Gertch's Folly 

FA by Paul Wohlt and Dick Ingraham. They rated it 5.7 but 5.8 is probably a more fair rating. Harder and straighter variation pitches below the top overhangs have been climbed.

This is my favorite climb in the Organs. The triple overhangs had to have been a spectacular first ascent. The FA was done with the belayer around the corner, out of sight of the leader. The final pitch hanging belay on the slab beneath the overhangs was put in later.

Great climb, once the nasty >2 hr approach is behind you. Crux for me was pulling past the p3 piton, which seemed harder than 5.8. Exhilarating is a good way to describe the end of p5 (fun). Hanging belay below p6 consists of 2 ¼” bolts that can be backed up with gear.

How are the bolts on the hanging belay. I am planning on climbing this route in April, but I have never done a hanging belay and hanging off of two old 1/4 inchers seems kind of sketchy. What's up there to back them up? If there are a bunch of cracks, are they good? If so, why the bolts?

The hanging belay isn't truly a 'hanging' belay, if that's defined as an anchor where you're fully weighting the bolts and there are no other options on a purely blank vertical face. I recall it as a ramplike setting, pretty exposed, with decent options for backing up the bolts with gear; we had no problems there.

It's the rappel stations in the south descent gully that will get your attention though. The first consists of a rusty pair of ~5/16" (?) bolts (which can be backed up for the first descender). The second station is a newer single ~3/8" bolt, which can also be backed up for the heavier person going first.

Great route though.

Thanks Chris. Our date got pushed back and we are now set to go in a couple of weeks. One more question though: due to the extra long approach -- and previous visits have shown us that we can about double the times listed to get to the base of most Organ climbs -- I'm hoping to go as light as possible, and I'm wondering what pro is essential to the climb. Our rack is pretty large and contains doubles in some of the mid sizes (BD .75 through #3). With that in mind, is there need for us to bring a #4 on up? Is there placement potential for a BD 4, 5, or 6?

there are a few hard parts on this climb but nothing a 5.8-5.9 leader cant handle. In the decsent gully on the south, the chains are hidden behind a big slab, once you get to the bottom of all the bushes in the gully follow the stream bed all the way down until it is a straight down cliff, the chains are right on the edge

approach on west side involves brutal bushwack for miles, east side approach might be doable but i have not tried it.

East side approach would be okay to the top of Big Windy Canyon, but the descent through the canyon to the base of the climb is pretty brushy (but at least not as much cat-claw).

This is one of the easiest approaches and descents in the Organs. We just walked off the backside and down Big Windy Canyon in the 50s through 70s. I noted a really big black rattlesnake on a boulder right along the descent around 1969 (it was cold and he wasn't doing much) and remarked to Bill Hackett that he shouldn't put his hand on the boulder. I received an end of the day blistering for BS'ing him and then he saw the snake. Of course we sometimes stumbled across the desert in the dark as we achieved what Dick Ingram would called "Organ Sainthood" e.g. 'to embrace the cholla and stumble flat onto the prickly pear.

Approach: from Aquirre Springs. Time to the Big Windy Canyon Saddle, below low horn 1, was about an hour. Down the canyon and to the base of the climb, another 2 hrs. Classic Organs bushwacking but from the east there is less cat claw to battle. One could probably do this fast but this our first time to approach Gertch.

Most of the pitches are around 5.7-5.8 but the last pitch had a 5.9 move or two, especially if you're shorter. The pitch descriptions on this page are spot on. 6 pitches is a good break to prevent rope drag. Communication can be difficult between 3 and 4 and 5 and 6. Good exposure and classic Organs climbing on mostly good rock.

Descent: Walk off the north side of Low Horn 1 back to the Big Windy Saddle to where we left our packs. Finding the trail was easier going down and we were back at the car in under an hour.

I think the west approach would be shorter if there was a trail and one didn't have to wade through cat claw.