Park Avenue

I've always neglected towers in Park Avenue for whatever reason but in the last few months we climbed a hand full of them.  Last fall after topping out the Citadel in the morning Matt and I climbed The Corn Dog in arches in the afternoon.  We'd tried to climb The Corn Dog a few years ago but it had snowed and was dark and we couldn't figure out how to get by the snowy slabs to access the tower.  This time things went smoothly.  We got to the base and we were able to stick clip bolt to bolt past all the empty pin holes.

The Corn Dog

A month or two later, the day after Matt and Justin climbed Bridal Veil Falls and The Titan in a day we went back to Park Avenue.  Justin was halfway up the first pitch of the Candelabrum when I showed up.  I'd gotten off work that morning and driven straight from Farmington to Arches National Park.  I led the second pitch to the shoulder because the old Desert Rock topo didn't show anchors on the summit.  Luckily Sam had already climbed the tower and had replaced the undocumented crappy anchors with fatty bolts.  

Igor on the left and Nefertiti on the right.

We rappelled off the back side of the Candelabrum and headed for Nefertiti.  I didn't know that there was a route on Nefertiti until I saw a photo on Instagram with people on it.  Luckily they gave me some info that pointed us in the right direction.  When we had climbed The Corn Dog we'd noticed lead bolts on Igor (the tower between Nefertiti and The Corn Dog) so we weren't surprised to to see and anchor on the summit block of Igor.  After we summited Nefertiti Matt was able to throw a rope with a big knot in it over Igor and get the knot stuck in the crack that splits the summit.  I then rappelled off Nefertiti to the notch between the towers and batmaned up the fixed line while Matt gave me a TR from the top of Nefertiti.  Luckily the jammed knot didn't move or it would have been one nasty swing.  The anchor webbing on Igor was so rotten that the quick link was sitting on the dirt below the anchor.  

Jammed knot.

The last tower for the day was Jello Tower.  The last pitch of this route is supposed to be scary aid climbing past big blown out pin scars.  Luckily when we got there we found one fixed pin and two lead bolts protecting the climbing.  Unfortunately after summiting in the dark and rappelling back to the ground we forgot to make sure there were no knots in the end of the rope when we were pulling the ropes.  Just when we thought our day was over a knot got stuck in the anchor.  I ascended the stuck rope while on belay from below, placing gear in the first pitch as I went.  Turned out the jammed rope just had a few twists and hitches!

The Citadel

The Citadel is a huge tower that has been on my list for years.  Last November Matt and I hiked out there and gave it a go.  I had just hurt my wrist and Matt's hip wasn't feeling great so we were a good team. 

Matt on Pitch 1.

 I left Farmington after getting off of work and met up with Matt in Cortez.  We drove out Onion Creek and hiked up the super cool canyon to the Mysteries.  I wasn't sure how hammering would feel on my wrist so Matt took the first pitch which was a line of beaks right off the ground.  As scary as it was to watch him lead the pitch while belaying, I'm sure it was even more scary to actually lead it!  Matt topped out P1 and I led the long second pitch to the shoulder.  The sun was starting to go down and as much as we wanted to push it to the summit we opted to rap and hike out.

Pitch 2 muddy crack.

 On the second day we hiked back in and jugged the fixed line back up to the top of pitch 2.  Matt was leading pitch 3 when he pulled off a microwave sized block 40' up.  It was nice that it was light for that and because pitch 3 wandered a bit and required some route finding.

Typical bolt.

 On the 4th pitch I wished we had another big cam but was able to make it to the short bolt ladder and the better rock making up the summit.

Summit!

 I was never really interested in climbing the Atlas in the Mysteries because it looks more like a big fin than a tower.  However after climbing the three obvious towers in the mysteries(Doric, Gothic Nightmare and Citadel), Atlas and the Hydra are looking more appealing...

Gothic Nightmare on the left and the Citadel on the right.

Sierras 2019

This summer when Matt and I were driving across Arizona we weren’t driving through smoke and didn’t turn north and go to Wyoming instead of California as we had in 2018. This summer Matt and I drove straight to Lone Pine, CA and got permits for the next day. We hoped to climb at the Whitney Portal that afternoon but it was so hot we just napped in the shade instead. Matt had hiked up Whitney when he was younger but hadn’t technically rock climbed in the eastern Sierra before.  I’d climbed in the eastern Sierra but had never been in the Whitney zone.

