Level: Expert - Grade IV 5.9
Max Group Size: 2
Season: Fall thru Spring
1100' of Rock Climbing, Scrambling, Rappelling, Hiking, Mountain Summit
After climbing the Caesar Augustus you'll feel like the king/queen of Joshua Tree National Park! And rightly so! This is, by far, the biggest climbing objective in Joshua Tree. While the vast majority of this climb is spent on the rock, think of this as a mountaineering objective with the summit of Ryan Mountain (5457 feet) as the final goal. This is a HUGE day, involving technical rock climbing, rappelling, scrambling, and hiking to achieve 4 different rock summits, and a mountain summit. Even though the rock climbing is not terribly difficult (5.8/5.9 max), this is considered an expert level climb because we need to move fast!
About the Caesar Augustus Climb
We start this climbing adventure by blazing up the Saddle Rocks Triple Linkup. The end of this climb deposits us on the dirt about 300 yards from the base of the seldom-climbed, 300-foot-tall Cowboy Crags! This obscure rock climbing adventure takes us up remote terrain, past the 5000' elevation mark and into a different band of rock- gneiss. This dark, striped, multi-colored rock actually overhangs about 35 degrees, and is covered in huge hand holds! You'll feel like a true Caesar when you pull the overhanging hero mantle onto the summit! But the adventure is still not over- we bushwhack directly uphill another half mile to the summit of Ryan Mountain, where unparalleled 360 degree views await the intrepid climber. We take the Ryan Mountain trail all the way back down to a different parking area, where we have already shuttled a car to (because we are clever guides who think ahead!). You'll sleep well tonight, and you might want to schedule a day of sitting by the pool tomorrow!
Groups of 1 should expect a HUGE day! Groups of 2 need to move EXTREMELY fast to finish the climb. Contact Stone Adventures to verify that you are up to the task!