I was unsure about Cochise’s runout climbs, but Moby Dick seemed like the best choice overall, without any crazy traverses. It turned out being amazing! The first pitch was a bit at my comfort zone (5.8 and probably PG13), but overall quite good and it all eases after that!
Timeline
- 7:25 AM – Hiking
- 8:05 AM – Base (40 min approach)
- 8:25 AM – Climbing
- 11:05 AM – Top (2:40 hr climbing)
- 11:30 AM – Rappelling
- 11:45 AM – Done rappelling
- 12:15 AM – Back at start (45 min rappel/descent)
Gear
Brought singles to #4 and nuts and lots of alpine and double alpine draws. Light rack could get by with 0.3-0.75 and nuts, I used #4 once but could have probably slung a chickenhead, and I used a #1 on final 6th pitch just cause of rope drag when linking. If less confident bring doubles of 0.3-0.5 and possibly singles through #4.
Approach
The approach was pretty good, there was trail for about half and wash scrambling for half. It took a casual 40 minutes.
Climb
Pitch 1 – 5.8
This was definitely the toughest pitch. It’s a bit runout, a little slabby, and I definitely wouldn’t try it if I wasn’t comfortable leading 5.9 trad. Spooky, but I actually was able to place more gear than I expected. I think I used some 0.3-0.5 cams and a few nuts. No fall zones though. 10-20 ft between gear.
Starting P1 
The second half of P1
Pitch 2
Gets easier, from the belay step left to the arete for easier terrain rather than staying right at the start. Some chickenheads, similar gear with 10-20 ft between gear sometimes.
The blank start (step left to arete) 
The end, some fun chickenheads!
Pitch 3
Easier! Ends on chickenhead belay. I think I used a #4 in the corner but probably could have slung a chickenhead instead.
Anhcor!
Pitch 4
Slab, the slab isn’t too bad. Bolts are nice, just as you’re getting to the second bolt it’s starting to feel spicier, so it’s pretty well placed. Getting to anchor involves a hand over hand traverse on huge chickenhead ridge (biggest jugs ever).
Pitch 5
Super fun! Only two bolts, however the bolts are at the toughest climbing and then it’s a super easy sea of chickenheads (and it gets less steep). I didn’t bother slinging any chickenheads since it felt so secure. Felt way safer than P1 or P2. I linked this with P6.
Starting P1 
Looking down from 1st bolt 
Looking up from 1st bolt
Pitch 6
Linking this with P5 worked pretty well (aside from communication, but we still could slightly hear each other). It was nice to get to the top in one shot!
Top!
It’s a really nice summit! Definitely does seem to be windy though, it wasn’t even a windy day but was breezy at the top.
Rappel
We weren’t sure about the 15 foot downclimb, so we brought a 70m rope with an additional 35 foot pull cord. The downclimb looked a bit difficult so the pull cord was worth it. The rappel was really sweet! Definitely saddlebag your ropes to avoid them blowing away!
Descent
The descent back to the start was more scrambling than expected, it was kind of nice to still have climbing shoes on (we left our shoes at the start of the climb). It took 30 mins.
