Moses

The silence was complete. I sat on a large boulder looking up at my friends through a lens as they made their way up the famed Moses. They were nearly a quarter mile away, but I could still hear them as if they were next to me. There were no bugs humming, no rush of wind, the silence wasn't even interrupted by planes passing by. My eardrums didn't quite know how to react to the stillness. 

We were there on a three day weekend. Chase, Greg, and I snuck off for a day in Canyonlands. They were there to climb Moses, and I was there to shoot. Shifting to different locations every so often seemed to make the time go by. Sitting in the desert with a camera was a unique experience. This was the first time I have been out to shoot a day of climbing without climbing anything. 

It was a fulfilling day, even more so as I got home and went through the images. It was a stunning landscape. I hope to make it back to climb the route in the future. It was amazing. 

Ancient Art

Quick weekend trips are one of the things that make living in Utah amazing. You can go from a powder day to climbing and mountain biking in less than a 3 hour drive. When Eric called and threw Ancient Art on the table it didn't take much convincing.

We pulled in to Moab a little before midnight and crashed for the night outside of town. The night was a lot colder than we had anticipated but a Grand Slam at Denny's balanced it all out. We waited for it to warm up and then drove out to the massive pile of mud called Fisher Towers.

Eric and I took turns swinging leads. I lead the first and third pitch and he took the second and fourth. As I pulled my way up the third pitch to the walkway to the summit I was surprised. I have seen pictures of the climb, but nothing really does it justice. It was one of the most unique features I have ever seen. Eric made the awkward scurry across to the corkscrew and climbed it like a champ.

My mouth definitely was dry as I took my turn on the summit. The Fisher Towers make for interesting climbing. Climbing Ancient Art made me question my desire to do other climbs in that area. There are plenty of other routes made of solid rock to keep me busy for now.

We hit a climb on Wall Street called 30 Seconds Over Potash before heading home. We had a good time and the weather was perfect. Other than the two hour traffic jam we hit on our way home the trip went without a hitch.