Dave here! I rounded up a few of my desert rat friends for a boys climbing weekend in the canyon country of Utah before things got hot out there. We loaded up two trucks with 4 middle aged climber dudes, lots of camming devices and plenty of cold beers… a fine trip was about to be had!
We started off by meeting up in Castle Valley Utah to climb Castleton Tower. The crew consisted of me, Quinn, Greg, Mark and Rick. After a leisurely start due to an arrival sometime after midnight, the crew started the calorie burning hike up the talus cone to the base of the tower. We were glad to see only a couple of other cars in the camping area, so we knew the tower wouldn’t be crowded.
Our packs were heavy with camming devices, ropes, water bottles and cold beer for the summit. Greg and Mark did the West Face route, while Quinn, Rick and I did the North Chimney. The North Chimney crew topped out just a few minutes before the West Face team. Within minutes, celebratory cold beers were cracked and the group enjoyed beautiful weather and views from the summit.
After lounging around for a while, we all rappelled back down to the base. Rick hiked down to drive home to Park City UT. Greg and Mark then did the North Face of Castleton and Quinn and I headed over to the Rectory to climb Fine Jade. These are two of the best routes in the desert for sure! We all met up for the hike down in the beautiful late afternoon light. Time for a yummy burrito dinner and a few cold ones!
The next day we headed over to Long Canyon, NW of Moab. Here we went to a north facing crag low down in the canyon and climbed some really fun one pitch crack climbs along with a mini tower. Most all of the climbs were really good and no other people were there, so a good time was had by all.
After climbing, we headed north a few miles and found a fun camp spot on a dirt road off the highway. Here we tilted a couple of cold brewskis to celebrate another great day in the desert while we cooked up a combo meal of Mexican and Italian grub. Life in the desert is good!
After a good night’s sleep, we headed into Tusher canyon, NW of Moab in search of towers… we had our eyes on the Putterman tower. After a few gnarly dirt roads and some four wheeling, we arrived at our destination. It was a quiet and fairly remote valley, and the tower looked pretty cool, about 250’ high. The climbing consisted of some cracks, some off width and some face climbing on rotting sandstone – the stuff that fine desert tower adventures are made of!
We all topped out and enjoyed the view. The desert is such a beautiful place! After rappelling off, we bounced our way back to the highway in the trucks, ate some snacks and hit the road home. Another great trip to the desert – thanks to Quinn, Mark, Greg and Rick for coming along and making the trip such a good time!!
Dave here! I rounded up a few of my desert rat friends for a boys climbing weekend in the canyon country of Utah before things got hot out there. We loaded up two trucks with 4 middle aged climber dudes, lots of camming devices and plenty of cold beers… a fine trip was about to be had! 
We started off by meeting up in Castle Valley Utah to climb Castleton Tower. The crew consisted of me, Quinn, Greg, Mark and Rick. After a leisurely start due to an arrival sometime after midnight, the crew started the calorie burning hike up the talus cone to the base of the tower. We were glad to see only a couple of other cars in the camping area, so we knew the tower wouldn’t be crowded. 
Our packs were heavy with camming devices, ropes, water bottles and cold beer for the summit. Greg and Mark did the West Face route, while Quinn, Rick and I did the North Chimney. The North Chimney crew topped out just a few minutes before the West Face team. Within minutes, celebratory cold beers were cracked and the group enjoyed beautiful weather and views from the summit. 
After lounging around for a while, we all rappelled back down to the base. Rick hiked down to drive home to Park City UT. Greg and Mark then did the North Face of Castleton and Quinn and I headed over to the Rectory to climb Fine Jade. These are two of the best routes in the desert for sure! We all met up for the hike down in the beautiful late afternoon light. Time for a yummy burrito dinner and a few cold ones!
The next day we headed over to Long Canyon, NW of Moab. Here we went to a north facing crag low down in the canyon and climbed some really fun one pitch crack climbs along with a mini tower. Most all of the climbs were really good and no other people were there, so a good time was had by all. 
After climbing, we headed north a few miles and found a fun camp spot on a dirt road off the highway. Here we tilted a couple of cold brewskis to celebrate another great day in the desert while we cooked up a combo meal of Mexican and Italian grub. Life in the desert is good!
After a good night’s sleep, we headed into Tusher canyon, NW of Moab in search of towers… we had our eyes on the Putterman tower. After a few gnarly dirt roads and some four wheeling, we arrived at our destination. It was a quiet and fairly remote valley, and the tower looked pretty cool, about 250’ high. The climbing consisted of some cracks, some off width and some face climbing on rotting sandstone – the stuff that fine desert tower adventures are made of! 
We all topped out and enjoyed the view. The desert is such a beautiful place! After rappelling off, we bounced our way back to the highway in the trucks, ate some snacks and hit the road home. Another great trip to the desert – thanks to Quinn, Mark, Greg and Rick for coming along and making the trip such a good time!!
1 comment:
Hey - who is the short, stocky 'distinguished gentleman' in that top photo.
Is he not counted since the truck was loaded with 4 dudes? Or did someone push him off (there are only 4 dudes in pic #2!
Maybe he fell on the killer tiles....
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