The West Forbes/Montoya Route on Baboquivari
The primary motivation behind this webpage is to describe the great day I had hiking and climbing with Mike. It had been a while since Mike and I had gone on an adventure and we had a great time climbing Baboquivari. This webpage is also intended to provide local and non-local readers with enough information to determine if they want to do the same route and to provide some logistical and photographic information to help facilitate that decision. Finally, the webpage also decribes the technical aspects of the climb in order to prevent undertrained hikers/climbers from attempting a route that, although rated only 5.6, is very challenging and can be deadly. On that note...
Hardware Update: I received the following report from Jim Holmes on June 14, 2004:
I was out there on Saturday (6/12) and did the route. You'll be happy to know that a very nice two bolt (3/8"SS w/Metolius hangers) belay station has appeared two feet to the left of the 6-8" tree normally used for belaying the pitch.
From what I have read in Bob Kerry's guidebook and other webpages, you can obtain a permit at the district office for a nominal fee. There is a sign approximately two miles from Baboquivari Park that clearly states that a permit is required in Baboquivari Park. I received a recent e-mail from Eric Wakild describing some of the problems he encountered on his return trip to Tucson:
Before I got back to Sells, Border Patrol pulled me over and checked my car for weapons/drugs. The interesting thing is that they told me that I couldn't be there (driving on this road) because I wasn't Native American. They referred to a white sign about 5 miles south of Sells that says something to the effect of the land being off limits to people. They said they could call the Tohono O'odam Police Dept. and they would confiscate my car.
I received an update from Gary Sax on March 21, 2005. He provided some additional information on obtaining a permit from the district office:
The district office is open only M-F but I called them and they were very helpfull in processing a permit for us via fax. They accepted our promise to send a check for $10 (and I did send it). The tel# for the Baboquivari district office is 520 383 2366. The fax is 520 383 4622. I dealt with Darlene and she was very helpful.
I met Mike at 6:00 in the morning at Broadway and Wilmot. We shot out to Sells and headed south. Nine miles south of Sells, we blew past the turn-off. We were looking for a "Baboquivari Park" sign that all the guidebooks talked about. It has either been taken down, knocked down, or we are blind - any of which is possible. There is a district office on the southeast corner of the turn-off and it didn't take us long to find the road. We were looking for a very nice, well maintained dirt road and we quickly found it. After turning east onto the road and driving about ten miles, we reached the desert oasis - "Baboquivari Park".
When we arrived at "Baboquivari Park" on Monday morning, it appeared completely abandoned. It was a nice place, but it looked like it has seen better days. We didn't pay any fees for using the park (nor did we look very hard to find someone to pay fees to). If you are going to be ethical about using the park, I would recommend stopping at the district office and talk to them / pay fees for using the park.
We hit the trail about 8:00 in the morning. There is a small sign in the back of the park that says "Trail to peak" so we took that trail and headed towards the peak. After about five minutes of hiking, we heard a helicopter and saw one landing on the summit of Baboquivari. We guessed that someone had been stranded all night and was being airlifted off of the peak. Believe it or not, it turns out that the helicopter was dropping off climbers on the summit so that they could work a new route on top-rope. They were climbing above the "Great Ramp" when we arrived there about 11:00 - working things out from above.
The trail from Baboquivari park to the summit is a great trail - not your typical climber's trail or bushwhack. It appears to have been made by the CCC and has a gradual, sustained grade all the way to the peak. There was only one sign on the trail (see photos below) and no mileage estimates. Once on the trail, take the right fork at any intersections. In the climb report by Nick Kuhn, Nick says that it is about four miles to the "Great Ramp". Our estimates put the "Great Ramp" at about six miles. We left at 8:00 and arrived at the "Great Ramp" about 11:00 and we hiked at about a two mile-per-hour pace. (Note that I received an update from Gary Sax on March 21, 2005 regarding the distance and elevation: My estimate of the distance of the hike is just over 4 miles. I thought it a great hike but it does climb a lot (my altimeter showed 2600') and my guess is that your speed estimate was off because of the load you were carrying. We made it up to the base in just over 2 hours and we were not doing almost 3 mph. )
Mike hasn't done much climbing and it became apparent when we hit the "Great Ramp". Initially, he was not comfortable with the climbing associated with the "Great Ramp". He managed to make it up the slope, but there was talk of putting him on belay or rappelling on the descent. As the day wore on, however, he became more comfortable with the heights and we did get through the "Great Ramp" on the descent without roping up. If there was an easy place to set up a belay or rappel, I probably would have set up one up on the descent on the "Great Ramp".
