Located in the Coronado National Forest, just 1.5 hours east of Tucson lies the Cochise Stronghold, a climbing gem. I hate to expose this place to our tens of followers as I feel like this place is going to blow up, and soon. It’s too good of a climbing spot to stay unnoticed for this long. Cochise is a granite wonderland but we didn’t know that when we pulled up on December 27, 2018. For all we knew, it was a beautiful place with a lovely campsite where we could get in a little climbing.

Of course, the snow was a bit of a surprise… I’m not an ice climber after all (though Colin would say “not yet”). While we waited for the snow to clear, we scrambled around the area and scoped out our future climbs. On a day where I wasn’t feeling too swell, Colin did a summit hike and saw wild horses!

By December 30, 2018, the snow had cleared and we made our way to the crag. We climbed for the next few days, enjoying the views, the weather, and the solitude. We celebrated New Year’s Eve in the Cochise with wine, bacon, brussel sprouts, tequila shots, and backgammon. Colin was asleep before midnight. #lifeoftheparty

When the weather turned on us again, we made our way to Tucson for some great food and refreshing yoga until January 7, 2019 when we eagerly returned to Cochise.