Hidden Jewels
At about 4000', the elevation of Hidden Jewels is one of the lowest on Mt. Lemmon. The only climbs that are lower are the ones near the Hairpin area. It is a good place to climb in the Fall, Winter, and Spring but will be very hot in the summer. The area has a nice Sonoran desert environment with Saguaros, Cholla, and other assorted cacti and vegetation. The hike to and from "Hidden Jewels" on "Soldier's Trail" is a very scenic hike, but it is a tough hike with a significant gain in elevation in the first mile.
There is an interesting assortment of climbs in the Hidden Jewels area. There is the face climbing on The Left One and The Right One and crack climbing on The Crescent and Soldier's Revenge. There are nine climbs in the area under 5.10 with several short climbs and several tall climbs. It is a fun low-altitude area to climb in the cooler months.
Directions to the Hidden Jewels climbing area can be found in "Squeezing the lemmon II..." by Eric Fazio-Rhicard and "A Falcon Guide: Rock Climbing Arizona" by Stewart M. Green (SMG). To get to the climbs on the upper wall, stay on the trail and when the trail starts to thin out, look for the climbs to the right (south). For the lower wall, check out the map shown above.
The lower climbs are in two groups according to the anchors: the middle wall is right beneath the chain anchors next to the trail and the lower wall is beneath a set of chain anchors further to the north. There are two ways to get to the lower climbs: either rappel from the chain anchors that are just below the trail or hike down to the climbs. To hike to the climbs, continue on the trail until you reach the "Clinton Face" and then hike down and to the west until you come to the climbs. If you rappel in, be careful. The climbs are tall and to rappel to the bottom, a 60 meter rope is required if you don't want to down-climb (It is 103' 6" from the anchors to the ground at the base of the middle wall. You have 98' of rope with a double rope rappel on a 60 meter rope. There isn't a lot of margin for error.)
Jeff Mayhew put in all the climbs in the area with Shawn Murphy, Ryan Murphy, Will McCarthy, and his brother. He originally spotted the upper wall from the Hairpin area and though it would be a great place to climb. They followed the creek and climbed up to the lower wall from below, putting in the routes on the lower wall. Later, when climbing at the Hairpin, he realized that they hadn't reached the upper wall as intended and so he and cohorts went back and put up the climbs on the upper wall. This is why the area is named Hidden Jewels. I would have to agree, the climbs are Jewels. (Note: initially they did not realize how close the climbs were to Soldier's Trail.)
The "The Left One" tall, fun climb that is located on the same wall as the "The Right One". I call the wall with the two routes the "Clinton Face" since, in the evening light, there is a rock formation at the right end of the wall that looks similar to a Bill Clinton caricature (see photo).
The "Left One" is 90' 8" tall and has seven 3/8" bolts - all with Metolius bolt hangers (no distinguishing marks). The anchors on this wall are unusual. The left anchor consists of a two bolt anchor. The top bolt is connected to a large quick-link and then a four link chain. The end of the chain is connected to another large quick-link that is also attached to a second bolt (directly beneath the first bolt). A nine link chain is attached to the lower quick-link. The right anchor is similar to the lower part of the left anchor with a nine link chain attached to a quick-link on a Metolius bolt hanger.
Jeff Mayhew had this to say about the climb in an e-mail: "The Left One was actually led on wires with no bolts at all. Over several trips I kept adding one or two bolts to make it safer until I had the whole thing bolted! It was the first time I had ever put chains on a climb."
| Bolt Number | Bolt Height | Run-out |
| 1 | 14' 8" | 14' 8" |
| 2 | 23' 3" | 8' 7" |
| 3 | 30' 11" | 7' 8" |
| 4 | 45' 6" | 14' 7" |
| 5 | 52' 9" | 7' 3" |
| 6 | 67' 2" | 14' 5" |
| 7 | 79' 11" | 12' 9" |
| Anchors | 90' 8" | 10' 9" |
Although I would recommend that gear be placed on this route, it is frequently climbed as a "Sport" route using only quick-draws. The "Sport" climbing bolt table for "The Left One" is shown below.
| Bolt Number | Bolt Height | Run-out | Fall Estimate | Ground Margin | Ground Risk |
| 1 | 14' 8" | 14' 8" | 14' 8" | 0' | yes - use spotter |
| 2 | 23' 3" | 8' 7" | 22' 2" | 6' 1" | yes |
| 3 | 30' 11" | 7' 8" | 20' 4" | 15' 7" | |
| 4 | 45' 6" | 14' 7" | 34' 2" | 16' 4" | |
| 5 | 52' 9" | 7' 3" | 19' 6" | 38' 3" | |
| 6 | 67' 2" | 14' 5" | 33' 10" | 38' 4" | |
| 7 | 79' 11" | 12' 9" | 30' 6" | 54' 5" | |
| Anchors | 90' 8" | 10' 9" | 26' 6" | 69' 2" |
Like "The Left One", "The Right One" is tall, fun climb. It is 93' 7" tall and has five 3/8" bolts - all with Metolius bolt hangers (no distinguishing marks). The climb uses the same anchors as "The Left One" and according to SMG, the two routes also use the same top bolt.
| Bolt Number | Bolt Height | Run-out |
| 1 | 38' 2" | 38' 2" |
| 2 | 53' 4" | 15' 2" |
| 3 | 60' 1" | 6' 9" |
| 4 | 68' 6" | 8' 5" |
| 5 | 82' 10" | 14' 4" |
| Anchors | 93' 7" | 10' 9" |
Lazy S is another tall climb at Hidden Jewels. It is 101' 8" tall with two chain anchors at the top. There are 12 links on each anchor, each attached to quick-links and then 3/8" bolts with Metolius bolt hangers. There are seven 3/8" bolts on the route, each with Metolius bolt hangers.
