  REI also sells climbing shoes but they have about 1/20th of what Scott has at AZR and you are going to pay about the same price without the knowledge or the ability to try your shoes out.

Shoes I recommend:

Starters:
Mad Rock Flash
La Sportiva Katana

Aggressive:
La Sportiva Vipers
La Sportiva Cobras
5.10 Dragons

I hope you found this informative, please let me know if you have any questions.

We destroyed Triangle rock. We beat up the V0 on the left side of Triangle rock, then moved onto the V1 off to the right of it, then went further right to play with the V0+ traverse. Then came back to do the V3 through the center of Triangle rock, (Video below of Jeremy climbing it). Then I climbed the V2 on the left side of the rock which goes along the lower of the two cracks on the upper left of the rock.

From Triangle Rock, V0 up the far left. V1 across the highest crack on the left, V2 on the lower crack in the upper left, V3 up the middle

Jeremy on the V3 at Triangle Rock.

From Traverse on the Far Right

Mike on the Traverse

From V1 to the Right of Triangle Rock

Dan on the V1

From Jeremy on The Hermit(V5) at the Puzzle Box

From Jeremy on The Hermit(V5) at the Puzzle Box

From Anorexic

Sorry I didn’t get more videos of Puzzle Box or Anorexic but it was cold and we were climbing hard. Guess you will just have to wait for me.

Peace Out, Safe Climbing

We started at “The Island” and warmed up.

From Best Warm Up Around

From Backside of the island, some sweet V0 - V2 climbs

After our warm up we hit up Bat Roof.

From Bat Roof w/ a Chris

From Bat Roof V1 and V3 starter hold w/ V1 finish.

From Batroof V1

After Bat Roof we hit up one more spot but I didn’t get pictures as I was exhausted and had to at least finish one route on this wall. Overall it was a super awesome day and I would recommend Priest Draw to anyone especially if it is your first time outdoor climbing. The rock is mostly limestone and mudstone so your hands don’t get ripped up and most of the routes are not too tall. I’ll be sure to post more about it in October.

I didn’t get many pictures of the climbs because I was climbing and no one else was helping me with my little endeavor but I’ll be going back Oct 9/10 so I’ll be sure to get more pictures as I won’t be so awe struck by how much fun the climbing is.

Also over the next few weeks I need to get lead certified so when things get chill around the valley I can go out and start hitting up some sport climbs. I hear there is a 5.7 sport climb on Camelback mountain that goes up the Monk. I have seen this rock formation all my life and I can tell you it will be so fantastically awesome to climb it.

Peace out, Safe Climbing

I have plans on doing a trip to Flagstaff to try and check out Priest Draw.  If your bored and looking for something to do I plan on driving up around 6-7 am and try to get a bit of climbing in before it gets too hot.  More then anything it is to go out there and see what I can see.  We have plans on making a big trip with a few people from AZR here in the first or second week of August.

Mike now has a job at AZR so you can prolly visit him most days you are bored.  I did get my new camera but I haven’t got any really great footage with it.  We shall see what I can come up with when we hit Priest Draw. That about does it for updates, things are well we are all improving and enjoying climbing.  I’m sure we will be getting much more content here in the coming months.

Later, Dan

You are all invited to come climbing. I go Weds and Friday after work around 6ish. Then I go again on Sunday sometime around 3-4ish. It just depends on what is going on. Sooner rather then later Sunday’s will be replaced with outdoor climbing day and I’m hoping some of you will be interested.
If you aren’t sure how to get to AZR check out Az on the rocks site.

Also I broke down and got the Canon FS100. This should help make the recording look much better.

Wiki Article on Rock Climbing It has some interesting articles attached to it.
Wiki Article on Climbing Ratings Systems

This is a pretty mean V2 at the gym. There are two big slopers that make you take your time with this problem.

This is a V0+ that is, from what I’m told more typical of the outdoor bouldering problems.

This is another V2, it rolls through an under hang and is pretty fun. I just slapped the top and came right off. There isn’t much of a grip at the top of this route….

This is a fun V1 at the gym. I do it for warm up.

SideNote:
Grats on your first V1 Mike.