Friday, January 17, 2014

Cochise Stronghold, Benson, AZ

Our time at McKinney Falls State Park came to an end.  after nearly 3 months in one area we were quite anxious to move along.  So we made 3 500 mile days leaving TX and finally stopped in Benson, AZ for a little climbing and exploration.

In the Dragoon Mountains, part of the Coronado National Forest, we came across an area called the Cochise Stronghold.  Lots of options for exploring this historical area, but lacking a lot of time we chose to try our hand at rock climbing.

I recall stopping on the road to the climbing area, I was only going about 15 mph.  Thinking to myself that I was not aggravated at the slow pace.  While stuck in traffic in Austin I would feel tense, here, I was completely relaxed, even though the rate of travel was about the same.

New area so it took us a little while to explore out the climbing routes. Here is Barbara letting me know that I should bring the lunch up.

Of course once we got the climb underway she was pretty excited about the whole thing.  Here she is "feeling alive".

Her feelings where a little short lived, her rope snagged on her final rappel.  She got stuck about half way down.  We had to safe her in on a climbing bolt while I rigged a rappel from the top and cleared the rope.  All done in a safe manner.   Just a little unnerving when you are hanging on the side of a cliff and you can't go down and you can't go up.

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