Lost in The Jungle (Devil's Head) - Where did we actually climb?

Just got back from Devil's head and had some fun camping and climbing. We didn't find the jungle, but I am curious if you can tell what we climbed and where we might have gotten lost.

---

The Lady and I wanted to get an over nighter in before a memorial day weekend spent in town. We decided to head out to Devil's Head with nothing but the MP app and the idea of doing some sport. She had her eye on Lost in The Jungle as I had just recently taken her on her first multi-pitch sport route and I think she was craving more.

I suppose that it is needless to say that the "Getting There" left something to be desired. We hiked in from the trail head (crazy tornado damage, btw) and made it to the lookout, and from there, apparently went to the wrong crags. We came across a couple forks with signage, and I want to say the last sign we saw was to Redstone. We ended up following some cairns down a bit further on the right-hand side of the decent into a gully and boulder fields, and eventually traversed the gully, away from what I thought was Redstone or possibly an adhjacent crag (around that spot, there was two bolted routes on either side of a fat crack). From the Jungle crag beta, it sounded like the crag had to be on the opposite side of the gully if the Lost in the Jungle was both the right-most route of the crag as well as down hill.

Once we got to the other rock faces we went down hill, following some more cairns. We came to what appeared to be the last two bolted routes on a slab, with only a set of rap anchors to the right/downhill, so I thought we might be in the right area. I sent her up on what she expected to be a 5.7, but she bailed after the first clip (her first time on outdoor slab). I went up and found a bit of a struggle myself, and would put it at 5.10/5.11. When I topped out on what I thought was a platform, it turned out to be a slot about 50 feet down before the next vertical rock, and no further bolts in sight. Given this and the difficulty, I decided that we were at the wrong crag.

We started back uphill, as I thought maybe we should have started that way after traversing the gully. On the way back up, I scouted up behind some trees, in a tucked away area, following a few cairns. I happened upon some bolted routes, which we may have been able to scramble to after the previous route, and thought that was it; I couldn't make out any routes from the main descent trail, which agreed with the beta for the Jungle crag.

Again, I sent here up something she wasn't ready for, although this time it was only probably a 5.8/5.9 with some nice flakes at the bottom and top of the route. However, I failed to notice from the ground that there was no moree bolts after the first anchors, just a big fat roof that we obviously weren't going to pass on a sport rack.

At this point in the day, we had decided to cut our losses and just enjoy the hike back to the car. Before cutting back on that traverse, I did notice the cairns leading up hill, where I think we maybe should've gone in the first place.

Does anybody happen to know the two crags we visited? I'm curious what ratings they are receiving, and also maybe where we got lost in the jungle...

I dont know where you climbed (but it wasnt the Jungle).

You should not pass the fire lookout to reach the Jungle. It can be approached either from the Mile Marker 10 trail past Wipeyur, or from the trail to the lower west side past the Training Grounds.

Sounds like you had a typical first trip to Devils Head. Its very difficult to navigate the geography there using only MP. Guidebook, rakkup app, or friend who knows the area are highly recommended.

Good luck on future endeavors. Its a great area once you figure it out.

Ditto everything that Dano said, but looking at the "Getting There" section of the main DH page and reading your comments makes me think that "lookout" means the Zinn Overlook and "Redstone" means Red Wall. Yeah?

If so, sounds like you were in the East Valley, not sure what you were climbing. You'll need a guidebook map to really appreciate how far off you were... great stuff.

Sometimes it seems that with a poor description/topo of a route I really want to climb, I'll be able to find it on any rock in the area. Glad it's not just me.

Thanks, Mike, and yes the Zinn Overlook and Red Wall are what I meant to say.

I'm guessing we'll probably opt for the guide book next time around.

I was under the impression that Devil's Head was closed. I take it that it's not closed?

Mile marker 10 approach was never closed and the main parking lot for Devils Head reopened August 21. Look at the pictures of the damage on the Devils's Head Climbing Facebook page.

Jon Banks wrote:I was under the impression that Devil's Head was closed. I take it that it's not closed?