I climbed Moonscapes with Steve Curtis last weekend and Kerry is wrong about some things. His description is enough to get you up the route but you'll be in for some real surprises, so stop reading now if that kind of outing sounds appealing to you!A note on the name: although listed as "Moonscape" in the Kerry guide, the correct name, according to Damon Williams, is "Moonscapes." This is a really spectacular and serious route, I give it three stars with the understanding that some will probably violently disagree with that take. I don't know anyone else who's done the whole route other than the first ascentionists, although Jim Scott told me he did the first three pitches and rapped after the crux, but it's certainly possible a few other parties have done it. It has incredible position on Babo's east face, with an overhanging crux pitch high over Lion's ledge and the wild valley below, and steep, thought-provoking climbing continuing up the exposed face above. The rock was pretty good even with the absence of traffic; the pro, not so much. Anyone who fancies him/her self a rock-solid 5.11 climber is welcome to give the overhanging crux pitch a whirl and reevaluate! I was thankful it wasn't my lead and question whether I could lead it at all.From Kerry's description, we thought the route would basically be over after pitch 3. Boy were we wrong! Pitches 4-5 had steep, sustained 5.9/10 groove climbing with rounded and insecure holds as the main features.Steve led the crux pitch (and did a brilliant job); here's the beta-intensive description he wrote for another site (don't click on the link if that sort of thing offends you).Edit: Steve's description seems to have gone down in flames along with the rest of rockclimbing.com, so here's a description from memory ten years later (it was, after all, a very memorable route). There are anchors on top of pitches one to three, although from hazy memory one of these might have only had one bolt? Locate the start by traversing Lion's Ledge past the spring and the obvious "Cougar Cave." The start is a little ways past Cougar Cave, look for a small broken buttress of rock with a bolt (the first bolt on Don's Crack) above it. The big gash of Don's Crack, which doesn't reach the ground, is about 100 feet further left along Lion's Ledge. Pitch one: climb easy rock to the bolt, then continue straight up past 4 (?) more bolts and a couple of gear placements to an anchor. 5.10 R, ~100-120 feet. You can also veer left above the first bolt to clip the second bolt on Don's Crack to shorten one of the run-outs, but this will create rope-drag unless you back-clean. Pitch two: move out left into a left-leaning undercling feature, then up following the vague crack system past two bolts all the way to a two-bolt anchor. This pitch protects okay, still a little spicy in places. 5.10, 120+ feet (?)Pitch three: the money! move up right of the belay and clip a bolt, then move up and left into the obvious, thin undercling. Load it up with marginal gear, then move up and left (scary .11- move), to two more bolts protecting more .11- laybacking. Reach a good stance with some good pockets for gear, then commit to the overhanging .11-/.11 terrain up and left (*not* straight up as Kerry says!), reaching a hidden bolt and eventually the obvious, right-leaning 4" crack (also 5.11, or at least feels like it since there's no real rest beforehand). Belay at the top of the crack (at least one bolt here, possibly two). A wild, steep pitch with plenty of climbing above gear and four or five distinct 5.11 sections, but mostly seems safe except for the initial .11- undercling. The total package felt like 11+, and the rock is mostly good. ~130+ feet? Pitch four: move up and right into a flared .9ish groove that's tricky to protect, but good climbing on good rock. I *think* there was an anchor at the top of this pitch but either way the belay spot is pretty obvious. Shorter pitch, around 100'. Pitch five: continue up the flared crack system through sustained.10-/.10 climbing with consistently tricky gear - offsets could be useful here, I can't remember if we had them. At the groove's end, finesse a path right and slightly up on .10 face climbing to a tree belay at the left edge of a bowl of sorts - be mindful of your second here as well. This is a great pitch on good rock, but fairly serious. 5.10 PG-13 or quite possibly R, ~140+ feet?Pitch six: it's over - romp up .7/.8 terrain for a full rope-length until you reach third-class scrambling where you can unrope and scramble to the summit.

