Cañon Tajo Exploration
by SCMA Member Dave German

Cañon Tajo, located in northern Baja, is a beautiful remote climbing area. The rock quality is similar to Joshua Tree. The area is smaller than Joshua Tree in area, but within a couple of square miles are literally thousands of potential climbs. So far only several hundred have been put up. There are about 8 or 10 domes in the area. There are a number of bolted lines and numerous crack lines. The climbing generally ranges from about 5.7 to 5.12. Routes lengths are from ½ pitch sport routes to big wall climbs on Trono Blanco (grade V). Moderate multi-pitch routes of about 3 pitches are available on several of the domes. The area is well worth a visit. The SCMA, coincidentally, has a trip upcoming to this area in the spring.

We set off on Monday, November 22, 1999, intending to do a week’s exploration of the much talked about, but not well documented Cañon Tajo and Trono Blanco. It takes about 2.5-3 hours from the house to arrive at the campsite. Our memories prove accurate and using the crude hand-drawn maps available isn’t necessary. We arrive in the late afternoon and set up camp before dark. We cook dinner and turn in early, since it’s quite cold (35 F or so). The plan is to get a moderately early start and try to hit a new area each day, to get the best overview of the area we can in our time here.

Tuesday, we get up around 7:30 and eat. We head for the Library wall and Electrocution, one of the southernmost formations. After a lot of diligent scrambling and 3^rd class climbing (up to 5.4), we are near the Library wall. It looks exceedingly difficult and our beta says the routes start in the 5.10+ / 11a range, so we head a little further on to the more moderate Electrocution area. Much more scrambling over huge boulders and we arrive. The routes prove excellent. We climb 7 routes, ranging from 5.7 - 5.10+ and note several more. Most routes are safe leads. The routes are mostly bolted, with some natural gear. Several cracks, suitable for climbing, are nearby. As the day comes to a close, we decide to take the much more obvious route down the slabs. It leads to a trail marked with ducks and back to camp in a much more benign fashion than our approach.

Wednesday, we again are up around 7:30 and head up to another new area Diamonds and Rust. This area is on the Farewell Dome just north of Bell Dome. The initial approach is heinous. Large boulders and bushwacking predominate. We spot 3 routes, which appear to be 10+ or 11- and move on along the face. They look good, but hard. We arrive at the main area a short while later after more 3^rd class scrambling. We spend the day climbing routes, which prove to be either easy and very run out (2 bolts / pitch) or exceedingly difficult (5.11+). There are a couple of jewels in the 5.10b range, however. Three crack routes are noted, although not climbed. They appear to be between 5.6 and 5.9 or so. One three pitch 5.7 route leads to the top of the dome. The routes are set up to walk off, since the top anchors have no provisions for rappelling. We head back to camp by the direct route, noting a semi-trail most of the way.

Thursday, we decide to further explore Farewell Dome. We climb up the semi-trail noted the previous evening and head for Farewell to Arms (a classic 5.10b crack). We spend most of the morning scrambling around the dome in search of routes. We note a beautiful dihedral on the south face with rap anchors, but of unknown difficulty. Nearby is a moderate crack climb too. We look across to the north face of Bell Dome and note several nice lines for future exploration. Finally, we return to our packs and eat a bite. I set off to cleanly lead the climb. Twenty feet up, I realize I’m not there yet. I am hanging on my pro, TOO nervous to make the next move without a rest. Two hangs and I am up. Judy seconds the route. We leave a top rope set up, since I intend to try to lead the fearsome looking arete nearby. It proves to be about 5.11b. I re-climb Farewell to Arms to set up a top rope after being unable to lead above the last bolt. The route proves doable on TR, but exceptionally hard. We spot a final difficult route around the corner on a white dike, but daylight is fading.

Friday, is day to explore Trono Blanco. We have decided not to do any of the long multi pitch climbs due to the short days and the very difficult approaches. We carry our climbing gear and cache it near the south east face of Bell Dome, intending to climb after a short stroll to the top of Trono Blanco. The route is well marked, but still difficult. Four hours later, we sit atop the Pan American route, exhausted from difficult scrambling for what seemed like an eternity. We note lots of cached water from previous big-wall groups and some gear. It stays put. The hike out is much shorter after lunch. We stop to get our gear and quickly climb a couple of moderate slab routes (5.8 and 5.9). Both prove excellent and reasonably safe leads. Each route is two pitches.

Saturday dawns and two San Diego climbers drive by, the first humans we’ve seen all week. The give us some beta on a great crack climb on Bell Dome and the face climb called Guts to Open (5.9). Judy and I talk about climbing it on Sunday. We set off to explore Facial Expression Dome and Desperado Dome. We, again, pick a horrendous scramble and bushwack to approach, later realizing we could have used a trail. The routes here prove excellent. The first route, an apparent 5.9, proves exceptionally difficult and shakes my confidence. I am sketched all the way up. Two more beautiful pitches to the top make for a fine route. As we rappel, we realize the opening pitch we climbed wasn’t the Facial Expression (5.9), but a 5.10c variation. We climb Marigold 5.10a and note several other nice routes. This area is mostly bolted climbs from 5.9 to 5.12 around the corner. A nice 5.9 crack is one option for the second pitch of the route we did. We resolve to return to this area to climb more. We hike down to visit a couple of nice, but short 5.8 climbs Windjammer and Silent Partner. Both look good, but time is running out. We scramble onward to Desperado Dome and make short work of Nuts to Face (5.9 crack, then 5.7 face). It is a nice climb. The nearby climbs are all difficult. As we hike out, we note the exception lines of moderate climbs to the far right of the dome. A two pitch 5.10a dike looks excellent, as do two nice 5.7 and 5.9 crack climbs. Here too, we must return.

Sunday, our last day, is already here. We set off to climb the recommended crack on Bell Dome. The trail is good to start, but turns to large boulders and difficult scrambling, as usual for the area. Knowing the approaches to the climbs makes a significant difference in the approach difficulty level. We arrive at the base and see a chimney looming above. "Uh-oh, that doesn’t look good", but the San Diego climbers indicated it was an excellent route. I scope out Guts to Open, which looks fun, but is rated R/X at the start. Several other mid 10 routes are available nearby. They look well bolted. The climb proves to be continues chimney climbing for 250+ feet. Pro is available on the first pitch, although sporadic. The second pitch has no pro, unless one climbs out on the face to clip three bolts about 15 feet left of the chimney. It proves a scary lead. The third pitch has a beautiful 5.7 traverse under a roof and easy climbing to the summit. We have a nice lunch on top. We decide not to rappel back to the canyon we came in, but to the other side, down a 5.10 route called Nijinski. The usual difficult scrambling gets us to the rap station and down we go. We elect to re-climb the last pitch, since we missed it last time we were on the route. We finish rappelling and hit the ground by around 3:00. We hike back to camp and ready ourselves for the drive home.

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