Making some coffee while we wait for the Ranger Station to open.

We woke early, shouldered our heavy packs, and headed for Iceberg Lake. We set up our tent, where we’d sleep for the next 3 nights and started toward the Keeler Needle.  Already at 8am we were down to t-shirts and sweating.  We expected cool temps/wind/weather since we were in the high country so we brought our puffy coats. Puffy coat that would never get put on because the temps would never drop, the winds would never come in, the clouds would never come, we cooked all day.

Matt following a pitch on Fishhook Arete.

The next day we headed over to Mt. Russell and climbed the ‘Fishhook Arete’ in the morning.  In the afternoon we climbed ‘Western Front’. In addition to both routes being awesome there was a slight wind that kept the heat down and made for a great day. The plan initially was to do a route on Whitney our last day up there before hiking out.  We decided because of the temps and mediocre rock on Keelers Needle to head out early and go check out another area.

Matt following a pitch on Western Front.

We hiked out and ironically headed to Temple Crag which is lower elevation and generally worse rock. We decided to do something car to car in a day so we didn’t have to deal with permitting.  The plan was to climb ‘Dark Star’ then continue to Mt. Gayley and Mt. Sill but after topping out Temple Crag and looking at the loose ridge that separated us from Gayley we decided to head back to the car.  And to be honest I probably didn’t bring enough food with me to actually be able to continue onto Sill without bonking and probably dying.  Although ‘Dark Star’ doesn’t seem to have the best reputation in terms of loose rock, we found the rock climbing to be fun and all the 4th and easy 5th class to be solid enough. All in all it was a great day.

Matt leading the crux of Dark Star in approach shoes.

After Temple Crag we figured we head to Toulumne for a bit. After a morning ascent of the awesome ‘Aqua Knobby’ the high temps made climbing out of the question so we just chilled at Tenya Lake for the afternoon.  Since long days in Tuolumne were out of the question we figured we’d try out Mt. Conness.

Our home on the side of the road for multiple nights.

The SW Face offered pretty fun climbing with amazing views of Tuolumne.  Unfortunately on the hike out my ankle started hurting which was weird since I didn’t twist it and don’t remember any trauma.

Approaching the SW Face on Mt. Conness

Either way the next day I taped it for a morning climb of ‘Crying Time Again’.  We’d planned on going to the Hulk but decided to bust over to Maple Canyon instead since hiking with another heavy pack sounded less than ideal.

Aqua Knobby

The next morning we were blown away with how fun the climbing was in Maple. We went from crag to crag only climbing the 4 star routes.  Turns out having a couple knee pads in the vehicle would have been more beneficial than the crampons we had in the trunk.

Pipe Dream Cave in Maple Canyon

The Open

Matt's full of ideas.  For awhile now he's been saying we need to do an 18 pitch day at Golf Wall.  18 obviously like 18 holes of golf.  The only rules were that they had to be 18 different routes and they all had to be lead clean.  A few days before we discussed the order that we thought would work and wrote it down on a piece of paper that we conveniently forgot to bring to the crag.  We both warmed up on a couple easier routes before hopping on the hardest pitch of the day, Pink Taco.  I had the route wired but Matt hadn't been on the route in a while and messed up his foot beta near the top and fell on his first go, then crushed it second go.  We both had a big sigh of relief having completed the crux of the day for our 5th route.  We hoped it would be an easy coast to the finish for the next 13 routes.

The next 6 routes went smoothly until I fell on Putt Putt.  I'd done the route a hundred times over the years but just couldn't hold on.  I decided I needed to start taking longer rests between routes, eat more food, and stop trying to do doubles(2 routes back to back).  Matt motored up Bert and Ernie's even though it had some wet holds and I moved onto Cinderella.  I got 3/4 of the way up and melted off the holds.  This isn't good.  Matt proceeded to try Cinderella and fell on two attempts.  It seemed like we had both hit a wall.  More rest and more food is what we needed, I hit Cinderella on my second go by skipping a clip and Matt hit it on his 3rd.  Ok, back on track!

The second attempt on Mail Slot...

