Frog  Photos:  Recent | Best | Popular Page Views:  739. Good page?    Administrators:  Aaron Hobson, Jason Halladay, Anthony Stout, LeeAB, Tom Erickson Submitted By:  Chris Wenker on Sep 14, 2009 Make this area a Favorite What's New   Print a Mini-Guide with routes Add Route  Add Photo  Add Comment  Add Event

Ribbit?

Description 

This 450 foot granite fin, one of the most westerly crags in upper La Cueva Canyon, is dwarfed by Yataghan to the north and Chaos Crag to the east. The crag is mentioned in Kline (1970:27) and Hill (1993:144), but no topos are published. Presumably all the established routes ascend the western face.
The FA's passed by a frog (toad?) in a crack on their ascent, hence the name. Hill also points out that the profile of the summit block, when viewed from below the west face, is also frog-like (or just as easily could be a Guinea Pig?).

Getting There 

Approach: From the Crest, hike down the La Luz trail, past all the switchbacks, to the creek crossing (marked by a steel trail sign; about 1:00 hiking time). You are near the southern foot of the Frog formation. To approach climbs on the western face, continue west ca. 50 yards to a rock slab adjacent to the north side of the trail. Scramble up this slab and hug the base of the cliff as you continue north (same as The Happy Gnome approach). After a couple hundred yards you reach the gully that separates the Frog from the Yataghan, farther north. This gully is guarded by a huge chockstone with a big cave underneath. The West Ridge route starts near here.
Descent: After summiting, walk north off the summit ridge (a few Class 3 moves). Hill says to then descend back to the La Luz trail by bushwacking south, down the gully on the east side of the crag, but that’s crazy talk. Since you probably left your water and packs at the western base, you can just as easily rock-hop down the loose Class 3 gully that leads west, between the Frog and Yataghan. Do a 40-foot rap off the chockstone at the bottom of the gully to land next to the cave.

The Classics

Featured Route For Frog

West Ridge 5.7  NM : Sandia Mountains : ... : Frog

This obscure little gem is hidden in Kline’s (1970:27) and Hill’s (1993:144) guidebooks, without even a topo. In summation: mostly excellent rock + fun, sustained climbing + no fixed pro + a cool summit = a minor local classic. Both BrianH and I thought that this was one of the best 5.7’s we’ve climbed in the Sandias (in our limited experience). Hill says it’s four pitches, Kline implies five. We got up in three with a 60m rope, but you could make it four with variations. ...[more]   Browse More Classics in NM