Has Anyone Ever Climbed in Dead Horse Meadow in the Whites?
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I was just hiking up in Dead Horse Meadow this weekend, and found a lot of stuff that looks like it would make for pretty good climbing. The meadow is at about 7,500 feet elevation on the east side of the White Mountains and is pretty remote, so I've only ever seen hunters there, but it seems like some climbers must have been there at some point. Either way, I think I'm gonna try to figure out a few routes, but please let me know if anyone has heard anything about it. Or if you feel like finding some first ascents of your own, I can give you directions so we can develop it a bit. Here are some pictures I took. |
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That first tower with what looks like a sweet hand crack is super crumbly (just go to the base of the crack and you will see what I mean - rock disintegrating, cams won't hold type crumbly), and there is also an eagle's nest on the left side of the face. We called it the Sentinel because it guards all the rock around there from climbers (since it's so crappy)... |
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Thanks for the info. I figured someone must have been there a bit. I'm a student at Deep Springs, so Dead Horse is closer than any of the stuff in Bishop for me. I actually first noticed the area on a cattle drive. I'm putting together a short climbing guide for Deep Springs and the surrounding area, just for the students here, and Dead Horse is one of the most promising spots so if anyone has any info on nice lines that would be great. I've found a fair amount of decent routes in the area, but also a lot of total crap. If you're worried about blowing up the spot, I figure its enough of a pain in the ass to get to to begin with, and Deep Springs only has 26 students so we couldn't crowd it if we tried. Thanks for the email as well. |
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Cool, Deep Springs is a fun spot. In spring I've parked near the Caltrans buildings (sort of near the school) and biked up to Westgard, up along the White Mountain road (past the locked gates since it was a bit early season), then down Wyman canyon - of course you have to time it right so you don't get TOO much snow on the ride! |
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One of the routes we did in Crooked Creek a few summers back.
I will email you with more info as soon as I get home. Cheers, Kevin Mokracek |
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Just a few more pictures. |
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Sweet photos Ben. Been up in the cottonwood creek area twice in the past couple of years. Mostly for scouting and did a bit of climbng (mainly 5.7-5.9s all short <40') Love the area (mainly becasue it is so remote and quiet). Looking to get back up there this summer. We found some interesting larger rocks down near the base of cotton wood creek, but didnt climb them. How are the conditions so far? |
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Some of the stuff Kevin is posting is getting quite a ways from the college time-wise, you could get to Owens faster (even though it is pretty close to Deep Springs). You're probably looking for cragging in the Dead Horse and Crooked Creek areas (namely up by the Deep Springs cow camp, not sure if that is still in use). If you are living up there you could potentially cross-country from Dead Horse or the cow camp, but I think Kevin has climbed some of the formations along Crooked Creek much closer to the cow camp. |
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The cow camp is still in use. Met some of the hands last year. Surprising since the shacks look about ready to fallover. Thanks for the beta photos. |
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Ben, keep up posted...that is a beautiful, wild area. I made a couple of trips back in there 10 or 15 years ago but never did any climbing. |
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Greg, |
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I doubt it, there tends to be a snow patch near the top that sticks around longer than you think. It's actually really annoying even on mountain bike (and even when pushing your bike), there's no easy way to get past it, you end up slogging/postholing through it then down through some small aspen, then back up to the road. But the old Silver Canyon road is generally snow-free (for the biking descent) even when the patches on the new road are pretty good sized. |
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Thanks guys, that should give me something to do this weekend. I'll try to post an update soon. |
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Another thing you could check out is the narrows in Wyman Canyon. Looks like you could climb a few steep face routes in that area, depending on where the creek is channelled (they've bulldozed the road in various spots over the years) and if you could get to the top to set up anchors. Super easy access too, you might literally end up belaying on the road. |
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Yea there is some pretty cool looking stuff in Wyman Canyon, as well as some surprisingly good fishing. It just snowed about a foot here overnight, so I probably won't be going climbing, but I've already gotten in some good skiing. I'll have to wait a while to update on the climbing. |
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Ben, |
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The narrows in Wyman has pretty good rock. I scoped a few lines there that look to be worth doing even if they are a little short.... |