Queen Creek Exploration
It finally happened, the weather changed and my thin blood says Flagstaff is much too cold so Priest Draw is out. Time to start sport climbing in the many wonderful valley locations. Today I took work off and decided to hit Queen Creek with Mike and Jeremy. With a little nudge Jason decided to attend on his first outdoor endeavor.
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.
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As you walk you are looking for rocks that look like….
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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.
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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.
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The scenery was nothing short of awesome. This place is very photogenic in the late afternoon.
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Jeremy did get a first ascent for the day so it was good, though there was a nice resting spot on the route.
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All and all a great day…
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Big props to the Camera Crew… AKA Jason. Didn’t get in many pictures but damn did he take some good looking ones.
Tags: Queen Creek, Sport Climbing, The Mine
November 25th, 2008 at 7:24 am
[...] can’t tell you how fun today has been. Today I finally went outdoors and did my first sport climb in Queen Creek. My sphincter has never puckered so tight as when I was setting the quickdraws for our first route [...]