Dave here…
It was Thursday morning, Oct 29 and it was dumping snow in Boulder, about 20” so far. I checked the weather report one last time and took a look at the I-70 road cameras – it looked like the brunt of the storm was in the front range. So, with Callie out of town and the possibility of late fall climbing trips quickly fading, I packed up my Mazda with all the essentials for a 3 day trip to the desert to meet up with the Sushifest gang, do some climbing and chow down on some sushi. 
After about 70 miles of somewhat treacherous driving to get over the divide, weather conditions improved, but it was still quite cold with snow squalls here and there. The landscape was really beautiful between the freshly fallen snow and the late day lighting. 
I pulled into Indian Creek canyon just before dark and threw down my winter sleeping bag in a quiet side canyon. I watched the skies for a bit, then crawled in for a long cold night under the stars. Early morning conditions were less than inspiring as even the water bottles inside the car were frozen… I made some breakfast and read a book while I waited hopefully for the sushifest gang from AZ etc. to show up at the Cat Wall for some climbing.
About 11:30am the gang showed up and we headed up to the cliffs, an optimistic venture I might say, given the temps. However, once we broke out the ropes and the gear, the sun came out as well! The rest of the day was quite nice in the sun and we climbed a bunch of fun routes. Once we were all tired out and the sunlight was fading, we headed over to the sushifest site on some private land just outside of Monticello. It was fun to see everyone and the campfire was most welcome. After that, it was another COLD night out…
We returned to the Cat Wall on the second day and many fine routes were climbed by the gang. It was good fun and again, the temps on the sunny walls were just right for climbing. As the sun began to set, we packed up and headed back to the sushifest site where a fine fresh fish feast was awaiting…
Sushi fans enjoyed the great food and endured the very cold temps. Again, a large campfire was quite welcome! The next morning the crew was moving a little slow, but the temps were warmer. Everyone packed up to go their separate ways and another successful sushifest was now history.
I went for a hike with Roy, Malcolm and Phil outside of Moab for a couple of hours before heading home to Boulder. Another fine weekend adventure!
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