Desert Tour - Part 1 - Race to the Sun

We started our trip in late February and headed down to Smith Rocks in Oregon to visit Michelle's sister Julie and do a few days cragging at Smith Rocks.

Michelle looking good:


On Monkey Face:


Next we headed east to Colorado National Monument near Fruita, Colorado. It was pretty cold, but we managed to climb Independence Monument, by Otto's Route (5.9, 6 pitches).

Colorado National Monument, with Independence Monument on the right:


A close up view. The route climbs up the left face, then circles around and finishes up the facing side:


The route was pretty "cool":


But fun none-the-less:


With temps dipping down to 10-degrees, we decided to head farther south to Canyonlands National Park.



We did a quick climb of South Six Shooter via the South Face route and it snowed on us.

On South Six Shooter Peak, with North Six Shooter in the distance.


Dreaming of warmer weather we decided to head farther south into Arizona. I had to be in Phoenix anyways by the 12th, in order to fly back to Seattle for a slide-show presentation. We stopped a day at the Granite Dells near Prescott - a nice little cragging area.

The Granite Dells:


We had looked forward to climbing at the Superstition Mountains on this trip so with a couple days to spare we decided to head straight there.

The Superstitions. The Hand, the Tower, and the Prong are the first three towers on the lower left. The larger Grandfather Hobgoblin Spire is on the right, but blends in a little with the cliff behind:


The rock at the "Supes" is really interesting, some kind of crazy conglomerate. The protection is often sparse, and when there are bolts, well...


A cactus at sunset:


The first day we did a collection of spires on the northwest side of the range. We climbed The Hand (5.6, 3 pitches), The Tower (5.8 R, 2 pitches), The Pickle (5.4, 1 pitch), The Periscope (5.4R, 1 pitch), and The Prong (5.6, 2 pitches). All of them were unique little climbs and summits. Very cool.

Here is Michelle at a small belay on The Hand. The route we climbed was called the Razor's Edge and the climbing was on a 3-foot wide, steep ridge crest:


The Hand on the right, and the Tower on the left. The Tower had 25-feet of unprotected, overhanging 5.8 climbing to start the route, then had a long and thoughtful 5.7R pitch above that. It felt good to get on top of that sucker.


The Pickle was fun - it looks hard from the base but it really is only 5.4.
Michelle rapping off the Pickle.


The next day we woke up for two more climbs of Grandfather Hobgoblin by the standard route (5.9, 4 pitches), and the really fun North Buttress, Spider Walk (5.6, 4 pitches).

Here is Grandfather Hobgoblin, the route climbs up to the notch on the left, then right up to the summit:


Looking down at Michelle atop the first pitch:


View from the summit out towards the suburban sprawl:


After rapping down we went directly over to the North Buttress. Spider Walk takes an improbable looking line (for 5.6), meandering up runout slabs, with hard to find bolts, then up a chimney/crack system up a very cool feature.

Here's a shot of the North Buttress. The route starts on the left side, then works its way up to the chimney near the top:


Michelle following the second pitch:


At the end of the route, you can scramble up to a high spire that overlooks everything.


A final sunset:


We stayed in Phoenix with our good friends Kelly and Michael, and Maddie, Claire, and Louis, having a great time hanging out, barbeques, parties with live bands (like some members from Social Distortion in a neighbor's backyard), and general fun in the sun. Thanks guys!

The slide show in Seattle was an excellent success. About 120 people showed up and we raised $3,200 for Lara's Conservation Grant. Woohoo! It was 50-degress and raining in Seattle. It sure is nice down here again in the Arizona sunshine. Sure is...