San Diego County Climbing Guide (2nd edition)

Dave Kennedy and Chris Hubbard , Deadpoint Press, 2006

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• **this guidebook is out of print, but can still be found online***

Dramatic cliffs with soaring multi-pitch climbs, steep, featured boulder fields too numerous for even the most prolific problem-solver, and sport routes on par with anything at Owens, Josh or Red Rocks. Oh, and the best climate in the world. Where can I find such a place, you ask? San Diego County, that's where. Overlooked and dis-missed by too many for too long, recognition of the many fine areas spread around the county is perhaps finally at hand.

Rock climbing in San Diego has developed and matured over the past two decades, much as climbing has done around the country. While the county's reputation as mostly a bouldering area may remain in place, word has slowly crept out about the many great lead routes that exist in the vast backcountry expanses. With nearly 2000 routes dispersed over 4000 square miles, it's easy to see that part of the difficulty of climbing in SD is just getting to the crags. The county is mostly dense shrub-covered hills with stands of forest here and there, while a good-sized chunk of real estate is pure desert. Some significant areas require either a long drive, long approach or 4WD, or all three. But those who bother to look beyond the boundaries of familiar coastal areas like Mission Gorge, Santee or even Mt. Woodson are rewarded with wonderful spots like Corte Madera, Dos Cabezas, Valley of the Moon, and El Cajon Mountain. Many smaller but worthwhile areas dot the landscape as well; this book will describe 40 distinct, legally accessible areas, both the mundane and the magnificent.

Urban San Diego has become increasingly densified, maybe qualifying more as America's finest traffic jam than anything else, but the outlying regions of the county, where the best climbing is found, have not been affected to a great degree and it is the natural elements more than anything else that pose the greatest challenges for climbers. For years climbers complained about the difficulty in exploring new areas due to the thick, often impenetrable brush, but the sobering reality of the October 2003 wildfires, and in particular the Cedar Fire (largest in state history), proved how tenuous our ability to climb is.

Most of the rock in the county is granitic in nature; exposed portions of the huge batholiths of nearly solid stone that permeate much of the subsurface of California. Over time, erosion and uplift bring some rock aboveground where it is weathered and further fractured, sometimes creating cliffs several hundred feet high.

In San Diego the climbing is generally on the boulder-laden hills seen throughout the county, and on a few larger cliffs that sit high above canyons. A type of metamorphosed stone, ancient and water-polished, is found at Mission Gorge and a few other coastal areas, while some of the backcountry formations have exquisitely featured granite patina hardly seen anywhere else.

Although its reputation for fine weather is well-justified, this applies to the city of San Diego and not necessarily the county, which heats up quickly as one moves inland. This makes for wretchedly hot summers at some areas, effectively closing down a good portion of the local climbing. Stalwart souls still brave the conditions during most of the year, but this takes its toll, so the wise local seeks the cool summer shade of Mission Gorge mornings or even the Ocean Beach Pump Wall. A few areas receive afternoon shade and a late day session may be your ticket to summer paradise. Local climbing hits stride by fall when cooler temps open up many fine areas and by mid-winter, when very little climbing may be found anywhere else (Josh in January? You could get lucky!), San Diego is peaking with mild days often piling up one after the other. Storms do blow through here, so the unprepared climber may be surprised when fair coastal weather gives way to downright harsh backcountry conditions.

The other main objective hazards are probably rattlesnakes and mountain lions. Respect them. Avoid them. Ditto for poison oak (except the respect part).

Included:
- Culp Valley
- Cougar Crag
- San Marcos Quarry
- Twin Oaks
- Lake Dixon
- Rancho Bernardo
- Twin Peaks
- Lake Poway
- Pomerado Boulders
- Lake Ramona
- Poway Crags
- Pump Wall
- La Jolla
- Mt. Woodson
- Rexrodes
- Mt. Gower
- San Diego River
- Mission Gorge
- Santee Boulders
- Magnolia
- Otay
- Bonita
- Wildcat Canyon
- Mt. Helix
- Twilight Zone
- El Cajon Mountain
- Descanso
- Stonewall Peak
- Shadow Crag
- Lower Pine Creek
- Lawson Peak
- Sunrise Boulders
- Glen Cliff
- Corte Madera
- McCain Valley
- Valley of the Moon
- Dos Cabezas
- Cliffs of Insanity