Trip Report
Weaver's Needle in the Superstition Mountains, Arizona
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Sunday October 30, 2016 6:31pm
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this just in
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About the Author
this just in is a climber from North Fork. |
Comments
survival
Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
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Oct 30, 2016 - 06:42pm PT
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Yaaay, a TJI trip report! I am a loyal old dog to folks who have always been kind to my middle of the road TR's.
Love the Superstitions, even though I've only hiked there.
Don't worry, I heard Honnold had to hang a couple times on it!
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yanqui
climber
Balcarce, Argentina
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Oct 30, 2016 - 06:57pm PT
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No sign of the Lost Dutchman?
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this just in
climber
Justin Ross from North Fork
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Author's Reply
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Oct 30, 2016 - 07:31pm PT
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Thanks Bruce, from what I saw of the Superstitions, I will definitely be back. Cool area.
Yanqui, Yeah we found it. Right by the parking lot.
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Oct 30, 2016 - 07:34pm PT
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Nice !
I soloed it in about '87
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thebravecowboy
climber
The Good Places
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Oct 30, 2016 - 08:18pm PT
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WTH is Alex Honnald?
Cool summit! Nice tickle!
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Oct 30, 2016 - 08:15pm PT
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Sweet! Choss hiking! Sign me up! How much rope does one need for the raps?
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Bad Climber
Trad climber
The Lawless Border Regions
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Oct 30, 2016 - 08:29pm PT
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Neat! I've always wanted to do this.
BAd
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steelmnkey
climber
Vision man...ya gotta have vision...
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Oct 31, 2016 - 07:03am PT
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Hey Justin! Nice pics!
Even with all the sometimes questionable rock out there, the Superstitions are a magical place to climb.
Glad you had a good day. Come on back and do more!
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drljefe
climber
El Presidio San Augustin del Tucson
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Oct 31, 2016 - 07:33am PT
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Fist bump for my homies.
Nice photos!
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steelmnkey
climber
Vision man...ya gotta have vision...
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Oct 31, 2016 - 08:17am PT
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Should also add that Thursday, when the boyz were sending the Needle, we set a record temperature of 100 degrees.
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Daphne
Trad climber
Northern California
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Oct 31, 2016 - 08:34am PT
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Looks like a hot, fun day out! How is the shoulder feeling?
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WBraun
climber
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Oct 31, 2016 - 08:32am PT
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What a ply of junk to climb, lol.
But I'm guilty of doing the same, of course ......
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micronut
Trad climber
Fresno/Clovis, ca
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Oct 31, 2016 - 08:33am PT
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Nice send. Stay thirsty my friends.
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this just in
climber
Justin Ross from North Fork
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Author's Reply
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Oct 31, 2016 - 09:17am PT
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Thanks Jaybro.
TBC, Yeah Honnald!
Thanks Mike.
Reilly, We just had a single 70m and it gets you to a good spot where you can down climb or rap off a single bolt. We down climbed. If we do it again I would just take a skinny tagline for the raps, but realistically you can easily down climb the whole route.
Steelmonkey, Thanks again. You were spot on, it is more of a mountaineers route than a rock climb, but more than worthy. We started hiking at first light and enjoyed gatorade and water at the gas station near by afterwards. Want to do the Four Peaks traverse next trip, if you want to join, you are more than welcome.
Jebus, as I climber I was surrounded by gold, even if it was choss.
Thanks Jefe, especially for the gear sling, haha.
T Hocking. Go Red Sox!
Daphne, this was actually my first time testing the shoulder and though it was mellow I had no pain. Perfect climb for me and will continue to work my way up. Hope you are doing good.
Yes Werner! My spoiled granite mind was throwing up. Was actually not too bad quality wise.
Micro, we were pretty thirsty.
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this just in
climber
Justin Ross from North Fork
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Author's Reply
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Oct 31, 2016 - 09:47am PT
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Some more pics
Poser
P1, just below the 5.4 section.
Best shot of the hike. Taken by Jeremy.
Summit view.
