Climbing Advisories and Closures 2024 (Protection of Nesting Birds of Prey)

[waldo]

Note; Tecate would be served and no one would ever have to wonder again where's Waldo?.

My wife would appreciate being able to keep track of me, but it has to be at least a six-pack to keep me around.

[clink]

 Buzzard bait? Isn't that a real possibility if something goes way wrong for a solo adventurer at pinns? Do vultures eat fresh meat or do they like it ripened?

[mynameismud]

some are pre-ripened.

[Gavin]

Hey Gang -

Just a heads-up that the advisories have been mostly lifted for the year. All areas are open for climbing, except for the the Hawkins Peak area that includes Tuff Dome, H&L Dome, Frothy Flake, and Corn Flake. We have a peregrine falcon pair in that area with a very late nest effort (after a first nesting attempt that failed earlier in the season)... Assuming that nest remains active through the heat, the young should be fledging in early August.

Otherwise, all other areas are open for climbing!

[JC w KC redux]

Thanks Gavin.
Anything to add to the 4th thread?

[F4?]

Cool!

[Gavin]

Hey All -

The peregrine falcon young fledged successfully from the Hawkins Peak nest in the Flakes area north downslope of Tuff Dome, so all closures have been lifted for the year.

Despite temps of 100+ degrees most days, we have had some decent mornings with fog or high overcasts leading to climbable hours early in the days. Mostly hot weather, though... But I'm sure some folks (like JC) will be out here regardless!

[JC w KC redux]

sweet! thanks for the update Gavin. clink and I will be back in the area looking for the ultimate Pinns FA soon

[Gavin]

Hey All -

Yep, it's that time of year again: advisories go into effect today, January 20th, 2015. I updated the list at the beginning of the thread, so check it out and let me know if you have questions.

In a nutshell, the usual, start-of-season advisories are in effect. A few areas that are open that you might not expect: the north end of Balconies (from Digger north through Nexus/Sexus and Stiletto); all of Gargoyle, Piedras Bonitas, Neglected Valley, and Knuckle Ridge; Western Front; and all of Frog and Hand.

I mailed out advisory handouts to gyms, etc. and accidentally listed Piedras Bonitas and Gargoyle as sensitive. Folks reading here can disregard that and climb out there if you're interested. Thanks!

[mynameismud]

Thank you for the update!

[mungeclimber]

Thx Gavin.

[JC w KC redux]

Nice Gavin - thanks!
We were up at The Fins one last time yesterday and down in the depths of The Arcade the day before.
I'm especially excited about The Western Front remaining open as I have been wanting to get back out there while temps are cooler.

[Brad Young]

Gavin,

Thanks as always.

BTW, as you may have heard, they had a very unusual closure at Joshua Tree last season for raptors. Given the nest's location, they theoretically should have closed half of Hidden Valley Campground (to give enough space to the birds). However, rather than face an armed rebellion of climbers, they brought the closure line right up to the edge of camp. I haven't heard how the nesting went.

Since we don't know what happened, I hereby volunteer to continue researching this subject on your behalf. I will selflessly go to Joshua Tree starting late next week. I will research this until I have some answers, even if it takes a full week (or more) down there.

[JC w KC redux]

Since we don't know what happened, I hereby volunteer to continue researching this subject on your behalf. I will selflessly go to Joshua Tree starting late next week. I will research this until I have some answers, even if it takes a full week (or more) down there.

Thank you for your selfless and generous sacrifice and devotion!

[Brad Young]

Thank you for your selfless and generous sacrifice and devotion!

It's a long tradition with me.

[Gavin]

Interesting about J-Tree... Do you know if the nesting raptors were flacons? Any photos of the location, in the context of the campground? If you do find out if the nest was successful, that would be worth hearing about, too.

[Brad Young]

Interesting about J-Tree... Do you know if the nesting raptors were flacons? Any photos of the location, in the context of the campground? If you do find out if the nest was successful, that would be worth hearing about, too.

This was in early April of this year, when we were there for a family week of camping/climbing. They had only just discovered the nest (we saw them putting up the closure signs that late in the breeding season, which is why I asked).

The climbing ranger told me it was specifically falcons - I think. I know it was raptors It was in an area on the north side of Hidden Valley Campground called The Outback. Closing part of Hidden Valley Campground there would probably be less well accepted than closing Discovery Wall would be here (seriously). They apparently didn't even consider it.

She seemed genuinely surprised (it seemed that they'd never had issues like that there before). I would be curious to see how well the nest did given the huge (!!) traffic of climbers and campers that would still have been fairly close to the nest site.

BTW, if you're curious too, the climbing ranger's name is Bernadette. She's quite friendly considering the hordes and hordes of climbers she deals with. She posts to supertopo and you could contact her through that site (or just try her first name followed by ".gov" or some such maybe?). Obviously she could put you in touch with the correct biologist type people.

I'd love to hear the outcome and you'd probably get better information from them than I would.

[Brad Young]

Yeah, I found Bernadette on Supertopo in three seconds. She posts under "Freecoffee." (In the bigger climbing parks the climbing staff does free coffee for/with climbers on most Saturday and Sunday mornings.) Type that in and you'll be able to contact her through her email through that site.

[JC w KC redux]

She posts under "Freecoffee."

I like carrots!

[clink]

Tunnel routes are on Chaos?