Moonscapes

Humungous Woosey

Southeast Arete

Forbes Route (East Approach)

Don's Crack

Luca and the Fishes

The Fellowship

Sustained meat and potatoes crack climbing--with a couple of cruxy forays onto the face--up the most obvious line on Babo. The three-star rating is somewhat aspirational as the crack is very dirty (and when we did it, running with water the whole way). Nevertheless as the guidebook says, there is a lot of fun climbing on this route and the rock, once unearthed, is good. If it got a lot of traffic, this route might resemble a classic, but I can't imagine that happening. Still, it's very enjoyable with the right mindset, and it does get better the higher you go. I would say you want to be at least a solid 5.9 climber to do this route.I'm guessing the best time to do this route might be late fall before the first snow, as it is most likely to be dry at that time. Or perhaps late spring just before it gets too hot.The easy snow rating is seasonal :)Kerry's description is accurate, bearing in mind that the route does join the SE Arete at the notch.

This is a seldom climbed route. The location is one of the best on the peak. Hike up to the north saddle from the east. The route is 10 minutes from there (and to the wonderful springs on Lyon's Ledge). Bob Kerry's description is pretty good to get you through the general line and find the belays. However there are MANY small route variants and you must make constant judgement to go either a little left or right to make the climbing safer or easier. Good route finding capabilities are a must. We climbed it 24 May 2009 and I doubt it had been climbed for many years. Much loose rock precariously balanced. There were a few jungle ledges with ancient dead branches that we busted through. If a few more parties were to send it, knock off the remaining loose rock and "garden" the jungles it would become a real stellar route. Other than the occasional loose rock the overall stone quality is very good. As you move toward the top it gets better and better. 

  Descent - Rap the Forbes route then head east around the north end of Babo. Two more short bolt anchor raps and a steep hike back to the north saddle to pick up the packs for the hike to the vehicle. 

  To do this car to car in a day would be a nice endurance feat. It's easier to hike in late the day before and bivy at the north saddle for an early morning start. You don't have to hike in much water since the spring is year round.

A long, fun backcountry climb that has fantastic views and exposure!  The Bob Kerry guide gives it three stars. 

  Between the approach, climb and descent, expect to spend a long day on the rock.  Bring plenty of water and if you stray during the approach, climb, or descent (which is easy to do), expect to be in the dark and prepare accordingly. 

  Note that there is a tradition of taking I'itoi a gift at the summit.  If you are planning to take a gift for I'itoi, you might choose a gift that I'itoi can hand back out to stranded climbers. This might include lighters, waterproof matches, rain panchos, space blankets, flashlights, etc.  

Pitch 1

  Climb straight up.  The first 30 or 40 feet are 5.easy to a 5.4 bulge.  Pull the bulge and continue up the easy face.  There is a tree to the left that can be used as a belay/rap station, or continue straight upward to a large ledge and an easy 4th class scramble up another 30 feet in a chimney to a notch with a vertical wall section on the right and lots of exposure to the left. There is a solid dead tree trunk here that can be used as a belay anchor. 

Pitch 2

  Climb the verical wall (5.6) via stemming or using good foot and hand holds.  The few moves here may seem a bit tougher than 5.6.  The massive exposure to the left of the route also adds to the experience.  30 feet of climbing gets you over the vertical section and back onto easy scrambling to a huge ledge for belaying. 

Pitch 3

  Scramble up the 4th class chimney past a shady tree to a belay ledge with blocky rocks. 

Pitch 4

  A couple of 5.6 lieback moves early in the pitch yield to lots of scrambling for 120 feet to what Bob Kerry describes as a 'spacious' vegetated ledge.  Compared to previous ledges in the climb, this ledge is small, but roomy enough for 2-3 people.  This ledge can be used for a belay; however, continuing another short 25 feet left via a traverse brings you to two anchor bolts and skips the short 25 foot traverse pitch in the Kerry guide.  These bolts are a bit manky but there is good opportunity for placing pro and establishing a solid anchor here.  Belaying here also helps with rope drag on the next fun pitch. 

