Penitente Canyon

Has anyone been to Penitente recently? I am wondering what the weather will be like Mem Weekend. I haven't ever climbed here...Thanks!

Be sure to hit the less popular routes in Penitente and surrounding areas. *** and ** routes always get a bit greasy from everyone doing them over and over and over. I have climbed in the San Luis Valley since 1993 and have found some of the routes that are skipped over in the guidebook to be outstanding. Why? Because you get to climb a route that very few people have climbed and you really stick! Think you can push your numbers on classics at Penitente? Try a route that no one raves about.

My favorites: Mr. Breeze (without hands)5.2, Maybe Nueve 8+/9-, Ms. Cool 5.9, Banana Slugs in Heat 10b, 10,000 Maniacs 11c, Brown Sugar 11b, Alien in My Underpant 11b, Bucket Slave 10b, Twist of Feet 11d, Mission in the Snow 11d/12a, Reptiles, Lust, and Dogs 11b, Jewel of the Mild 10c, Children of a Lesser Grade 10c, Thanks for the Huecos 11a, Mysterious Redhead 11a (stout), Concupiscient Curds 10b, and anything in the Rock Garden facing south on a winter day, plus late spring afternoon in Witches.

Don't miss the excellent bouldering possibilities on the S***house Boulder that is the pit toilet in the Penitente parking lot. Don't throw rocks in the hole up top.

Just spent some time there this last weekend: First time there in probably close to 10 years. I was amazed at the construction, organization, and overall appearance of the area now. There used to be only a handfull of established camp areas just outside the entrance to Penitente (where the big picnic area now sits). I always camped away from there, on the road that leads South West from the pay area. Even though I couldn't get a camp site, I was very impressed with all the work that has gone into this area, including Witch's Canyon. So, to all of you who put in their time, sweat, money, or what-have-you.... THANKS!!!

We stayed last weekend in Del Norte at a place called La Casa Bonita. Its right next to the Organic Peddler which sells coffee beginning at 0900. If you want a good Mexican dinner Sylvestre's on the main drag in Del Norte is fabulous. Be sure if you aren't camping to check out the sunsets-its unreal...as is this area.

Cool place for the FLC climbing Club, get ready for off roading (leave no trace of course!) if you want to camp. It can get cold there at night..Great routes, place of great memory for me and climbing there. I remember a crazy 5.12 or 5.13 there with some great rocky holds. Good luck, make it there if you have a chance!

Some friends and I from the Durango area have been developing the bouldering in the Penitente-Witches cutoff... it's nice, with aretes, slabs and walls up to v10/11, several projects remain, plenty of highballs that will hopefully never see bolts... e-mail wuquan12@hotmail.com for info on new(?) bouldering there... have fun

We ran into Bob D'Antonio here a couple of months back. Even though my friend Scott thought he was supposed to be a lot bigger, he is still a very cool and friendly guy. Thanks again Bob and friends for all of your work here. We absolutely love Penitente, and are big fans of your routes, both here and at Shelf Road. We saved you some tea, Bob, but you never came back that night. Was it the halo around the sun, or did that tree start moving again? Just kidding, man, we really do believe your story. Penitente is a mystical place where anything can happen. Let me know when the clean-up is going to be. I definitely want to help out and give something back to this place. But if I hear any screaming coming out of the canyon, I am outta there!!

Does anybody know what these routes are named or rated (see photo: http://www.leachfam.com/old/05_28_05gg.jpg)? The climber is on a route that starts in the lower left of the photo and follows the crack up to the anchors directly above the belayer. There is also a bolted route that goes from the belayer straight up to the anchors. Neither of these are in D' Antonio's guidebook. They are just to the right of route #94 in D'Antonio's book (page 26).

Thanks,Andy

We found a tick on our baby boy this past weekend in PC. It's the first I had heard of ticks there, so look out.

It was a really busy weekend with lots of folks out enjoy the great climbs.

Yup, we also found a tick here, in late March of this year.

Just a warning:

Last weekend (5-7 May), a BLM Law Enforcement Ranger was at Penitente on Friday night handing out $50 citations to people who had occupied a campsite without filling out the form and submitting the money.
For example:
My friends had the envelope completed with money in it sitting in their car, and had merely yet to put the envelope in the slot; they got fined.

I felt a little betrayed by this guy. He had the gall to tell us that "we depend on climbers to support this canyon...if climbers don't pay, we can't run this place." This is offensive on many levels, but mostly that we were unable to get through to him that if they indeed depend on climbers, then citing us is not the way to motivate us to support them.

I have been coming to Penitente since the good old days when there were no designated sites, and no fees. I put up with the "improvements" even though I disagree with them. I've always paid the fee that I disagree with, even in November when there wasn't another soul in sight, and I could easily have gotten away without paying. Then this guy sneaks around on Friday night handing out tickets without mercy.

I can't stop climbing here...I love it too much, but I'm really considering camping elsewhere; at least until I've recouped the $50.

Apparently the BLM (or perhaps just this ranger) has decided they would like an adversarial relationship with climbers, which I think is a shame, considering that from my point of view, climbers have behaved themselves pretty well in the SLV.

Mike wrote: just a warning:

Last weekend (5-7 May), a BLM Law Enforcement Ranger was at Penitente on Friday night handing out $50 citations to people who had occupied a campsite without filling out the form and submitting the money.

Mike...he was just doing his job. There are many places to camp around Penitente that don't cost money. Most of the money from the camping in Penitente is used to off-set the cost of mantaining the area.

A small price to pay when think about what you are getting in return. Great climbing, fixed hardware, trails, bathrooms and beautiful views from the upper camping sites.

