Trip Report
Valley of the Moon (mini TR)
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Saturday November 27, 2010 11:17pm
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Spent today out at the Valley of the Moon (East of San Diego, just before HWY 8 begins its steep descent to the desert floor). It's like a mini-JT without the crowds--and for good reason. The setting is absolutely beautiful, and would be a major destination for San Diego people (i.e. tourists, campers, hikers, etc.), were it not for the fact that it's tough to reach without a 4X4 with good clearance. (Still confused as to how the little Toyota pickup got out there. My son postulates that it must've been airdropped.)
Anyway...my little brother (Keith), his son (David), my son (Joe), and I headed out there for the day, and had a blast. The weather was pretty much perfect, and there were almost no others out there. We warmed up on a patina face (5.9) that was steep, but solid. Keith led a couple of other faces (8ish, 9ish we figured) that our sons could really enjoy.
Here are some pics, but I apologize in advance that they were taken with my cell phone (and my son's). We forgot the camera. When you see the pics, you'll understand the apology! Someone with a camera and a good eye could do this place some real justice.
This place is truly beautiful, and while I have no doubt the San Diego scene has been very active out there for a while (and may have climbed everything in sight), there are TONS of cracks and faces that look like great adventures.
A really beautiful day spent with people I love. Does it get any better than that?
mooser
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About the Author
mooser is a trad climber from seattle. |
Comments
bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, CA
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Nov 28, 2010 - 12:00am PT
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Looks like a fun place!!!
Never heard of it until now. Thanks!
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Nov 27, 2010 - 11:50pm PT
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Little chilly down there Tom? Still, it looks like you had a great time.
Say hi to Joe for me.
D
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mooser
Trad climber
seattle
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Author's Reply
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Nov 28, 2010 - 12:12am PT
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Well, David...all I can say is that I left Seattle in sub-freezing temps, and was climbing today in blue skies and T-shirts. I'm soakin' it up while I can! And I'll tell Joe hi for you. He'll be stoked.
Back to Seattle Monday night.
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Captain...or Skully
climber
Boise, ID
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Nov 28, 2010 - 12:43am PT
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It's kinda cool that you had no topos.
Just guess! I love that sh#t. It can inspire, too.
Nice TR.
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rich sims
Social climber
co
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Nov 28, 2010 - 01:27am PT
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I remember doing some stuff and driving around a lot in the early 80s when I was working in Jacumba. I was working with non climbers so my climbing was limited. In-Ko-pah was just down the road on old Hwy 80 from where I was building.
You could cross the border at Jacumba and be about ten miles west of la Rumorosa. Vaqueros would ride their horse across to the local bar in Jacumba that’s who showed me the dirt roads to Mex HWY 2.
Good Tr
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Bowser
Social climber
Durango CO
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Nov 28, 2010 - 03:31am PT
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Thank you for the trip report. That place is an amazing place to hike, climb and camp.
A bunch of us with the Allied Climbers of San Diego http://www.alliedclimbers.org/went out and helped the BLM with a clean up of the trail a few couple of years back.
These pictures were taken shortly after the fire. I hope things have greened up out there.
There are a lot of Border Patrol guys there, but I wouldn't go camp out there without packing some heat.
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Floridaputz
Trad climber
Oakland Park Florida
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Nov 29, 2010 - 10:15am PT
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The drive in is wild. It is just like a little J tree. I thought the place was awesome.
excellent splitter
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mooser
Trad climber
seattle
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Author's Reply
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Nov 28, 2010 - 10:56am PT
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Bowser, thanks for adding some larger and clearer pics! And yeah, floridaputz, the place is pretty sweet.
Anyone have some good shots to add of climbing out there? If so, please post up. Can't wait to get out there again, next time I'm down this way.
(Oh, and it has definitely been greening up since the fire.)
