Cactus Connection  5.11b

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Type:  Trad, 3 pitches, 360 feet Consensus:  5.11b [details] FA:  Blake Herrington, Chris Weidner April 4, 2012 New Route:  Yes Submitted By:  Chris Weidner on Apr 15, 2012 You & This Route  |  Other Opinions (1) Your todo list: Your stars: Your rating: -none- [change] Your ticklist: [add new tick]

BETA PHOTO: Looking down on Cactus Connection from Cactus Flow...

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Description 

Cactus Connection is located on the far right side of the Aeolian Wall, about 100 feet below the notch between Cactus Flower Tower and Mt. Wilson. It is the rightmost route on Mt. Wilson. As the name implies, it's a spectacular finish to any summit route on Cactus Flower Tower. The crux second pitch is superb and easily makes this route worth doing.

From the summit of Cactus Flower Tower scramble and downclimb to the notch between CFT and Mt. Wilson. The final move involves a leap across a chasm (belay recommended). Rappel 70 feet to the east off a small tree to a flat area beneath the northeast face of Mt. Wilson.

P1: Traverse left through talus and trees aiming for the base of two parallel and splitter thin cracks. Climb a short, steep section to a small ledge with a tree and a wide, left-facing corner. 5.6, 100 feet.

P2: Ascend the offwith corner for about 30 feet until it is possible to face climb left toward a bush and the base of a thin, right-leaning crack. Jam the finger crack to a stance, then leave the widening crack for a perfect hand crack eight feet to the left. Follow this to a stance in a chimney/pod and belay. 5.11b, 130 feet

P3: Climb the right-facing corner and the crack on the right to a ledge beneath a brown, right-leaning corner. Step left around an arête and follow a curving crack and blocky ledges to the second of two pine trees and belay. Small gear useful. 5.10a, 130 feet

Wander about 600 vertical feet to the summit of Mt. Wilson, climbing several short and exposed fifth-class sections along the way. (45 minutes)

Location 

Descent: Walk west, veering slightly left the whole time. When the rock changes to limestone, angle down and right passing several gullies. The third or fourth gully allows third-class access to Oak Creek Canyon with one short rappel off a tree with an in-situ rope. 3 hours.

Protection 

1ea: cams #00TCU - #4Camalot
2ea: cams #1TCU - #3Camalot

Photos of Cactus Connection Slideshow

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Blake downclimbing toward the notch.	Chris bridging the chasm between CFT and Mt. Wilso...	Blake eyes the crux finger crack up and left from ...
Just below the tight finger crack.	Chris near the top of the second pitch.	Chris leading the third pitch up thin double crack...
Blake on one of the scrambly "boulder problems" en...	On top with the summit register and high winds.