This is the gully that sits just to the right of Magic Mountain and directly across from Cat in the Hat. It has an east facing wall, which gets sun until mid-morning to noon, depending on the season.
Getting There
Approach via the Pine Creek trail, cutting left into the wash when the trail forks at the base of Mescalito. Follow the wash until it begins to curve to the right and a gully is visible directly ahead. Find a faint trail skirting the left side of the wash leading into the gully. From here, work your way up the gully to the routes.
The Classics
Mountain Project's determination of some of the classic, most popular, highest rated routes for Crabby Appleton Area:
Crabby Appleton is a faint crack system that travels up the right wall of the Crabby Appleton Gully. Start on a large ledge just below a traversing line of huecos. Pitch 1: Climb up and then right along the huecos, eventually gaining a crack heading upward. Ascend the crack to a stance. 130', 5.7 Pitch 2: Climb the crack, pass an intermediate belay stance with a bad bolt, climbing to a better stance with a bolt and a pin. 190', 5.8 Pitch 3: Continue up the crack, following the corner on the left...[more]Browse More Classics in NV
If memory serves, the gully appears blocked by an enormous boulder, but it turns out you can climb under the thing and tunnel up to the top. This is a good landmark to know you are in the correct place.
One good way to handle the approach is by linking with one of the routes on the Magic Triangle or Community Pillar. For example, climb Magic Triangle and descend the back (south) side. Start at the minor notch that separates the Magic Triangle from the main part of the Community Pillar. A little downclimbing and a short rappel or two will take you right to the starting area of Crabby Appleton.
Another approach option, we employed recently: Climb Olive Oil and descend off the back, through the little notch (at the very head of the normal O.O. descent gully) and down that gully to the base of the route. One rappel in the gully just before the start of Crabby Appleton...
You can tunnel under the boulders blocking the top of the gully, not tough. Climb up pocketed rock on the right, enjoy the munge, then hang a left and head for daylight. Way easier than it looks. That said this approach is not casual; has 5th class sections, moss, slick rock, bushwhacking, routefinding etc. With packs this approach would be at least 20 minutes longer than Cat in the Hat, probably longer. Slings up there could use replacing, and you may want to rap more than one section depending on conditions.
![The 5.3 start of Crabby Appleton. From here you traverse right on the varnished huecos for a ways [approx. 80 ft.] then head straight up a crack system. We linked P-1 & 2. Did the route in 4 pitches.](http://www.mountainproject.com/images/16/64/107591664_small_9af614.jpg)
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