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(K) Rabbit Rock
New Mexico
> Jemez Mountains…
> Upper E Fork (UEF)
Description
Shady in the morning until about 12:00 for the belayer. It is right off the road--just a few steps from the UEF parking lot. Because of the slabby nature of the wall, the rock is as good as most Jemez rhyolite but has a good bit of lichen on it. It should clean up with traffic, though.
Getting There
If you are coming from Los Alamos on highway 4 towards Las Conchas, the parking (and wall) will be just over a mile before you get to the Las Conchas area.
Park at the small paved lot at the trailhead for trail 121--this is the same parking area for Upper East Fork (UEF). The wall is about 20 yards to your right from the parking.
[Hide Comment] This is the obvious fin of rock just northeast of the parking area for Upper East Fork so I've added that information to the "Getting There" information as most climbers will know it better that way. According to a long-time Los Alamos Mountaineer, Ken Ewing and the LA Mountaineers climbed on this rock, and Battleship Rock, for training climbing in the 1950s. I'm told the rock was originally called Rabbit Rock so I've changed the name here from Crag 121 to Rabbit Rock.
I climbed the line up the crack/flaring crack on the right side a decade ago on gear with my friend Mark. We simul-rapped off the fin, with one person on each side of the fin. It was a fun 5.7ish line and the rock is quite good albeit very lichen-encrusted.
I really hope the bolts/hangers/chains are painted to be camouflaged since this is right next to the highway and is seen by loads of non-climbers.
Jul 6, 2016
[Hide Comment] I stopped by the crag this evening to paint/camouflage all the plated steel hangers and ring anchors. Things are a lot more muted now. I'm a fervent advocate of always pre-painting hardware in areas of high non-climber traffic. I've used rustoleum brown spray paint for years and it seems to hold up very well. In cases where the hardware is in-situ, I use a cardboard stencil I cut out a couple years ago that does a decent job of blocking overspray.
George Perkins wrote:This whole situation is curious. Jason and the other people who bolted and climbed at Upper East Fork walked past this formation and made a deliberate decision to not bolt it for the last 10 years. Now it's been bolted at a PG-13 rating (whatever that means) and the hangers are repainted, by one of the main UEF bolters, but he didn't goso far as to remove them. If a subdued presence is best (I'm not convinced this is an issue..) the climbs ought to come down entirely. Is there a value added to the area by bolting this crag? Or did the UEF developers overlook a jewel? Why is camo-ing metal bolts that you could see by squinting over a steel guard rail and a metal fence more important, than at Monster Wall which now clearly looks like a trashed out sport crag with permadraws and dozens of bolts yet fishermen and hikers still go through there like they used to 10 years ago when the area was pristine? To make clear: I'm not trying to be a jerk to Jason or Randall or the UEF climbers, just asking the honest questions. Thanks for painting them, appreciate new crags and the efforts of putting up new climbs, I love Monster Wall and go there often and have a great time. I may change my opinion as I climb them. Looking forward to it, and, yes, I'll climb them anyway even at PG-13.
No offense taken as I had nothing to do with the development of this rock. But you can't just be a jerk and say "I'm not trying to be a jerk" to make it all better. I do think it's important to always paint hardware and especially important in areas where the highest non-climber traffic takes place. Clearly, a highway has a very high volume of non-climber traffic thus my strong insistence the hardware should have been painted as soon as possible. Therefore I made the trip up there to paint the hardware soon after the bolts were placed.
I think chopping/removing bolts is pretty inconsiderate (downright lame, really) so I didn't even consider that action. I've seen a few parties enjoying these routes already so clearly there's some value-added. I'm stoked to see some more easier, accessible routes established for others to enjoy.
Monster Wall doesn't look like a "trashed out sport crag" to me. I wouldn't mind seeing the chains on the routes swapped out for slightly cleaner looking painted cable draws, though. Many, if not all, of the bolts at Monster Wall had been painted previously and maybe could use a touch-up if you're so inclined to make it look less like a trashed-out sport crag.
Jul 24, 2016
[Hide Comment] Nice wall. Dont worry about the haters. Thanks for the development. Formation could definitely take more routes. Ps they are not pg13 and well bolted.
May 25, 2019
[Hide Comment] This little rock should get more credit, it has some fun and thoughtful climbs and a great warm up before heading further into UEF. Very close bolt spacing too. Glad I finally stopped to try these.
Aug 18, 2024
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Los Alamos, NM
According to a long-time Los Alamos Mountaineer, Ken Ewing and the LA Mountaineers climbed on this rock, and Battleship Rock, for training climbing in the 1950s. I'm told the rock was originally called Rabbit Rock so I've changed the name here from Crag 121 to Rabbit Rock.
I climbed the line up the crack/flaring crack on the right side a decade ago on gear with my friend Mark. We simul-rapped off the fin, with one person on each side of the fin. It was a fun 5.7ish line and the rock is quite good albeit very lichen-encrusted.
I really hope the bolts/hangers/chains are painted to be camouflaged since this is right next to the highway and is seen by loads of non-climbers. Jul 6, 2016
Los Alamos, NM
In cases where the hardware is in-situ, I use a cardboard stencil I cut out a couple years ago that does a decent job of blocking overspray.
Albuquerque
Los Alamos, NM
No offense taken as I had nothing to do with the development of this rock. But you can't just be a jerk and say "I'm not trying to be a jerk" to make it all better. I do think it's important to always paint hardware and especially important in areas where the highest non-climber traffic takes place. Clearly, a highway has a very high volume of non-climber traffic thus my strong insistence the hardware should have been painted as soon as possible. Therefore I made the trip up there to paint the hardware soon after the bolts were placed.
I think chopping/removing bolts is pretty inconsiderate (downright lame, really) so I didn't even consider that action. I've seen a few parties enjoying these routes already so clearly there's some value-added. I'm stoked to see some more easier, accessible routes established for others to enjoy.
Monster Wall doesn't look like a "trashed out sport crag" to me. I wouldn't mind seeing the chains on the routes swapped out for slightly cleaner looking painted cable draws, though. Many, if not all, of the bolts at Monster Wall had been painted previously and maybe could use a touch-up if you're so inclined to make it look less like a trashed-out sport crag. Jul 24, 2016
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