Spirit Spire, 5336', next to Spirit Mt NV.

Pics by Harlan W S
Feb 14 2022

No sign of previous ascent.

Many thanks to my calm and capable friends Walt H. and Bob C.! We probably found the one route where gear wasn't needed. In the end, there were just 1-2 class 4 moves, and lots of scary exposure. There are actually as many class 3+ sections on the approach, mainly to avoid nasty brush. We did one ~35' rap to avoid some exposed downclimbs. The Spire itself  has 203+/-2' prominence. This photo taken from Spirit Mt shows the most critical part of the route.

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The USGS topo does
not resolve the spikiness
and complexity of the
terrain.
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Context
 20220214_102904
View from south
of Spirit Spire (SS)
and Spirit Mt (SM),
early 2003. This was
the first time I
considered climbing
the spire
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View from north, early
2021
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The spire as seen
on the approach.
Bob kept smiling
as we all fought
spiky plants.
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A resting spot just after
 a creepy traverse
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I topped and took
this pic of the ridge
I took to Spirit
19 years before
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Spirit Mt from Spire
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Bob comes up the
very thin summit
ridge, with serious
exposure to R and L
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Walt and his rack,
still wearing boots...
and no harness! We
used no gear, but he
did carry all that metal,
so dammit, he deserves
the hero pose!
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View S
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Walt starts to head
down
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Walt at base of wall.
There is one route
that follows small,
steep "ramps"
between ledges
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The descent
involved stuff
close to class 4,
just to avoid brush
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View N and back UP
at terrain