Jeff Mayhew had this to say about "Lazy S" in an e-mail: "I hope you figured to put long slings on the first traversing bolts on Lazy S. I usually start with a short draw then lengthen it after I make a couple moves. It's not very convenient but adds to the challenge of the climb. Someone had added a quick-link with a small chain to make the first traverse bolt easier to reach, which kind of bothered me so I took it off. You just need to stem up a bit higher, then it is well within reach. The climb is a little contrived in parts but we had fun doing it. You can actually rap off the chains if you are careful (like all the others out there)."
| Bolt Number | Bolt Height | Run-out |
| 1 | 24' 8" | 24' 8" |
| 2 | 43' 2" | 18' 6" |
| 3 | 46' 7" | 3' 5" |
| 4 | 52' 2" | 5' 7" |
| 5 | 61' 7" | 9' 5" |
| 6 | 73' 8" | 12' 1" |
| 7 | 95' 3" | 21' 7" |
| Anchors | 101' 8" | 6' 5" |
The middle wall of hidden jewels is directly beneath the chain anchors along the north side of the trail. The climbs are tall, being 103' 6" from the chain anchors to the ground at the base of the middle wall. Rappelling in to the climbs on a double rope will require the full length of a 60 meter rope or you can hike in (see the discussion above). If you want to climb on a top-rope, it is easiest to set up the belay at the chain anchors on the top of the wall. Lower the climber into the climbs and belay from above. A 50 meter rope is more that adequate.
All four climbs on the middle wall use the same chain anchors at the top. The anchors each have 12 links attached to a quick-link. The quick-links are attached to Metolius bolt hangers and 3/8" bolts.
Note that "A Falcon Guide: Rock Climbing Arizona" by Stewart M. Green has the height of these climbs as 165' tall. He must have been standing 60' back from the top of these climbs when he made the measurements.
There are two corner systems on this wall: "Cactus Corner" and this variation of "Cactus Corner". The variation is 102' 3" tall and is a strictly traditional route (see topo above).
"Cactus corner" is the corner climb that stays along the face and is identified by the small Saguaro cactus growing in the corner - giving the climb it's name. There is a single bolt on the route, a 3/8" bolt with a Metolius hanger.
| Bolt Number | Bolt Height | Run-out |
| 1 | 82' 1" | 82' 1" |
| Anchors | 103' 6" | 21' 5" |
"Tread Softly" is a combination of "Cactus Corner" and "Soldier of Contortion". Use the same start as "Cactus Corner" and then take the easiest path over to the bolts of "Soldier of Contortion". There are three bolts on this climb, all 3/8" bolts with Metolius bolt hangers.
| Bolt Number | Bolt Height | Run-out |
| 1 | 59' 10" | 59' 10" |
| 2 | 73' 3" | 13' 5" |
| 3 | 85' 2" | 11' 11" |
| Anchors | 106' 7" | 21' 5" |
The "Soldier of Contortion" is the climb furthest to the west. It is a tall climb with six 3/8" bolts - all with Metolius bolt hangers. If you climb this on a top-rope, put in some directionals.
| Bolt Number | Bolt Height | Run-out |
| 1 | 22' 7" | 22' 7" |
| 2 | 33' 4" | 10' 9" |
| 3 | 42' 11" | 9' 7" |
| 4 | 61' 6" | 18' 7" |
| 5 | 74' 11" | 13' 5" |
| 6 | 86' 10" | 11' 11" |
| Anchors | 108' 3" | 21' 5" |
The lower wall is north of the middle wall (see the map at the top of the page). It has two climbs that are very distictive: "Crescent" and "Soldier's Revenge" - both are crack climbs. Crack climbs of this nature are very seldom seen on Mt. Lemmon.
You can set up a top-rope on the lower wall. Either lower off or rappel from the anchors above the middle wall to the intermediate ledge (see the map). Move north along the wall until you come to the anchors. If you are lowered, you can stay on belay until you get locked into the anchors.
All three climbs use the same anchors. The anchors above the lower wall are distinctive because the right anchor is attached to the wall with a buttonhead. Use at your own risk. There is redundancy (two chain anchors) and the other anchor has a 3/8" bolt. Both anchors have Metolius bolt hangers with quick-links and seven links of chain.
The "Crescent" is a fun crack climb. It has all natural protection and is 51' 7" directly to the anchors.
"Soldier Blue" is located between "The Crescent" and "Soldier's Revenge". It is 52' 1" tall and has two 3/8" bolts with Metolius bolt hangers.
| Bolt Number | Bolt Height | Run-out |
| 1 | 19' 10" | 19' 10" |
| 2 | 27' 8" | 7' 10" |
| Anchors | 52' 1" | 24' 5" |
"Soldier's Revenge" is another fun crack climb. Like the "Crescent" it has all natural protection.