We arrived an hour or two before sunset. This is dispersed camping with no pavement or signage or facilities, but even so, every site was taken. One site contained a short school bus, which was sitting on blocks, and clearly wasn't going anywhere. Makes sense. This place is great!
![Image](https://gal.secretsauce.net/travels/Mojave/2024-03-10--Granite-pass-scrambling/R0005310.jpg?variant=medium2)
![Image](https://gal.secretsauce.net/travels/Mojave/2024-03-10--Granite-pass-scrambling/R0005312.jpg?variant=medium2)
We claimed a medium-obvious site. It wasn't as great as the spots right among the boulders, but we still had a few smaller boulders and a fire ring. At sunset we walked towards what USGS calls "Dorner's camp". This turned out to be a building used by UC Riverside as a base for their researchers. The area around the building is owned by UCR, and fenced off from the public as a research site.
In the morning we went up to the rocks to do some scrambling. The boulders are even better when you're up close
![Image](https://gal.secretsauce.net/travels/Mojave/2024-03-10--Granite-pass-scrambling/R0005321.jpg?variant=medium2)
![Image](https://gal.secretsauce.net/travels/Mojave/2024-03-10--Granite-pass-scrambling/R0005324.jpg?variant=medium2)
![Image](https://gal.secretsauce.net/travels/Mojave/2024-03-10--Granite-pass-scrambling/R0005333.jpg?variant=medium2)
![Image](https://gal.secretsauce.net/travels/Mojave/2024-03-10--Granite-pass-scrambling/R0005357.jpg?variant=medium2)
![Image](https://gal.secretsauce.net/travels/Mojave/2024-03-10--Granite-pass-scrambling/R0005362.jpg?variant=medium2)
![Image](https://gal.secretsauce.net/travels/Mojave/2024-03-10--Granite-pass-scrambling/R0005378.jpg?variant=medium2)
![Image](https://gal.secretsauce.net/travels/Mojave/2024-03-10--Granite-pass-scrambling/R0005381.jpg?variant=medium2)
Sondra lost her hat at one point, and I climbed around to grab it
![Image](https://gal.secretsauce.net/travels/Mojave/2024-03-10--Granite-pass-scrambling/R0005384.jpg?variant=medium2)
And among the various spiky plants we found a few large cocoons with lots of catepillars on and in them:
![Image](https://gal.secretsauce.net/travels/Mojave/2024-03-10--Granite-pass-scrambling/R0005386.jpg?variant=medium2)
Some of the crags look perfect for technical climbing:
![Image](https://gal.secretsauce.net/travels/Mojave/2024-03-10--Granite-pass-scrambling/R0005372.jpg?variant=medium2)
![Image](https://gal.secretsauce.net/travels/Mojave/2024-03-10--Granite-pass-scrambling/R0005327.jpg?variant=medium2)
Taco says they're on UCR property and officially off-limits to climbers. The property maps tell me that the UCR property is a bit further west, and at least THESE crags are legal. So maybe it's fine.
In any case, this place is great. Recommended!
![Image](https://gal.secretsauce.net/travels/Mojave/2024-03-10--Granite-pass-scrambling/R0005393.jpg?variant=medium2)