It was the first of three days in Cochise with my friend Will, who had flown in from Colorado to climb with me. It was his first time in the Stronghold, and our main objective was Rockfellow Dome via Abracadaver (5.11a, 5 pitches).

We hiked in with heavy packs—rope and tag line, a double rack to #4, plus a #5 and #6—everything we’d need for Abracadaver. Rather than jumping straight on it, we opted for a chiller day. I suggested Endgame, one of my favorite routes in the Rockfellow Group, which I had climbed back in December 2020.

Endgame is an outstanding—if initially improbable—line up the steep southwest face of End Pinnacle. It offers airy, engaging climbing on generally clean rock, with plentiful protection and a consistent grade throughout. For visiting climbers, it feels like a bit of a Cochise anomaly: a bolted multi-pitch that follows striking natural features and makes the formation unusually accessible. Whatever the stylistic debates, the climbing itself is simply excellent.

We climbed in a relaxed fix-and-follow style, with Will taking the leads, and topped out in a couple of hours under perfect sunny skies. For the descent, we rappelled the Sons of Gums route—a unique series of rappels down narrow, vertical canyons.

With plenty of daylight left, we debated another climb, but wanting to stay fresh for the next day, I suggested Inner Passage instead—a wild slot between Chey Desa Tsay and Rockfellow Dome involving a bit of 5.4 solo chimneying, which I had also done in December 2020. It turned into a fun loop: from the base of the Sons of Gums descent, we scrambled and tunneled through the formation, eventually popping out near the start of Endgame, where Will had stashed his approach shoes and an extra layer.

Such a fun day out on the rock.

This page includes a route overlay, time stats, and pitch-by-pitch photos from the day.