Hazard at Tahquitz rock

Beware of very aggressive bees at first pitch of Coffin Nail (big tree). Also Fire ants at same spot !! The party below us wa attacked and received over fifty stings each on October 3rd

Thank you for posting!!!!

The bees are all over Tahquitz. They were buzzing around Jam Crack back in August, and I watched them fly into the crack and under the slab. They must have nests inside the rock.

Are you sure they were fire ants vs. just red ants? I didn't think that fire ants had made it to California.

Thanks for posting Oz. I was one of the two below you that was attacked by the Bees or actually I believe they are Yellow-Jackets. Very aggressive. I have seen all them all over Tahquitz this summer but had never been swarmed by them like that. They came out of nowhere and were attacking in seconds.

I am not sure if there is a nest in that area or not but please be careful. We were very happy to have such a nice ledge to escape from because if it took much longer to setup a repel it could have been much worse.

Hope the rest of your climb was fun Oz!

Thanks Steve
I have seen bees swarming in other areas as well and that ledge is known to have ants right at the tree ? We decided to belay higher up to avoid the ants and to get closer to the 1st crux section ... Just luck on our part and had heard from another party that you guys had received quite a few stings ??
Glad you were able to escape as fast as you did !!
As far as the ants ,they are aggressive as well but don't really know what kind they are ? Yellow jackets sound worse and hope to not run into them anytime soon ((/: Take care and Send On

My climbing partner was stung in the penis 4 or 5 times while urinating by a yellow jacket (can sting multiple times) after we topped out a couple years ago. Eventually had to go to the ER. No joke. Be careful dudes (and ladies)

Was literally heading up next friday to do this route thanks for saving me flashbacks from my bee attack at el cajon mountain on the second pitch of leonids in 2013. Is there a way to avoid the bees/ants and still climb the route

Hand.jammin wrote:Was literally heading up next friday to do this route thanks for saving me flashbacks from my bee attack at el cajon mountain on the second pitch of leonids in 2013. Is there a way to avoid the bees/ants and still climb the route

The ants can be avoided by not belaying at the tree and doing so at the bolt midway in the chimney !
It's on the left side on the face that's actually part of the first pitch of El camino real I believe ! Or you can belay at the top of chimney right before the start of crux hand jamming section !
Good luck and enjoy this excellent route .. Very sustained but well protected !

No Joke- tHese beez get betweenz the kneez!!!

My buddy and I were hanging out below the coffin nail area napping and chatting after doing the Traitor Horn.... All of a sudden he LEAPS to his feet.......... Dang dun thur bee has stung him in the balls and penis tip!!!!

So he drops his shorts to the floor, flappin in the wind and whut nawt...to inspect, slapping and jumping in a good ole dance.

It was then that i realized that i had never been closer to a climbing partner in my life. True story.

Happened just a few weeks back.

Ouch! And I thought it was bad when I got stung by a bee on the inside of my mouth. A lesson to keep my mouth fully closed when mt. biking.