The weather was a big concern before we started the climb. It had been raining almost every day for the previous week but it looked like things were finally starting to clear - at least we were hoping it would clear. Mike had consulted the newspaper and he said that the weather forecast for Monday had a cloud with three lightning bolts coming from it - this was not good. However, when we started the day, it was fabulous. A bright clear morning with no signs of clouds. But after about two hours of hiking, the clouds started building up and we began to start wondering if the weather was going to hold.
When we reached the "Great Ramp", the sky was overcast and the snow-melt from the previous week of foul weather started to become apparent - in the shadows of the peak, things seemed rather gloomy. On the ramp, snow-melt ran off of the rocks above and rained down on our heads. In places, it was literally like moving through a rain shower. When we made it up the "Great Ramp" and got into the trees, we started hitting snow patches. Mike took a brief break in anticipation of the climbing and I looked for the Ladder pitch. I found it in a couple of minutes and it was soaked. The entire pitch was wet with the snow melt.
If you have been around climbing very long, you know that the Leeper hangers have been recalled. In the June 2004 "Rock and Ice" and "Climbing", there are a full page recall advertisements by Ed Leeper. The advertisements say, "95,000 Leeper hangers were made between 1962 and 1984. Maybe 20,000 to 40,000 are now still in place and look O.K. But roughly 200 to 400 have cracks in the steel that seriously weaken the hanger - mostly too small to be seen by a climber who clips in. Each year some will fall apart, while others begin the slow cracking process. At least 100 are weak enough, right now, to break even in a short fall." I didn't see any cracks in this hanger - but then again, I did stop and do a visual inspection. I just figured it was another worthless bolt to clip.
I had heard a lot about using the old ladder hardware on the route as protection by tying them off with slings. When I came to the first piece of ladder hardware above the Leeper hanger, I thought I would do just that. It was poking out, perpendicular to the rock, so I reached over and tugged at it to see if it was solid. It spun around in the rock. It was less than I had hoped - just an old steel rod loosely sticking out of a drilled hole in the rock. I thought "Screw this..." and I took off for the tree with slings.
I carefully climbed the route and moved up next to the tree with slings hanging off of it, sitting on a small ledge next to it. I had read in The Nick Kuhn's climb report that this was the single anchor, but it didn't look very good to me. The sling was tied to the small, overhanging tree which was approximately six inches in diameter. There wasn't a good stance below and there was nothing to tie in behind. I was cold and wet and I didn't feel comfortable there, so I had Mike put me back on belay and I started climbing again. From there, I climbed another fifteen feet to a ledge or platform where I was able to stand up, walk around, and get the circulation going in my hands and feet. The ledge was huge and it felt great being there. It had several small trees in the back so I started setting up the belay on the ledge. I tied into the small trees, sat down, braced my feet against a rock at front of the ledge, and prepared to put Mike on belay (update on new anchors).
Mike was climbing in hiking boots and the rock was wet - not a particularly good combination. I had previously told him that if he had problems, just hang on the rope - which he did. I also told him that no matter what, keep working his way up and I would lock off any slack that appeared in the rope - which I did. The belay was solid, he kept climbing, I kept winching, and after about ten minutes, he made it to the ledge. He was wet and miserable, but his enthusiasm was high - he could smell victory.
We left the rope on the ledge and headed south. We scrambled up and over a small saddle and then headed down. After a short distance, we came to a place where there was a large chockstone and we climbed up and around it. It was easy going to the summit from there. I have been to the summit of many Arizona mountains, but reaching the summit of Baboquivari on that Monday was a great experience.
The descent from the summit follows the same route as the ascent. When we reached the top of the Ladder pitch, my initial thought was to put Mike on belay and have him climb over to the overhanging tree with slings. But he didn't have much, if any experience at rappelling from the top of climbs. He was wearing hiking boots, it was wet, and there is some serious exposure getting over to the tree (see death warning above), so a belay was absolutely required to get him over to the tree. My thought was that once I belayed him over to the tree, I would move over to the tree with him and set up the rappel. From there, first he and then I would rappel to the base of the pitch.
Once I got Mike on belay, however, I realized it was going to be much simpler and safer if I just lowered him to the bottom of the climb instead - which I did. When he reached the bottom, and was off belay, I set up the rappel on the tree and off I went. We only had to use the tree once - for the final rappel. The rappel was uneventful but when I reached the bottom of the climb, the rope was soaked. Water was running down the rope like a river and right into my crotch.
