Desert Tour - Part 2 - Red Rocks and Zion

Next stop was Red Rocks, Nevada.

Where you can either visit this:


Or this:


Your choice.

We chose this:


and this:




We spent a few days climbing Dark Shadows, Frogland, and Sour Mash, before our good friends Chin and Raleigh from Virginia showed up. The first day we all cragged a little, then Raleigh and I climbed Eagle Dance and then a twisted variation of The Gobbler and Yellow Brick Road on Black Velvet Wall (this to bypass the cluster on Dream of Wild Turkey's and other routes).

Raleigh hadn't climbed for two years, but right out of the gate he was leading mid-5.10. Okay, I'm only a little jealous.

Raleigh on photo-shoot day:


Chin loving it too:


Me leading the second pitch of The Gobbler, with Raleigh belaying.


All in all we had a great week in Red Rocks, with splitter weather and pretty moderate crowds.

The Red Rocks Rock Stars:


Next stop: Zion.

I love Zion and this is partly why:


We only had a chance to spend two days here. The first day was a bit of a lazy day. We rode up canyon in the shuttle and climbed The Pulpit - a cool little spire at the end of the rode.

Here's Michelle following the one and only pitch:


Day 2 we climbed Iron Messiah, a 10-pitch 5.10 route on the Spearhead.

You gotta love chimneys to like this route:


High on the route (see Michelle at bottom of crack and shuttle bus below), the second to the last pitch was a steller 200-foot corner.


We hadn't done a ton of crack climbing up to this point, so our hands felt a little painful.


A big thanks goes to our good friends Sheriel, Syndi, and Barbara for their amazing hospitality in Zion. Look for them in the upcoming Sherpa catalog...