Naiche's Nest Rock Climbing

Naiche's Nest is a small, 50 foot high, half dome about 200 yards North-West of the Isle-of-you campground. The wall is about 85 degrees from vertical and runs almost due north-south. It gets great morning shade and direct sunlight a few minutes after noon. Great for summer mornings or winter afternoons. While the Isle-of-you is crowded, just 250 yards away, this area is seldom used. The rock is solid and typical of the stronghold. Great bouldering on the south side of the dome.

As I post this area in December 2009, there are 5 routes on three chained anchors. Two routes existed and shared the original anchor. I cannot find any references to the original routes in "Rock Climbing Arizona" or "Weekend Rock Arizona" or in any other climbing books or on-line resources. Three routes are new. If you know the history of this as a climbing area, please comment on this page. I'm going to post and name the two existing routes and someday hope original contributors can take the credit for this nice little area.

Naiche was the son of Cochise. The dome has a small nest like hollow on the top. In the Journals of Alden Sladen, Lt Sladen mentions seeing Naiche playing in the rocks in the general area between the stronghold and Middlemarch pass. General Howard, Sladen and Jeffords met Cochise to negotiate the treaty of 1871 about 400 yards west of this dome in Slavin's Gulch. It is quite likely that young Naiche played on these rock. I've been taking my kids and friends here to climb since the late 1990s and have named the new routes after them. Thanks to Daryl Allen and Russ Balderson for their help with tools, advice and manpower.