Too much office time and not enough climbing time makes for unhappy people. To head off this possibility, Dave and Greg C. (now dubbed the 'stout silverbacks') headed out to the Utah desert for some fun in the sun (and rain and wind it turns out).(I stayed home and tiled the entryway with Mark Cartwright.)
The first goal of the trip was Fine Jade on the Rectory.
While the guys were climbing Fine Jade, Dave looked down and noticed some ravens investigating his pack. As he watched, the birds opened his pack, unzipped the lid zipper, removed everything (rope tarp [which flew away], first aid kit, food). Having secured some high dollar Pro-Bars, the birds flew away! Smart birds. Hungry Dave.
Castleton is such a striking tower (insert lightning jokes here - many have been hit by lightning here!) – one can’t help but take several photos of it. The wind starts to whip up while they were on the summit of Fine Jade. Greg, who hasn't been able to take a long weekend climbing trip for a LONG time shook the fist of anger at the incoming weather!
I did learn something new about Castleton - that is, it is not really called Castleton. It is called Castle Rock. The nearby town is called Castleton - named after the striking rock formation. Cool.
Next up was Crack Wars which is located on the west side of the Rectory.
The next day brought rain and cold temps. The guys hung around in Castle Valley in the rig. They did some hiking and reading. Forced rest day – beats a day in the office.
The following morning the rain and cold theme continued though happily it stopped raining relatively early allowing them to get some climbing in. They headed into Long Canyon where they did some routes on Maverick Buttress and other walls. In total they managed to get 4, 5.11s and 2, 5.10s climbed. Sounds like an excellent day to me!
Butt Pygmy was one route they did. Sounded like it had an interesting foot camming under-clinging crux and was quite fun.
After dinner in Moab, they headed back to Castle Valley for the night. The next morning, they climbed Jah Man on Sister Superior.
After taking in the sites, rapping, and hiking back to the Great White, they made burritos in the luxury of the Great White and headed back to civilization.
Glad they had such a great time - Enjoy the rest of the photos!
1 comment:
awesome pictures - have fun in vegas!
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