OPHIR CANYON: GANJA WALL

 

Overall:

Ganja wall is in Ophir Canyon. I just took all my kids here by myself to explore and it turned into a great climbing day for them. This is a great area with some easy climbs for kids, great camping, and harder climbs for you. 8 of my kids (ages 4 to 12) all climbed up at least part of the 5.8. Some of them topped out easily. I discovered when I came back to this area LATER that there was in fact a 5.6 top rope climb. I couldn’t see the anchors from the bottom and it wasn’t listed in Mountain Project so I had missed it the first time around. Now, I need to bring my kids back to give it a go.

The fun that the kids had playing in that area and in the canyon are what really turned this spot into 5 stars for kids. The area. is shaded for most of the day which is great in the summer. However, there are no bathrooms so prepare adequately. 

If you continue driving up canyon, you will end up in a small old mining town that was established in the 1870s. My kids loved seeing it. There were old mining carts and railways on display. Past the town, there are RV campgrounds and then great tent campground with trees for shade and a creek to play in, $15 a night. 

 

Routes:

This was a short wall – 30 ft – with a TR 5.6, TR/S 5.8, S 5.9, and S 5.9. The 5.6 is the third route from the left between the 5.9 and the 5.12a. There was also a 12a, 11d, and 11b that you can work on while your kids explore the area. You can read more about the area on Mountain Project.

Approach:

 Cross the road, walk down the small hill and across the river bead that is usually dry except for in the spring. Basically, NO approach. It does not get better than that with small kids.

Landing:

The landing is very shady for most of the day. In the spring there is a creek but we came in August so it was dried up. Its flat and great for kids to run around and explore. 

Extra Kid Fun:

Creek in the springtime.

In the summertime, my kids loved playing on the planks that were placed to cross the stream. They even became teeter totters… which I may have fallen off once…

Climbing trees. I had 4 kids in the tree next to the base of the 5.8 nd 5.9 at one point. I also had one kids fall out of the tree… he lived!

There is an old mine just up a trail to the right of these climbs. 2 min walk. It is blocked off about 50 feet into the mine so as to prevent people from doing something dangerous and exploring an abandoned mine. Still, my kids thought it was the coolest thing to see and go in a little ways .

Potential Dangers:

Nothing out of the ordinary…perhaps falling off a makeshift teeter totter, falling out of a tree, or having the opening of an abandoned mine cave in and crush you.