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Hubbard
climber
San Diego
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Nov 28, 2010 - 12:43pm PT
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I'm glad you had fun. The drive in is a bit rough but once you get there it is San Diego's mini Josh. Here is a link to more photos and some topos.http://www.climbingtoposofsandiego.com
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mooser
Trad climber
seattle
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Author's Reply
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Nov 28, 2010 - 01:02pm PT
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Thanks for the link, Hubbard. Very helpful. The topo calls (on Patina) a .10a what I figured was a .9. I'd probably still stick with .9 on that one. That wall, though, has some really beautiful lines on steep rock! Nice work out there, as you have clearly been one of the main activists.
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Anxious Melancholy
Mountain climber
Between the Depths of Despair & Heights of Folly
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Nov 28, 2010 - 01:14pm PT
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Roackaway Beach
There's a few routes here we did. The first started on the right hand side of the patina's corner, up a few moves to clip a bolt, then left onto the patina and trad pro to the ledge. Next pitch was to step right into the crack and follow it to the large ledge below to top. Rap anchors are to the right/south in the shaded area below the cap rock. Doubled 165' gets ya down. The crack to the left, a little wide, was done, and then the next patinaed rib left of that was done, with a second short pitch up the bald corner to the same large ledge below the top.
Sun Dial
Besides the depicted line, we also did one to the right. And way around the corner and down the canyon a bit is the east facing Wall of Troy, two pitches of bolt protected face climbing with an A1 roof to surmount to get to the end of the first pitch. Either a second rope for two, bolted anchor raps, or a long scramble up and around the Sun Dial back to the base, or take your stuff with you as you exit back past the Sun Dial.
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Brunosafari
Boulder climber
OR
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Nov 28, 2010 - 01:17pm PT
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Is this where Moona Lisa came from?
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Phantom X
Trad climber
Honeycomb Hideout
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Nov 28, 2010 - 03:56pm PT
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Did you really go here or is this another moon hoax?
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mooser
Trad climber
seattle
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Author's Reply
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Nov 28, 2010 - 05:03pm PT
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Great questions from the Brothers Adams.
Brunosafari: Yes, it is. Da Vinci (little known fact) often vacationed in Jacumba, and convinced a local to do a sitting.
Phantom X: I was actually there, AND I believe it's where they filmed the alleged '69 lunar landing.
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Brunosafari
Boulder climber
OR
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Nov 28, 2010 - 06:22pm PT
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Mooser-- I don't mean the "mealy mouthed" one. You would be penalized fifteen feet of slack on your next patina lead, 'cept you compensated with a Quality Downrating.
Didn't you ever see the Crawling Eyes or THEM? Never rocked to the "Roaches?"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moona_Lisa
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mooser
Trad climber
seattle
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Author's Reply
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Nov 28, 2010 - 06:43pm PT
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Oh, THAT Moona Lisa. I'd almost forgotten about her. San Diego had some pretty world-class programming back then.
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Batrock
Trad climber
Burbank
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Nov 28, 2010 - 06:51pm PT
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Excellent TR. Valley of the Moon reminds me a lot of some of the areas in the Inyo's and the White's for the fact that you need a good high clearance 4x4 to get to the goods.
For all the bashing 4x4's have received in the last few years I have to say that mine has taken me to some pretty spectacular areas, mostly desert that I would not have thought of approaching on foot due to long distance and lack of water.
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Brunosafari
Boulder climber
OR
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Nov 28, 2010 - 07:05pm PT
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"Hello Earthlings,"
"'I had almost forgotten about her...?'"
<<<<she was my first love>>>>>
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Phantom X
Trad climber
Honeycomb Hideout
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Nov 28, 2010 - 07:16pm PT
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How is the TV reception in these parts?
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Ezra Ellis
Trad climber
North wet, and Da souf
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Nov 28, 2010 - 10:08pm PT
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thanks for the pics, yet another great area to add to my list!
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swanson
Trad climber
Carlsbad
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Nov 29, 2010 - 05:05pm PT
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Mooser,
Once again, my best time climbing involves climbing with you, and now our sons. How cool is that?!
And why aren't we back out there climbing right this minute?
Oh yeah, you're heading back home and I'm out in Kansas.
