Expeditions West: lower looner land rock climbing

Queen Creek
Date	2/26/2005
Trail Time	N/A
Location	This area is accessed via the Magma Mine road from the Oak Flats turn-off of US60

Attendees	Scott Brady- 2004 Toyota Tacoma Greg Stephens and Matt- Via Tierra Land Rover Discovery Mark and Brook
Trip Planning	go to Rockclimbing.com for more climb info on this area
Special Note: The Oak Flats, Hackberry, and Apache Leap area is threatened with closure due to block cave mining. The Arizona legislature is attempting to close the campground and open areas using a "land swap" initiative. This area is best known for its rock climbing competitions (the largest in the world), OHV challenges and great hiking and camping. If you want to get involved in helping to protect access to this special area, please visit The Friends of Queen Creek for more information. Friends of Queen Creek: Email: info@friendsofqueencreek.com

I wanted to try out my new gear and receive some additional instruction from this great group of adventurers/climbers. As a group we climbed about 6 routes and I was able to climb three, with the most difficult being a 5.7. Here are a few pictures of our adventure.

After setting up the climb for a top rope, Mark made the first ascent, working his way along the crack to the top. Then Brook made the climb, followed be me. We all made the climb very differently, as Mark and Brook climbed to the sides of the crack, and I was able to wedge my fists into the crack and haul myself up.

Mark, Brook and Matt all climbed this 40' 5.8 wall

One of my last climbs was up a 5.6-7 route where I bypassed the more challenging 5.7 start and then traversed back to the 5.7 part way up the climb. I was well suited to the climb as I was tall enough to ladder my way up the big cracks, missing the smaller and more difficult moves in between.