rin
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Registered: 8-22-2005
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rock climbing/bouldering
Hi:
I'm planning to take a couple of weeks late this year to climb in Baja. Does anyone know of any established climbing areas where I can boulder / do
sports routes. Do any topos exist? I think there may be stuff in Catavina - has anyone been there? Any info would be greatly appreciated.
thanks
Rin
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David K
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Get Peterson's 'Baja Adventure Book'... then get the 'Baja Almanac' topo map book... Camping and Climbing in Baja is another good book, but a bit
outdated. Go to Tienda here on Nomad or BajaBooksandMaps.com... Mexican Topo maps are available at Map Centre in San Diego or online at MapWorld.com
(part of Map Centre).
Baja Nomad 'jide' loves the granite canyons of Baja for hiking and climbing... also 'Don Jorge' and others too...
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Anonymous
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Bouldering....takes me back. I still like "Camping and Climbing in Baja" by John Robinson, although Peterson's book is a little more up to date.
A really good place for bouldering (maybe the best in Baja) is El Picacho del Diablo...Devil Mountain. If you go there, prepare for lots of rough
bouldering, you will be route finding, and a little rope climbing...100 feet should do it. We used to get there a long, long time ago about 80 miles
south of Ensenada and head inland into the Sierra San Pedro Martir. Most will be at 7000-9000 ft. Lots of wild looking chickenheads. The road in
sucks...or used too, anyway. Might be a superhighway now, with all the development that has happened since I was down there. You go thru villages of
San Telmo, Sinaloa, and the Meling rancho way up high. Bust a leg. Too old now, but will be there in spirit.
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Neal Johns
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Established? Not very, except for a few of the canyon hike/waterfall climbs. Lots of 20-30 foot high boulder piles in the Catavina area, but the best
bouldering is about 20 miles further south, a half mile diameter boulder pile, 200 feet high, a couple of hundred yards to the right of Hwy. 1. The
old pre-pavement road takes off of Hwy. 1 to go right, behind the pile, about a half mile or so North. Great camping spot, zero traffic. Road ia a
little bumpy but 2wd should be OK.
Used to be climber - see avatar for what happened.
My motto:
Never let a Dragon pass by without pulling its tail!
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Bruce R Leech
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what is an established climbing area?
I like to climb any where In Baja ca. just find a mountain, check to see if you need permission or permits. and go for it.
Bruce R Leech
Ensenada
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Bruce R Leech
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Neal Johns
Established? Not very, except for a few of the canyon hike/waterfall climbs. Lots of 20-30 foot high boulder piles in the Catavina area, but the best
bouldering is about 20 miles further south, a half mile diameter boulder pile, 200 feet high, a couple of hundred yards to the right of Hwy. 1. The
old pre-pavement road takes off of Hwy. 1 to go right, behind the pile, about a half mile or so North. Great camping spot, zero traffic. Road ia a
little bumpy but 2wd should be OK.
Used to be climber - see avatar for what happened.
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that is a great spot Neal I know it well
I wonder if any one has a GPS address
[Edited on 8-23-2005 by Bruce R Leech]
Bruce R Leech
Ensenada
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bajaandy
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Rin,
There is definetly some good bouldering in Catavina, and as Neal said check out the huge boulder pile a few miles south. I believe it is marked as
Cerro de Piedra in the Baja Almanac. I have also heard rumor that there is some good bouldering in the Sierra San Pedro Martir, but have yet to check
it out. (See anonymous post above.)
As for a real climbers topo, good luck. You might try the San Diego Climbers Coalition, at
http://www.giantsoftware.com/sdcc/
Post a question there and see if anyone has beta about Baja climbing. I remember many years ago there was an article in Climbing Mag about Baja
bouldering, but it mainly focused on Catavina.
My advice, take your shoes and chalk bag and just have a great time exploring.
subvert the dominant paradigm
"If you travel with a man, you must either fall out with him or make him your good friend."
JBL Noel
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vgabndo
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If you don't want to go so far South...
Laguna Juarez (Laguna Hansen) area is easy to get to and very challanging. Smooth with a lot of DG. MANY years ago we put several "new" routes up
there. The boulder fields extend for miles to the South. The empty spaces between house-sized boulders were often as big as a big living room.
Undoubtedly, there are people who cannot afford to give the anchor of sanity even the slightest tug. Sam Harris
"The situation is far too dire for pessimism."
Bill Kauth
Carl Sagan said, "We are a way for the cosmos to know itself."
PEACE, LOVE AND FISH TACOS
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David K
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Check out http://vivabaja.com/jide for some Sierra Juarez granite faces...
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Anonymous
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This is coming from a boulderer of 15-years...
Catavina has a handful of sport routes on volcanic rock/choss, it is good for a day adventure, but not a destination.
Boulders in Catavina SUCK, a whole lotta choss. A shame given the vast amount of rock. One would expect J-Tree rock by the look of it, but it falls
short.
Laguna Hansen is the spot for climbing in the north. Very high quality rock, sport, trad, and aide routes...don't get hurt as help is a long way
away. The rock is like southern sierra.
The climbing in Cabo blows.
Canyon Guadalupe has some boulders that could be fun, but I never seemed to make it too far from the tubs.
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Don Jorge
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Anon 2 has covered it pretty good.
Do stop in Canon Tajo, close to the border and San Diego climbers. This is a world class, established, trad route destination. Lots of beta on this
area. Lots and lots of bolted routes with bolts ranging from rusty 1/4 " yikes, to better looking hardware. Routes to > 5.11
�And it never failed that during the dry years the people forgot about the rich years, and during the wet years they lost all memory of the dry
years. It was always that way.�― John Steinbeck
"All models are wrong, but some are useful." George E.P. Box
"Nature bats last." Doug "Hayduke" Peac-ck
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Anonymous
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Don Jorge correclty corrected me; I meant Canon Tajo when I wrote Laguna Hanson, my bad. It is world class, no doubt.
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