Then we switch to another tower, Ride the Wild which is a 65-70 feet high majestetic pinnacle.
Jack leads and sets up protection -- the route is a 5.8+/5.9. This route is very interesting, not really that hard but has an 'airy feeling' and some hard looking negative sections. At the top I realize I'm expected to rappel down, without previous practise in years. The rappel is breathtaking, and I'm glad Jack sets up a backup belay.
On the Ride the Wild we are in direct sunlight, and the rock is very hot. My finger develops a bubble; I'm not quite sure if it came from the friction or from the painfully hot rock. We head towards a more shadowy area for the afternoon. We enter the Euro Dog Valley, the location of a famous yearly Arizona bouldering contest. This time we are more in the shades of some trees and bushes, and we stop for lunch at the bottom of the canyon where even a small stream runs.
Jack says he saw a rattlesnake here earlier. I can't see the ground from the bushes in all places, and I continue to worry. Finally we enter the Head Wall which is also visible from the access road. It is a place with extremely hard routes, 5.13 and beyond, and many of the routes haven't been climbed yet. I choose lesser routes, such as the dihedral Binder. The high, partially negative wall and crack feels much harder than the rated 5.3. I use chimney techniques to get forward.
The second route in this place is the Battery Pack (5.8). At this time of the day, I'm having problems with the fingery style, and the lack of good foot placements. But I make it up, finally.
As a final route of the day, I climb a variation od the Battery Pack to the right (5.8-).
As we exit the Queen Creek Canyon area, I long for additional climbs such as the ones deep in the canyon. But we head up back to Phoenix...
Next day we went to the Himalays and met The Praying Monk.