Pitch 5

  A fun 5.easy lieback pitch climbs up for about 80 feet at which point you move right and start 3rd class scrambling.  At that point, find any comfortable place to belay once you get to the easy stuff.  From here, continue 3rd class scrambling and bushwacking until you reach a notch or gap.  Move left along the notch and scramble down.  There is more awesome exposure here to the left and some may choose to be belayed down from the point to the notch. 

Pitch 6

  Easy face climbing from the left part of the notch for about 20 feet quickly yields to a scramble all the way to the summit. 

  In general on this climb, follow the path of least resistance and you won't go wrong.

This is the classic Forbes (Forbes-Montoya) route, as climbed in 1898 by Dr. Robert Humphrey Forbes, a professor of agriculture at the University of Arizona, and Lorenzo Montoya, after five attempts to reach the summit of Baboquivari. The climb consists of three easy roped pitches with scrambling in between.From the saddle of Thomas Canyon, head southwest up to the prominent notch.Pitch 1: 40 ft. This pitch ascends the chimney with a chockstone. Protection is sparse, but the climbing is not difficult. There are two belay bolts at the top. From the top, hike along the rock wall on your left to the south about 100 yards to a nice west-facing slab.Pitch 2: 150 ft. Climb the slab directly following the meager crack. The crack will take some small to medium cams, and nuts. The climbing is easy and a bit runout near the top. Belay at the two belay bolts.From the second pitch belay, hike right (south) and bushwhack through an oak forest for about 100 feet to get to the base of the third pitch.Pitch 3: 120 ft; 5.4. This is the famous Ladder Pitch. In the 1930s, the CCC installed a ladder at this pitch, as well as stairs at the Great Ramp on the west face to facilitate easy access to an observation tower at the summit. The ladder, stairs, and tower have long since been dismantled, but remnants of rusted steel and wood remain strewn throughout the route. The Ladder Pitch doesn’t protect well, although it is low 5th class. There is a pair of new-ish bolts halfway through the pitch and a pair of new bolts with chains at the top of the pitch, next to the tree that was previously used as the belay/rappel anchor. Belay from these bolts.From the top of the Ladder Pitch, head right (west). Climb a short chimney with a chockstone, entering a gully with scree and light vegetation. Turn left at the gully, following the gully up toward the summit. As the gully system weakens and opens up, stay close to the wall on your right and continue the scramble to the summit.For descent, carefully retrace your steps and rappel all three pitches. Be careful when you are routefinding on the way down. It is easy to descend into the wrong gully when leaving the summit. The oaks can hide the edges of the cliffs. These gullies invariably end at sheer cliff edges. 

note, as an important part of the adventure the pitches will be described briefly. The first 4 pitches have seen a "no beta" second, thus parties should be comfortable on Babo aid before attempting.

  pitches 1-3 lead through chopped arch roof and to the left corner of large roof section ("Dreams" skirts to right of this feature). pitches 4-5 lead to a pendulum into the Fellowship's crux free pitch (the 5.9R section of Luca). FA party refused to drill on Steiger's "tour de force" and instead the leader ended they pitch by tying off to a bush at his feet while the second jumared the leaders waist loop. The following pitch (5.8X) leads into a 5.10 corner tree pitch below the "bowl" on the Spring route and joins for the balance of the wall. 

  hole count p1 = 6, p2 = 4, p3 = 2, p4 = 2, p5 = 0, p6 = 0 total = 14

 note, as an important part of the adventure the route will only be described briefly.

  the route begins out of the tree above the bivy with mixed hard free and hard aid climbing. The pitch beginning about a full rope length above lion's ledge is the free crux of the route. This extremely long pitch has the crux near its end without any quality gear below you. This climbing was the culmination of the duos efforts some 25 years ago to push new grade 6 routes up a the largest wall in Southern Arizona. Without rope failure a deck fall may still be possible from this point. After the completion of this pitch, the route soon joins "Dreams" for a pitch before branching off to the summit via its own line.

up to 1000' east wall which tops out just below true summit of Babo's peak. Rock varies from bad to "french bread",to decent. Southern AZ's only grade VI walls. While climbing can be done all year round, the dryer parts of spring and fall are the best. Summer can be very humid and dangerous with monsoon lightning common.

Description

Location

Protection

Routes in East Face