Hiking back
Steelmonkey or Jefe, what is this foul creature?
A ton of cool looking spires, I'm sure many have been climbed.
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kev
climber
A pile of dirt.
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Oct 31, 2016 - 09:57am PT
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TJI,
That foul creature is Cats Claw. Did you also meet the ever so friendly Jumping Cholla?
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this just in
climber
Justin Ross from North Fork
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Author's Reply
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Oct 31, 2016 - 10:06am PT
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Cats claw, yeah perfect name for it. Jeremy kicked a couple jumping chollas on the approach. No rattlesnakes though.
Yeah Jeebus, we went mountain biking and I couldn't imagine tumbling of trail.
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kev
climber
A pile of dirt.
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Oct 31, 2016 - 11:01am PT
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Forks are great tools for removing the jumping cholla from your heels when wearing flops...not that I would have any experience with such things...
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steelmnkey
climber
Vision man...ya gotta have vision...
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Oct 31, 2016 - 11:18am PT
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They beat me to the cat claw...
If you don't have like a big fatty comb, two sticks are probably the best spur of the moment (and relatively available) device to remove cholla.
A ton of cool looking spires, I'm sure many have been climbed.
Yup, there are many routes over there, done before the bolting ban was placed in the very early 90's. Some pretty cool stuff, but the bolts are really old, kind of sketchy and it's illegal to do anything about it.
We hauled camping gear up and slept on top of Weaver's 23 years ago last night. One of the cooler bivies I've done over the years.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Oct 31, 2016 - 11:58am PT
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5.4! Damn, I thought it looked doable for me. ;-/
The most dangerous part looked to be the hike in tennies and shorts!
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Dickbob
climber
Westminster Colorado
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Oct 31, 2016 - 01:12pm PT
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I spent three years of my life looking at that tower while drilling these so called sport routes from hooks and stances.
As I looking back in time, it was probably the best damn years of my life. I was never a good climber but I was on fire and during the summer we climbed at the forks every single weekend and I got friendly with a guy who I can’t even remember his name. He was blond and had an awesome girlfriend who was blond as well. She tore it up but he lead everything.He would lead Paradise Lost at a whim while, while I TR’d the sh#t. He was the first one who ever mentioned the creek to me. He heard that I knew the Sups and asked me if I would help take his boy scout troupe up the Needle.
We all made the summit except for this one older dad. He was psyched to hang out on the mid-point ledge and wait for us while we tagged the top.
My deal was to play rear point guard. I hung back and made sure no one got left behind. It took us all day. Every single one of those kids called me Mister Percival all day long. Cracked me up at the time. I was like 25 or some sh#t. I love that fricken place and miss it a ton. You have all seen these photos before.
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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Oct 31, 2016 - 01:01pm PT
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Wild! I loved that picture of Honnold's comment, plus, as a climber of choss, now I want to head out there. Besides, there's always the Lost Dutchman mine to rediscover.
Thanks much.
John
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Gary
Social climber
Desolation Basin, Calif.
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Oct 31, 2016 - 07:49pm PT
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TFPU! Nice report.
A couple of years ago we went up by way of the other side. The first bit was fun, no pro. Very mellow, mostly just a scramble. We rapped down from the notch. I only had to climb back to the notch to free the rope twice. After the second time I just downclimbed rather than hang up the rope again.
Saw a ring tailed cat at the notch, was attacked by bees.
Yeah, car to car in 18 hours. Sweet!
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this just in
climber
Justin Ross from North Fork
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Author's Reply
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Oct 31, 2016 - 07:26pm PT
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Steelmonkey, so can't even replace bolts? That sucks.
Dickbob, very cool.
JE, I would recommend this in January or February, think you would enjoy it. And Honnald signed it not Honnold.
Gary 18hrs car to car? Damn that's one to remember. So you didn't do the 5.9 on that side? If anyone has, how is it?
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Happydraggin'
climber
PHX
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WTF is that big shiny thing clipped in the "climbing" photo? In a highly visible, hotly contested wilderness area with nearby Queen Creek Canyon under threat!?! Shameful.