I went back to Putt Putt and it felt casual.  I thought I'd caught a second wind until I fell off the top of Mail Slot.  Matt ticked a few hold up top for me after he'd sent Greenskeeper and I sent next go.  We'd thought we'd coast to the finish after Pink Taco but as we got more and more tired there were no gimme pitches.  My last route was Hole in One and to be expected I almost came off right before the no hands rest.  We're surely not the first to climb 18 different pitches in a day at Golf Wall but that's not what it's about.

My order with approximate grades...
1:Greenskeeper .10+
2:Eagle .12b
3:Bushwood .12a
4:Par Six .11b
5:Pink Taco .12d
6:Divitator .12c
7:Masters .12a
8:Bogey Man .12a
9:Birdie(aka Pumpy ten) .10+
10:Shooter McGavin .10+
11:Gator Pond .12a
Putt Putt (fail)
Cinderella (fail)
12:Cinderella .12a
13:Putt Putt .11d
14:Three Roofs .12a
15:Pebble Beach .11
Mail Slot (fail)
16:Ping .11b
17:Mail Slot .11c
18:Hole in One .11a

Harts Draw

Had a great 4 days discovering Harts Draw and Bobbys Hole Canyon in late March.  I accessed Harts Draw from 211 on the first day and walked 4 miles up the canyon to get to Bobbys Hole.  

Hartworm Tower

I got two towers done that day but then had to head back home to go to work.  I knew I'd be back in a couple days so I left my climbing gear hidden behind a boulder so I wouldn't have to carry it back and forth. While at work I looked some more at Google maps and discovered what looked like an easier way into the towers.  

The Infarction

So a few days later when I returned, I accessed the area from 133.  The short section of dirt road was rough in a few spots but was a much shorter drive.  I parked next to two cairns on the side of the road and was pleasantly surprised to find a trail leading down into the canyon.   Luckily no one at taken my pack of gear and I climbed one more tower and hiked out with everything.  The plan was to meet Trevor and Cam to climb some other towers but back on the rim with good service I learned that the area was inaccessible because of the snow melt.  Cam bailed completely because he was sick but Trevor decided to come meet me.  Trevor arrived later that night and we looked at photos and made plans for the next two days.

Harts and Minds Tower

In the morning we carried the climbing gear back into the canyon and set our sights on the proudest looking tower in the area, The Infarction.  Things went smoothly and we were soon back on the ground planning the next day.  We walked over to Harts Draw Rincon Butte with no plans of  climbing it but found a easy route up.  We soloed up and down, happy to get another summit. 

Trevor leading the last pitch on The Infarction

On the last day we woke up to some flurries and weren't sure if we were going to get any climbing in.  However, our packs of climbing gear were in the canyon so we had to do the hike either way.   Luckily the weather cleared up and we were able to put up 3 more short routes.

Trevor and I on the summit of The Infarction

Cody Ice

In the beginning of March we took a trip up to Cody to ice climb.  I hadn't ice climbed since the year before when we were in Cody, but luckily ice climbing is like riding a bike.  Once again we got a cabin in the valley which made the drive to and from the ice nice and short.  Unfortunately it didn't shorten the approach hikes!  On the first day, 5 of us climbed a great route called "View to a Thrill".   

Pitch 2 of View to a Thrill

 Day 2: We all climbed Too Cold to Fire.

Last pitch of Too Cold to Fire

Day 3: Unfortunately, John and Jaaron had to head home, but Brooke, Tim, Smokey Joe and I climbed Mean Green. 

Mean Green Pitch 1

 Day 4: Tim, Smokey Joe and I got a late start and climbed Broken Heart's first 4 pitches.  We walked up to My Only Valentine and were pleasantly surprised to find it in.  We climbed that and then saw that we made a big mistake of starting late because the rarely in 6th pitch was fat.  Unfortunately we had to rappel since Tim and I had left our headlamps at the packs.

Tim following a pitch on Broken Hearts

 Day 5: Brooke, Tim, Smokey Joe and I climbed High on Boulder to Save it for Later and Moonrise.

Smokey Joe following My Only Valentine

Can't wait till next winter! 

