We make an evening outing to this climbing area on the Rio Grande outside of Santa Fe. You have to drive through a suburb to reach it, and a I make a big, confused loop through it, somehow ending up driving back the way we came without realizing it. Finally we figure out we have to turn onto the dirt Buckman Road for eight miles of washboard. The drive is rewarded by a remarkable sight of volcanic columnar stone remnicient of devils tower jutting out of the desert to form Diablo Canyon. We hike the short approach, gawk, then seek out the easiest sport climb (there are both sport and trad routes here). Ann gets on it, and is accompanied by lightning and thunder. I still have hopes of climbing too, but then the rain comes, a torrential dump of raindrops as big as grapes. We get soaked and bail, but look forward to returning.
4 responses to “Diablo Canyon”
Do you have a picture of the volcanic cone? Sounds like a neat formation…
It’s not a cone – the columns form the walls of the canyon in the picture. Unfortunately my other pictures were all blurry due to low light, but Ann got a couple of shots.
Wow, these spots all sounds so wonderful! I had no idea there was so much climbing just to our south. I hope you’re picking out the best places so we can head down there every weekend this winter!!
Have you thought about integrating Ann’s pictures into your posts? Her camera is really nice, and her shots would really complement your text. Plus, I think your lens is getting a bit hazy there Dylan.
I respect Ann’s “friends only” picture sharing, so I just link to her Flickr pics from here. I do need to re-ink the scratch on my lens, thanks for reminding me!