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this just in
climber
Justin Ross from North Fork
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Author's Reply
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Nov 1, 2016 - 07:08pm PT
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Happydraggin'
climber
PHX
Nov 1, 2016 - 04:08pm PT
WTF is that big shiny thing clipped in the "climbing" photo? In a highly visible, hotly contested wilderness area with nearby Queen Creek Canyon under threat!?! Shameful.
Not really sure if you are being sarcastic or serious. We were just visiting climbers and don't really know much about anything around there, bolt restrictions etc. We were light on the land and respected the area and it's beauty. Apologies if this trip report has offended you. Maybe you would like to give some more insight into the problem with that bolt or the Queen Creek Canyon area.
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Chauncey
Trad climber
Truckee, CA
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Yes there is tons of choss in the Soups, and, there are some good crags here and there with good rock. Anyone hear of Wild Horse Wall and a route called Bronco? I think that's what we called it. Larry Teiber cursed my long legs as he worked out the moves since I was able to use foot holds over six feet apart and, well, one of his nick names was TreeBear. Not exactly a long legged stature fellow. Strong as hell though. For months at a time we would spend every weekend seeking out new routes.
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steelmnkey
climber
Vision man...ya gotta have vision...
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That big shiny thing is actually a retrobolt that shouldn't be there, and wasn't there for many decades and thousands of ascents before someone took it on themselves to "fix" the route for the rest of us.
Chauncey: I've climbed at the Wild Horse Wall. Proud routes and old school ratings going on there. :-)
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Curt
climber
Gold Canyon, AZ
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Nice !
I soloed it in about '87
Nice trip report and great pictures. When my partner and I did Weavers Needle 7-8 years ago, we also didn't use a rope. This turned out to be a good decision for us, because we could go light and move much faster. I would only caution that anyone going ropeless on Weavers be somewhat familiar with moving competently over less than perfect rock.
Curt
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this just in
climber
Justin Ross from North Fork
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Author's Reply
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Nov 2, 2016 - 07:12am PT
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From the last rap, that bolt was 70 meters down. It has a quick link on it to rap the last little bit I guess. We just down climbed from there, but yeah there is one of those pipes right next to it that you could rap from if you didn't want to scramble from there.
From your beta Greg, it seems like it was added after your February ascent?
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rincon
climber
Coarsegold
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TFPU TJI!
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steelmnkey
climber
Vision man...ya gotta have vision...
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Justin, the bolt was there when I was there in Feb.
The info I sent you was originally from c. 1993 or so.
It had been a number of years (2008?) since I was last on Weaver's, so who knows when it popped up.
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Gary
Social climber
Desolation Basin, Calif.
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The rock is not that bad.
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Nice story Mr Percival!
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this just in
climber
Justin Ross from North Fork
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Author's Reply
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Nov 2, 2016 - 09:57am PT
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I am with Gary, thought the rock was decent. You can tell what's good or not.
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NutAgain!
Trad climber
https://nutagain.org
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Sometimes we climb for the technical challenge, but sometimes it's all about getting to that really cool looking spot. Nice one!
Now if there were a mortal way to get up that sun/shade line in your first pic, that would be rad.
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Dickbob
climber
Westminster Colorado
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You have to squirrel around in there a bit but hidden among the choss is gold. Real honest to God gold. Another hole in a well traveled line on the needle is not right but "hotly contested" and "highly visible" seems a little inflated to me. Hey Jay!
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Mungeclimber
Trad climber
Nothing creative to say
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I'm scared of bees in Arizona.
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F10
Trad climber
Bishop
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Cool, thanks for the tr
I climbed it a long time ago, it just says climb me.
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Aerili
climber
Project Y
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I lived in the area a long time and went to the Supes a fair amount, but I never got around to climbing Weaver's Needle. The cool rock spires you saw are Zonerland, I think. Some cool routes and no climbers typically.
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Ezra Ellis
Trad climber
North wet, and Da souf
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Nicely done 👍👊
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