A Windmill to the West

This is part 2 in a series of posts on the Sky Island Traverse – previous post: Sky Island Dreaming, next post: Gates into the Green. From Cochise Stronghold the Sky Island Traverse travels west to Highway 80 and then on to the San Pedro – for this section we departed from the published route…

Climbing Moby Dick

The day began with a long drive down a deeply rutted dirt road into the far reaches of the Cochise West Stronghold. I swear I have car-narcolepsy; sometimes no matter what the circumstances, I completely bonk out in the passenger seat, and this was happening to me as the truck bucked down the road: despite…

Open Climbing Season at Cochise Stronghold

Chris tries to tell me what to expect on the fourth pitch: when my quads will start to burn in the layback, the point where I won’t be able to see my gear placements, and when I’ll be far enough above my last piece that I’ll just have to gun it to better ground. I…