Upper Alamo Rock Ridge Miniguide

Generally speaking, the Alamo Rock Ridge refers to a broken spine of rock comprised of about 20 spots to drop your pads and try some things if you continue far enough down the ridge. This miniguide will cover the upper "half" of these problems. The boulders and walls of the Alamo Rock Ridge run north-to-south for 500 hundred yards towards Gregory Canyon approximately 100 yards east of the ridge of rock that includes One-Arm Rocks, Crown Rock, Pratt's Rock, The Monkey Traverse, etc. When complete, this miniguide should comprise about 45 problems, about the same number as the miniguide for Lower Alamo Rock Ridge. Alone or in combination with Lower Alamo Rock Ridge and/or the Candel Area, this is a great place for a circuit of easier to moderate problems on good stone away from other climbers and user groups. You'll see other parties here sometimes, but it's definitely away from the masses that seemingly can't escape the gravity of The Monkey Traverse and the other popular and more social areas. If you have a good head, there are some fun highballs with good rock to jump on ... this an excellent area to log some mileage. There are a few things back here that are clearly topropes, which could be bouldered out/free-soloed and I'm sure a couple of the more historical ones have. For the most part, I will ignore those and you can look them up in one of Pat Ament's 5 editions of High Over Boulder if you are interested.  Where: Head up Flagstaff Road. 1.6 miles past The Armstrong Bridge (located at the hard right hand turn at the bottom of the mountain), park at the Crown Rock Parking Area on the left or the dirt lot 75 yards further up the road on the right. Walk past One-Arm Rocks and Crown Rock, then turn left and follow a nice path away from the masses that trends southeast to the upper reaches of the Alamo Rock Ridge. Major features that will initially come into view include Pump Rock, The Rib, Alamo Rock, Navajo Rock and the Erasable Boulder. All of the problems covered in this miniguide are scattered on and around these boulders. Read the descriptions and use the photos to identify problems in this area and see the miniguide for the Lower Alamo Rock Ridge for the problems down the hill.

More to come =)