When we got to the top of the steep part of the "Great Ramp" we started talking about setting up a rappel or a belay, but Mike decided to go for it. He had been through a good batch of climbing during the day and it didn't look as formidable on descent (in other words, he was ready to get the hell out of there). I had a hard time keeping up with him as he descended the steep section of the "Great Ramp".
 | To get to the west approach of the Forbes/Montoya route, take Highway 86 to Sells. In Sells, turn south on the Business Route. After about one block, the street dead ends - turn right. After about five blocks, there is a sign for Topawa - turn south and head to Topawa. After nine miles, you will reach Topawa. Turn left on a good dirt road at the Baboquivari Waw:Giwulk District Office. Drive 10+ miles to "Baboquivari Park" - bearing to the right at the intersections. Note: evidently there used to be a sign by the district office that pointed out "Baboquivari Park" - it has been removed. |
 | Mike is ready to go at "Baboquivari Park". Although nice, the park appears to be in a slow process of decay. It looks like it was probably very nice in the middle of the twentieth century, but has seen very little maintenance or improvements since then. |
 | The trail head in "Baboquivari Park". |
 | The sign marking the trail to Baboquivari. It says "Trail to Peak" - that is it. It is very minimalist - in stark contrast to the signs you see in the National Park and Forest system. |
 | The only other sign on the trail - even more minimalist than the other sign. The sign had broken in half and Mike put the broken half on top of the post. Take a right at all trail intersections. I would say take a right at this sign, but I don't think it is going to be there much longer. |
 | A view of "Baboquivari Park" from the trail. I love Arizona. |
 | Mike heading up on the trail. This is a very good trail - not a typical climber's trail. My guess is that it was built by the CCC and it was very well engineered. It meanders around quite a bit, but has a nice, steady grade. |
 | Baboquivari from about two miles away. The "Great Ramp" is the diagonal line that runs downward from left to right. |
 | Mike hiking through a desert forest on the way to the peak. |
 | A view of Baboquivari and the "Great Ramp" from the base of the "Great Ramp". |
 | Another view of the "Great Ramp". The "Great Ramp" is a fairly serious obstacle on the path to the summit. If you are a climber with good, sticky rubber on your shoes it isn't very challenging. If you are a hiker with hiking boots, not familiar with heights, the "Great Ramp" can be very challenging. Either way, you don't want to take a tumble down the slope. |
 | Old ladder hardware on the "Great Ramp". |
 | Wet rock. The snow was melting above and it seemed like we were standing in a mild rainstorm below. |
 | The ladder pitch. It was wet with snow melt and a blast to climb. The hands were numb and the feet were soaked in about ten feet. In this photo, you can barely see some of the ladder brackets and the tree used for rappelling (look for the tree with a yellow sling around the trunk). |
 | There are two old bolts on the ladder pitch. The first one is a 1/4" bolt with an SMC hanger. It did nothing to inspire confidence. |
 | The other bolt - a Leeper hanger fastened with a button-head. Note that Leeper hangers were recalled because they cracked with time and this one looks like it has been there a long time. |
 | The tree used for rappelling. This tree didn't look very good. I only used it for the final rappel. If you climb past the tree for about fifteen feet, there is a really nice, level platform with some medium sized trees in the back that can be used to create an equalized belay (update on new anchors). |
 | Mike heading south above the belay platform. |
 | Mike at the summit. Note the red thing at the left - I am guessing that it was dropped off by the helicopter climbers. |
 | Bob on the summit. |
 | The summit cairn. A friend of mine said that people leave a gift for I'itoi when they reach the summit. There is a wide variety of stuff around this cairn including photos, climbing slings, flutes, etc. |
 |
I told Mike that we needed to leave I'itoi a gift. We were not prepared to leave gifts but Mike dug through his pack and found
an Ace bandage and he tossed it on the cairn. I said, "Mike, you need to show some respect for I'itoi and present your
gift to him", so he got on his knees and presented his Ace bandage to I'itoi. For a guy who doesn't have a religious bone
in his body, his presentation was inspiring.
Later, I dug through my pack and found a butane lighter for I'itoi. I casually laid it on top of the cairn. As I did this, I heard a voice from behind say, "Bob, you need to show some respect for I'itoi and present your gift to him." So it was my turn to get on my knees... |
 | Summit view to the west. |
 | Summit view towards Tucson. |
 | Where's Waldo! When we started hiking in the morning, we heard a helicopter and saw one landing on the summit of Baboquivari. We thought maybe someone was stranded overnight and was getting airlifted out. However, when we got to the "Great Ramp" there were climbers working a new route above. From all appearences, the climbers were air-lifted to the summit by a helicopter and were working a new route on top-rope. |
 | Mike had heard that the Tohono O’odham people leave shrines in the caves around Baboquivari. This was the only one that we saw. |
 | Mike on the trail out. |
 | Mike in the Ocotillo. |
 | Adios, I'itoi. |