Climbing Reports

Travel using both feet and hands, whether scrambling unroped or technical climbing using rope and anchors.

Bob Thompson and Montezuma Peaks, Arizona, November 2020

December 14, 2020 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

On Monday, November 30, I joined five other members of the Southern Arizona Hiking Club for a climb of Bob Thompson and Montezuma Peaks. These peaks lie in the Huachuca Mountains south of Sierra Vista, Arizona. It was my first club climb since Linda and I returned to Arizona for the winter.

The Southern Arizona Hiking Club has established “Covid Rules” for club hikes which precludes carpooling. So the six of us each drove up Ash Canyon and parked beside the primitive road.

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Broken Top, Oregon, September 2020

October 5, 2020 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

On Wednesday, September 30, Bob F. and I climbed Broken Top, just southeast of the South Sister in Deschutes County. Broken Top is an extinct Pleistocene stratovolcano that last erupted about 100,000 years ago. It has been greatly eroded during subsequent ice ages and has steep ridges of resistant but dubious rock. Broken Top still possesses two diminished glaciers, the Bend Glacier on the northern slopes and the Crook Glacier in the southern cirque. It is the 23rd highest peak in Oregon and the 56th most prominent.

Broken Top from the summit of South Sister (2020-07-14)

This was my fourth climb of Broken Top, my last climb in August of 2003. Bob had only climbed it once before, when he was in middle school in 1971. It is interesting how distorted memories become after the passing years. Clearly remembered landmarks on routes may not exist, unexpected ones appear, or easily climbed pitches seem much harder on subsequent visits. It was time to return for both of us.

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Twin Mountain, Oregon, July 2020

August 8, 2020 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

On Saturday, July 25, I climbed Twin Mountain in the Elkhorn Mountains northwest of Baker City. Twin Mountain is one of “Oregon’s 100 Highest Peaks“, a list first published by Jeff Howbert in the May 1996 issue of Pack & Paddle magazine. Peaks on his list have at least 500 feet of “clean” prominence (rising at least 500 feet above any saddle connecting it to anything higher). I know of three people who have climbed all 100 peaks, Pam Otley, Jay Avery, and Troy Baker.

Twin Mountain rising to the east from Peak 8428 in July 2012

The High Cascades include many of Oregon’s highest peaks. These fueled my original interest in climbing and I focused on them for many years. In 2007 I started working on my remaining Oregon’s 100 Highest Peaks, making slow but steady progress on these peaks over several years. Thirteen of the 100 peaks lie in the Elkhorn Mountains northwest of Baker City; as of 2015 I had climbed twelve of them. The last one, Twin Mountain, rebuffed my exploratory 2015 attempt due to difficult access. Since then it had been easy to defer returning to try again as I became distracted by Oregon’s prominence peaks. It was finally time to return.

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South College Peak, Arizona, April 2020

April 29, 2020 by Paul McClellan Leave a Comment

On Wednesday, April 15, Linda and I camped at the Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area north of Douglas, Arizona. We had the camping area to ourselves. It was not the season for Sandhill Cranes, but we enjoyed walking between ponds listening to the Yellow-headed Blackbirds, seeing Snowy Egrets, and watching the frogs watching us from the edge of the ponds.

North (L) and South (R) College Peaks from Arizona Highway 80

My goal the next day was to climb South College Peak, the highpoint of the Perilla Mountains of SE Arizona. That morning I drove east from the town of Douglas on Arizona Highway 80 and found an access road that led to the north side of College Peaks. I parked on a primitive road leading towards the peaks.

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