Thursday, May 24, 2012

The City 2

After taking our time on "Lost Arrow" we had time for one more route. I started my way up "Columbian Crack" and the climbing was a lot of fun... until I got higher up on the route and had used up most of my bigger cams. I ended up having to run it out pretty far and there where a few moments where I wasn't very comfortable (meaning I was pretty freaked out). I reeled it in and calmed my nerves back down before finishing the route.

After we got done we headed to the hot springs for a soak. Almo, Idaho is a great little town that I hope to get to know better.

The City

 
We piled into Tanner's truck Friday evening and headed north. The City of Rocks, ID is home to some amazing granite climbing. After a late arrival, we found all the camping sites full... after driving around for a little while we finally asked a group of motorhomers if we could crash in the vacant spots. They where a little drunk and way nice so they let us stay.

Morning rolled around and we all eventually woke up and got ready. Austin showed up and we got everything together and headed out to get some climbing done. The first climb of the day was on a granite spire called "Lost Arrow". We were planning to do a 5.7 but ended up starting in the wrong place and going up a 5.8X. The X means that the route is hard to protect and can result in really long falls... it was actually a lot of fun and really manageable. Even though it was a pretty mellow 5.8 there where moments where it felt pretty spicy. 

We all made it up and had fun hanging out up top. Tanner is leaving on his mission soon so we are trying to spend as much time with him as possible. We will miss that dirtbag when he goes....

Arm and Hammer

Bells Canyon sits right above Draper, UT and is home to some amazing granite. I was pretty excited when Greg called and asked if I could go. Greg is a strong climber and following him allows me to get up some really cool routes. We went up to do Arm and Hammer and it did not disappoint.

After a long approach and waiting for a party in front of us we finally started up the first pitch. We ended up climbing past the other party. The third pitch on this route was the stand out. They call it the Zion Curtain. A thin granite flake that runs up about 60 ft is the prize of this route. It was some of the most fun climbing I have ever done.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

A morning of fishing

A few weeks back Jeff and I met for a morning of fishing. The only problem was that we got there too early. Steve got there when it started warming up and the fish actually started coming to life. He nabbed the only fish for the day. It was a beautiful morning.

Bouldering Moab

 Here are a few more pictures from our Moab trip. Chase and Emily are such a blast. We had a lot of fun with them.