Ok. nevermind.
BTW...
I stole one of these pictures for my ST profile picture. HAHAHAHHA....HA!
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KrisK
Social climber
San Diego
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Nov 30, 2010 - 05:00pm PT
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I will claim being the depositor of the Toyota truck. Wow, I was told it had been removed. (haven't been out there for a lot of years) Kinda funny that I traded a tow truck driver the pink slip to remove it after being threatened by the local sheriff of being fined for abandonment of a vehicle. Whatever, now its just a landmark. But I did drive it all the way in and on the way out had a little battery incident.
KK
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mooser
Trad climber
seattle
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Author's Reply
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Dec 2, 2010 - 09:44am PT
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KrisK,
I don't know if it's yours, or not. It didn't look like it had been there for a long time (as I imagine yours probably would), and it was over in the camping area near some guys chuggin' hard on wine bottles at 9am.
When you did take yours in, the road must've been in a lot better shape than it is now. I can't imagine how anything but a 4X4 with good clearance could get in there today. Definitely an e-ticket ride!
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tom woods
Gym climber
Bishop, CA
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Thanks for showing us this spot. I'd never heard of it.
Hey Batrock, is that Dedecker Canyon?
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mooser
Trad climber
seattle
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Author's Reply
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Dec 2, 2010 - 10:32am PT
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Sure thing, Tom. BTW, we only went out there with a sport rack. Check out Hubbard's topo link, and see the cracks on Gravity Wall. They are steep, plentiful, and look really stellar. I'm jonesin' to show up next time with cams 'n nuts!
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KrisK
Social climber
San Diego
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Yeah, thats definitely not mine. My old Toyota pickup used to sit just off the road on the valley side of the first large hill. It burned to the ground(in probably 1995 or 96)coming out from the valley when the battery slipped from its cage from the all the bouncing. Well, I'm glad to know its not still sitting there. The road, even back, then was still pretty rough, enough to harvest my vehicle.
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Batrock
Trad climber
Burbank
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Tom,
Yep it's Dedeckera Cyn between the Saline and Eureka. Beautiful drive through there either way you go. One of my favorite California slot canyons is in the area near Steel Pass, lots of pictographs and petraglyphs. Did you make it up to Crooked or Cottonwood this summer? I still want to get back up there and do that overhanging OW we looked at.
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Jingy
climber
Random Nobody
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cool lookin wall, that's fa'sho!!!
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Fluoride
Trad climber
West Los Angeles, CA/Joshua Tree
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Very nice. A place I've always meant to visit. Your thread has me thinking about heading there.
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rizzuh
Mountain climber
San Francisco, CA
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Awesome! Love it up there... like J-tree 200 years ago! Well maybe not quite J-tree but an adventure nonetheless! Thanks for sharing!
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nutjob
Sport climber
Almost to Hollywood, Baby!
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I went climbing in that place in 1995, and loved it. No topos, no evidence of past development, we knew nothing about it being an established climbing place, I don't even remember how we heard about it... we just top-roped with natural anchors because I hadn't figured out how to lead climb yet. I had a set of hexes and a #4 camalot, and I was the experienced one of our bunch :) Granite or monzonite ball-bearings on flaring wide cracks and chimneys was what we mostly did.
About the road... yes pretty rough, but we saw a BUNCH of normal cars getting out there (some stuck of course), including a large rental moving truck! They had generators set up and a stage and speakers, a bunch of dead-head looking people, with whole families and kids, and some crazy multi-day party out there. None of them were into rock climbing.
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AKTrad
Mountain climber
AK
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Dec 10, 2010 - 08:41pm PT
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Never been there, but your photos are compelling! Need to put it on my tick list.
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mooser
Trad climber
seattle
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Author's Reply
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Nov 2, 2011 - 04:34pm PT
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Bump - to check on whether some of y'all have followed up on your inclinations to visit Valley of the Moon!
Great time of the year for it!
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mike m
Trad climber
black hills
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Cracks and patina, don't see much not to like there.
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