Wheeler Gorge??

Has anyone climbed at Wheeler yet?

Still closed. Expected to open sometime in February. No access between ojai and Lockwood valley. 

I drove up to Wheelers yesterday from Ventura. The 33 is open.

Made it up to Wheeler after I got off work this morning. See previous post about the anchors for more climbing related stuff.

Keep in mind where you’re standing around, I wouldn’t hang out at the base of the gully by Economique. You can tell a lot of shit came down from there.

The approach was cleared up a lot by rushing water/mud. Several boulders on the approach have been moved around but with all of the new mud that’s in there the approach got a little easier, not that it wasn’t easy already.

snapped a few quick pictures of the only real noticeable differences of what may or may not affect your climbing experience, it’s not bad at all

I guess there’s a little bit more mud there

You can see the creek got a little closer to the trout farm, so I guess there’s a possibility of getting your rope wet. (Yer gunna die)  

Merry christmas, the bottom of that 5.12 is dry so climb it.

Jeff....   thanks for the update. 

Am I dumb to reserve campsites for June? Also having never camped there, does each site really only accommodate 1 car as recreation.gov seems to suggest?

alex carey wrote:

Am I dumb to reserve campsites for June? Also having never camped there, does each site really only accommodate 1 car as recreation.gov seems to suggest?

I hope not. I have a reservation in two weeks. IIRC the site had parking spot lengths and said that a second car costs an extra $10 a night.

Anyone been up more recently and know how the conditions are? Are the bottom bolts safe?

I haven’t been down in the canyon since the fires but have driven by and talked to others that have been there. Most of the cobble side I’d say is in good shape. Blue shcist should be good. Be skeptic on the sandstone wall. Fires came down that wall pretty good. Also, Mikes fully up above was hit pretty hard with the fire. Be cautious all around for loose debri from the fires and recent rainfall.