Mexican Road Trip

In January Matt, Adam and I headed on a little Mexican road trip.  We left in the morning after Adam and I got off of work.  The vehicle we were taking was a 19 year old Honda Accord.  On the 2,500 mile trip we would break 200,000 miles.  None of us were concerned with whether the car would make the trip, but Matt and Adam were both concerned with the trunk space.  You see I bought the car 6 months before with a subwoofer in the trunk and I didn't want to take it out.  I don't care about bumpin' down the road, but probably irrationally, I was worried that by taking it out we would mess up the rest of the sound system making for a very long, quiet ride.  Either way I made both of them pack very light which caused a lot of shivering later on the trip.  We got a cheap hotel outside of El Paso, food shopped, and filled lots of water bottles that night.  As planned we crossed the boarder early in the morning in hopes of making the 8 hours to Basaseachi before it got dark.  Everyone we'd talked to about traveling in Mexico suggested only driving during the day.  Luckily we remembered to get our Vehicle Import Permit as throughout the trip we were stopped 3 times by cops asking to see it.  A few hours past the border we saw a taco stand and couldn't resist.  We each downed 9 tacos to the surprise of owners.  We pulled into Rancho San Lorenzo in the late evening and met up with Fernando who owned the place.  

He organized a ride to El Gigante the next day for us.  After an good sleep we woke up and packed in preparation for 3 days on the wall.  In the afternoon we got picked up and dropped off at the TH for the wall.  An hour hike put us at the top of the wall where we would spend the night.  The next morning we woke early and rappelled the route leaving food and water along the way to be picked up as we ascended.  We also left some extra draws on the crux pitches which turned out to be nice but often they weren't on the bolts where you wanted them.  After 5-6 hours of rappelling we were on the ground and started back up.  We climbed the first 8 pitches to the Tower of Power where we'd left our sleeping gear and then climbed and fixed the next two pitches.  

Above the Tower of Power is where the climbing got hard.  Pitch after pitch of .12 climbing.  We only brought one lead line and one haul line to minimize weight and help with station management.  Luckily most of the hard pitches were about half a rope length, so the middle guy could just tie into the middle and we'd caterpillar our way up.  When we had a longer pitch we'd have the middle guy climb it on a micro traxion, maybe not the best option but it worked.  Once at the Critter Bivy which is where we spent the second night we once again climbed and fixed the next two pitches.  

 On the third day after waking up we jugged and hauled the two fixed pitches and punched it to the top.  We decided the last .12a pitch near the top was the best pitch on the route.  We joked that we should have just rappelled those top few pitches to climb the pitch instead of rappelling all the way to the ground and spending 3 days on the wall.  As we climbed the last pitch to the top the sun hit us and we started to thaw out.  The route gets zero sun so we'd been in the shade, and shivering for most if not all of the route.  We repacked on top for the hike back to the road.  Luckily our ride was there waiting for us and drove us back to Rancho San Lorenzo. 

Although we probably should of stayed another few days in Basaseachi we decided to get up early the next morning and make the long drive east to El Potrero Chico.  We made it to Mark's place in Hidalgo a little after dark and then spent ten minutes pulling an Austin Powers trying to get into an admittedly pretty big parking spot.  Apparently I forget how to reverse into a parking spot after driving for 12 hours.

The next day Matt and climbed on El Sendero Luminoso.  We'd been wanting to climb the route for years and Adam had already climbed it.  The route had pitch after pitch of good climbing on clean rock. It's definitely a classic for good reason.  We met Adam in the canyon and decided after some dinner to climb Time Wave Zero which is a route we all wanted to climb.  It was dark when we started but thought that was a good thing since it gets a lot of sun and would be hot during the day.  With only a few hard pitches we thought we'd bring a bunch of draws and simul climb as a group of 3 for the majority of the route.  Adam linked the first third,  I took us up the next third, and Matt took us to the base of the crux pitch.  At that point it started raining and only because of Adam did we continue.  Matt and I were ready to call it a day but Adam took over the sharp end and took us to the top.  We'd forgotten Adam's chalk bag and belay device at the car so we ended up lowering him every pitch then Matt and I would simul rap. 

We wanted to go check out El Salto but the region was dealing with a gas shortage and so we stuck around Potrero for a couple days and got a little cragging in.  We drove back though the boarder near Laredo and paralleled the boarder all the way back to El Paso.  Adam got dropped off in Truth or Consequences to climb some more and Matt and I continued home.