This was originally planned as Jeff Atijera's Sierra Club M-Rock provisional to certify him for leading trips involving 3rd class rock.  We ended up doing it as a private outing after running into disagreements within the club over what the actual rating of the peak was.

July 12th & 13th, 2014

Kearsarge Peak (12,615’)

Dragon Peak (12,927’)

Mount Gould (13,005’)

[Pics] [Map]

This is a fun trip because it's an easy drive and you get three Sierra peaks in two days with two (Dragon & Gould) involving 3rd / 4th class terrain.  Dragon is the real draw due to a somewhat unique and heavily photographed bit right below the summit.  It involves doing an exposed traverse that would be terrifying except the rock slopes away, you have a huge crack for your feet. and on top of that there's decent handholds.  The result is it feels super secure but looks absolutely terrifying in pictures.  So basically it's the perfect Facebook profile photo.

A combination of factors had delayed the initial Sierra trip of the season but finally it was time for a peakbagging weekend at altitude.  With a job switch imminent I needed to take advantage of whatever vacation time I could manage so we planned a last minute 3 day up McGee Creek to get Mount Izaak Walton via the northeast ridge which Secor at least described as a "good" 3rd class route.

June 13th to 15th, 2014

Mount Izaak Walton (12,077')

[Pics] [CalTopo]

What:
  Picacho del Diablo (10,154')
When: May 16th to 17th, 2014
Where: Baja, Mexico
Who: Matthew Hengst, Jen Blackie, Gracia Delavida, Kristen Lindbergh, Neal Robbins
Pictures: [Matt]
GPS Track: [Map]
Mexican GPS Maps:  [Harlan]

The last Mexico trip had been on the memorable side if slightly traumatic for all parties.  We'd hit both Pescadores and Pico Risco over two days and due to a variety of factors ended up with only about 4 hours of sleep for the entire weekend by the time we arrived back in OC at 5 am Monday morning.

But this was going to be different!  Since Picacho del Diablo (aka Big Picacho of the Sierra Club Desert Peaks Section) was located a fair way down Baja we were looking at 4 days with two of those taken up just be driving surrounding a two day backpack.

And yes of course any visit into Mexico or even just into the border region has some inherent risk.  But never fear!  We had a plan B.  (For Blondie)  (As in needs of the many > survival of the Blondie)

After yesterdays extremely long day and somewhat disappointing peak behind a dump we were enjoying the Guadalupe Canyon Hot Springs much better.

While we didn't get up until late and we only had 4 or 5 hours of sleep it had certainly been worth it.

And now we had a much more scenic peak towering above us.

What:
  Cerro Pescadores (3,346')
When: January 11th, 2014
Where: Mexico!
Who: Matthew Hengst, Jack Kieffer, Jen Blackie, Gracia Delavida, Kristen Lindbergh, Neal Robbins, Mark Butski
Pictures: [Matt]
GPS Track: [Map]
Mexican GPS Maps:  [Harlan]

The Sierra Club Desert Peaks Section list has 4 peaks down in Mexico.  Due to the issues around the border the last few years these aren't done quite as much as the various peaks north of the border and as I completed more and more of the list I started to look at them more seriously.

I'd previously attempted Cerro del Pinacate during the last run up Baboquivari only to get turned around at the gate of the park due to "unspecified security concerns" that seemed rather oddly focused around the volcano itself.

With that peak apparently closed off (not to mention a long drive) there were still 3 others we could do and Jack, Gracia, and myself decided that would be a goal for the early part of 2014.  So we planned a two day for January to grab Cerro Pescadores and Pico Risco and a four day for May to get Picacho Del Diablo.

December 30th, 2013

This was the 4th day of an extended New Years 2014 Trip out to the Tucson area. We'd spent all day underground in Crystal Cave, used Peppersauce Cave as a recovery day, attempted Elephant Head, and then Finger Rock before planning to finish with Cave of the Bells. And we probably would have done that one if wasn't for a slight animal encounter the last night.

Finger Rock is the tiny spindle in the picture above.  It's not usually the sort of peak I go for but had the reputation for being a fun 5.6-5.8 climb with a relatively short approach.  This meant we could run into town and pick up the cave permit we needed in the morning.

This was the 3rd day of an extended New Years 2014 trip out to the Tucson area. We'd spent a day underground in Crystal Cave, used Peppersauce Cave as a recovery day, and now we were attempting Elephant Head.

Elephant Head is a large rock outside Tucson which promises 5.6 and below climbing for 1,000 ft

December 29th, 2013

Elephant Head (5,640')

[Pics] [Map]

This was the second event in an extended New Years trip out to Tucson.  We did Crystal Cave, used Peppersauce Cave as a recovery day, climbed Elephant Head, and then Finger Rock before planning to finish with Cave of the Bells.  And we probably would have done that one if wasn't for a slight animal encounter the last night.

Peppersauce wasn't as big of a draw as Crystal or Bells but it fit in well as a partial day.  We'd been warned by some of Jen's friends that this place wasn't exactly pristine but my god did they understate that.  If you wonder why they put those gates on some of the other caves just take a look at this place.

Wheeeeeeee!  The previous day had been a mad dash flying back from Sacramento where I'd spent Christmas with my parents only to stay in Orange County just long enough to throw all my climbing gear into the jeep and take off east with Jeff and Jen reaching Tucson late that night.

A long long drive later we found ourselves driving down a slightly less remote dirt road that I generally prefer in order to find a quiet -ish place to bivy for the night.  We settled down amid the scattered debris and passed out.

The only reason we were camped this close to a major city was because the following morning we were picking up a key for Crystal Cave which would kick off 5 days, 3 caves, 2 5th class peaks, and a fair amount of driving.  Throw in a middle of nowhere speeding ticket, a technical peak bailout, and one skunk attack to the face while sleeping (yes skunk and yes to the FACE), and we were in for a suitably eventful few days.

December 27th, 2013

Chiricahua Crystal Cave

[PicsM] [PicsJ] [Map]

My initial look at the 650 was positive but I had a few concerns.  This follow-up is both to address those and share what I think the actual strengths and weaknesses of the device after having spent a few hundred miles hiking with the device.

I have the Oregon 650 but most of the items below apply to the entire 600 series.  The Oregon 600 has less memory, lacks a mediocre camera, and doesn’t come with the rechargeable battery pack the 650 gives you.  The Oregon 600t and Oregon 650t are the same as the base unit but include a chip with maps preloaded.  I opt for buying the Garmin 24k topo maps and loading them by hand since the chips only have 100k maps.

The Oregon 450 is an inferior unit and I wouldn’t recommend anyone get it.  The money you save isn’t worth how much slower the unit is moving around on maps and how frustrating the touch screen is.