I have put a lot time into the area and have no problem with paying the site fee when I am there.

I agree, Bob, that it is a small price to pay, which is why I have always paid. However, some times I get in late and I just wait until Saturday morning to walk back to the entrance kiosk to put in the money. In all my time camping all over the country, I've never seen a ranger hand out tickets on Friday night. That is unreasonable.

It seemed like this guy had an axe to grind.

If his intention is to "motivate" us to pay our camping fees, then I'm sure he'll appreciate me warning everyone about the fines. If his intention is to increase revenue through fines, then I object to that, so either way I'm doing the right thing by posting up.

How many bolts did the BLM give you guys?

I'm going to have to agree with you guys on the offensive actions of this Ranger. He came into our campsite last Saturday night with a really crappy attitude. First of all, he demanded to know why we (a group of 6 18-19 year olds) didn't have any alcohol in the camp. We replied that we didn't, but he was still really skeptical, and I believe he was on the verge of searching our coolers and all. I found this really offensive that he would automatically assume that we had alcohol, as we were a bunch of kids. Furthermore, he made me search for my payment receipt for like 20 minutes even though he had all of the actual pay-slips in his truck. After I told him I couldn't find it, while explaining the whole time that I had paid last night, he mentioned that it might be in his truck. Well, I found it there in his stack of forms, but he still didn't believe me, and I had to walk him all the way back to my vehicle to prove to him that it was the same plate number I had registered. Us college students get such a bad rap. We were probably the least disruptive group in the whole campsite, but he chooses us to question the most and was really quite rude. He even showed up again in a few hours to make sure we weren't drinking. What's with that? It's like he expected us to be breaking some sort of rule, and then took his frustration that we followed the law out on us. We respected the campground, the rules, and the other people, but where's our respect? If the climbing hadn't been amazing, I would have been fairly disappointed by the whole experience. But next time I think we'll stick to some place with much less people.

Mike and Scott...I would call the local BLM office and let them know about your experience.

Sounds like he was a little aggressive.

Mike...the BLM was great when we did a lot of work on the trails and put the bathrooms in. That was in the late 80s to early 90s...maybe a whole new crew there now.

There appears to be a direct correlation between the amount of funds raised at a fee area, and the quantity and agressiveness of the folks bent on collecting the fees. How often do you see uniformed USFS, BLM or NPS personnel conducting trail work vs. collecting fees?

Not sure what the solution is. I would recommend you do anything you can to avoid paying the fees. The more you pay, the more they will seek to increase the fees and the penalties for failing to pay; the more funds they will have available to hire 'law' enforcement personnel. This is not a coincidence, and it's not a conspiracy theory. It's simply US Government tax policy.

In this case, it seems that you ought to camp elsewhere. It may be a pain, but I assure you if ALL users stopped paying, they would stop paying the salary for an a$$whipe ranger to enforce payment. I suppose on the other hand they may just start charging for day use.

Any suggestions on free camping in the area?

I actually haven't paid for a campsite since the fine. I've almost recouped my $50. Once I've recouped, I'll go back to camping there. In the mean time, I've been camping in between the RG and Penitente. There's a little dirt road on the left that has nice camping. I think you could also probably camp just about anywhere around Witches Cyn, Sidewinder Cyn, Penis rock, etc. My understanding is that on BLM land camping is allowed unless otherwise posted, and all that area is mostly BLM or National Forest.

Funny how some of you cry about having to pay for graded, maintained campsites and trails with restrooms, and covered picnic areas, and water, and patrols to keep your stuff somewhat guarded and to keep the rowdy groups away so that you can rest peacefully at night.
If your shit was stolen or you were kept up all night by partying baffoons, or the asthetics of the area were ruined by graffiti (which the Rangers help to stop and clean up when they can't stop it) you'd complain about not enough local enforcement, right?? Like the recent thievery in Eldo where climbers are now wanting more Ranger patrols.
(Fact is older teenagers are usually the culprits).
The Rangers would much rather be doing other duties that are of more benefit to the environment. . . unfortunately, those who don't pay for their maintained camping sites are (one of) the exact reasons why they patrol so much!!
If you don't want to pay for the services then camp elsewhere ya damn cry-babies!
Apparently you like the benefits of maintained campsites. . . .
Of course those of you who are complaining are probably the ones who like to party t/o the night and dig thru other peoples shit w/o care for the other users of the area. Nothing ruins a trip more than inconsiderate jackasses who need to be confronted and at times engaged.
Thanks Rangers!!

Whatever, Cameron, did you actually read the comments above? Sounds like that ranger was being a real dick for no reason. Most of us don't have problems with rangers, just assholes. When assholes have badges and guns, they're even less fun to deal with. So, remember to thank that ranger again next time you get harassed for no reason.

Look, I'm in no fear of rangers and their tickets. . . because I pay. However, if I didn't pay, and was cited, then I sure wouldn't be bitchin' about it.
If you don't want to pay, camp outside of the grounds - a no-brainer really. If you want the benefits of the maintained grounds, then penny up.
If you care at all about the health of a high-use environment, then you'd understand the benefits of a patrol - and the fee.
People are destructive. . . it's the rangers job to keep destruction to a minimum.
And BTW, you only read 1/2 of the story here - obtain the local ranger's half and you'd probably understand the area's perspective more clearly (and maybe this contact in particular).
Also, the biggest (and lamest) trick in the campground book is: "oh, I have the money in the envelope in my truck. . . I just forgot to drop it in the slot".
It's rare that I stay in pay-site grounds, but when I do, I expect to pay (as I did recently at Penitente - and it was well worth it).