Saturday
On Friday night Kayla & I met up with Ethan & Anne in Moab. I thought the best place to camp was in Willow Springs, as it was like, 15º up in the La Sals. We met up, but Willow Springs was PACKED because of Easter Jeep Safari week in Moab. We ended up forming a little wagon circle in a large clearing full of vans & campers.
Saturday we woke up & hung out in camp with our coffee to plan the day… we chose to go into the Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands NP to do a hike or two before going climbing. On the way out of Willow Springs I set up my little orange tent to save a better campsite for us.
The hike we did was Lathrop to Canyon rim, a pretty easy 5 or 6 mile hike through a prairie until it opens up at a massive canyon rim. So pretty! The hike took us about 3 or 4 hours total, with a few stops to enjoy the view & snack. Super casual hike, not too much elevation change. Definitely recommend!
The weather was amazing, a light jacket in the sun was perfect. It was great to see Ethan & Anne again (from Chicago), I expect to see both of them again soon!
After our hike we drove back into Moab to get some lunch. We went to the taco truck at the moab food truck area. Suuuper tasty steak tacos with cilantro & onion. After we ate we walked over to the little music/stage performance area to check the schedule. There’s live music Thurs/Frid/Sunday, and Saturday is Magic Night!! So awesome, I hope to go to one of the Moab magic shows soon.
After our little walk Kayla & I drove to Pagan Mountaineering shop to pick up some gear. I got a new 70M rope (Whoop!) and Kayla picked up an ATC, hollowblock, and PAS so she can safely multipitch & rappel with me.
We all met up on Wall St. to climb, 10 minutes from Moab. it’s about a mile long with like, 100 routes on it. Basically a giant climbing gym right on the side of the canyon road. We met at a route called Lacto Mangulation, one of my favorite routes, a 5.10a/b mixed trad & sport route. Ethan lead a route next to it called Little Tufa’s, a scary 5.10b. I loved the climbing, everyone had a lot of fun hanging out & climbing together. Kayla went up Lacto & learned a lot about climbing in corners ☺️
[Somehow I managed to take 0 photos during this…]
After Lacto & Tufa’s, Kayla & I went down the street a bit to a nice & easy 5.8 so that I could show her how to rappel. We went over clipping into the anchors, using the PAS to extend the rap, and then backing up with a third hand with the hollowblock. Kayla then did her first rappel! Legend. I hope doing this makes her a little more comfortable rapping things like Looking Glass arch.
Just as the sun set we packed up and went to 98 Center, my favorite dinner spot in Moab! I got 2 orders of Vegan Nachos with Pork, and 2 Vegan Cheesesteak sandwiches. No one is vegan, but the vegan cheesesteak is soooo good…. We went back to camp to eat & then all passed out.
Sunday
On Sunday Ethan & Anne were still itching to climb, so the 3 of us all decided to make the drive to Indian Creek, about an hour away. Indian Creek is pretty legendary among climbers for sandstone splitter cracks. There are often routes that are just a single crack that runs up a wall a hundred feet. So epic… I took them to the Super Crack Crag, where I was familiar with a few easier routes we could all have fun on.
I thought we could climb Twin Cracks, but it was taken already, so we hit a up a few of the other nearby routes. We all went up this little chimney/offwidth, finger crack 5.8 thing called Triple Jeopardy. Everyone enjoyed the climbing, it’s super different than a normal sport or trad/crack climb. Lots of squeezing & grunting as you make a few inches at a time. It’s really well protected, and is really just a lot of fun!!
The party next to us had struggled up a corner hand crack that Adam & I struggled up last time we were here called Unnamed, a 5.10. We ended up chatting for a while between climbs, and they were kind enough to tag a top rope for us so we could top rope it without me having to battle it on lead… Last time I was here I ALMOST got this route clean, and I was feeling strong. I went for it, and got up about 75 feet up the crack before I got to the crux & was ultra pumped. The route is about 115 feet total of #3 & #2 sized crack. It’s totally sick, but definitely requires some more muscle than I have now! Hoping to build some strength in the next month or so & get back at it.
Ethan tackled it next, cruising up the first 25’ or so. Crack climbing is waaay different than sport climbing, and Ethan hadn’t done much prior. He crushed it though! Had to take a few more times at the cruxes, but generally got his technique dialed in.
After Indian Creek we drove back to town to hit up a few grocery stores for dinner ingredients. Turns out, Kayla was making us all curry!!! It was soo good, perfect meal after a long day of climbing in the desert sun. We all ate around the campfire & chatted. As usual, I was the first to say “Alright guys, it’s about that time…” and then start getting ready for bed 😂
Monday
Spent Monday working in Moab, felt good to be back & feel so comfortable in a space. Loved running into people who I had met last year! I think it’s so crazy & cool how much of a second home Moab feels like to me. I’ve spent about 10 weeks here now, total. It felt great to roll into such a familiar space.
I went to the Moab Rec Center to sign up for a membership. The membership is $45/mo and gives you access to the pools, work out spacees & yoga/fitness classes. It also gives you access to the showers 😂
After a quick shower & grocery run, I took the Jeep out for a little sunset photo-op up Gemini Bridges trail. Had some fun up there on a windy & stormy night.
It’s Jeep Week, but I only saw 2 trucks up there, an old Bronco & a sweet Tacoma. It’s always fun to see other people’s set ups & toys.
Tuesday
i worked Tuesday on the patio at the library. Always a great, quiet spot with solid wifi & parking/sun for solar.
After work I went up to the La Sal Mountains, about 30 minutes outside of town. I was hoping to find some wildlife, but all I saw were a few pretty birds. Snapped their pics and then turned my camera on the Jeep again 😂 Always a good subject!
I went up to my favorite campsite in the La Sals (38.543601, -109.317388) for sunset, it overlooks the whole valley, and you can see Castleton & a few other desert towers/spires. As the sun sets it creates these amazing orange & purple layers in the landscape. I spent a few hours up there snapping photos & waiting for the light as it got better and better.
After a bit I heard some scratching in a bush near by! A grouse had snuck up on me & was watching the sunset from the bush. I got a few photos of her (I think it was a girl grouse?) and we shared the moment together.
Wednesday
Wednesday after work we went on over to Wall Street to climb. We hopped on a fun mixed route called Sibernetics, a nice corner climb, I think rated 5.8 or so. I lead it, once again getting used to being on the wall & climbing on trad gear on sandstone. It took a bit to remember the crux move, but got it & set up a top rope. Kayla & I both climbed it a few times. Really realizing how “in my head” I am with my climbing! Need to dial in the mental game & rebuild my confidence in the rock & my feet.
Thursday
It got pretty warm on Thursday, so after work we went to the river to cool down a bit. Kayla got out her inflatable stand up paddle board (SUP) to get out on the water. It’s pretty sweet! Packs down into a bouldering pad sized backpack, and then inflates pretty quickly with a pump kind of like a bicycle pump. She did a few laps up and down the river & then we went across the street to thee trailhead for Corona Arch.
Corona Arch is one of the more popular arches outisde of the National Park. I’ve spent about 10 weeks in Moab now, and somehow have never been to check it out! We hiked up around 5:30PM to get there & find a good spot to hang out for sunset. It’s a short hike, maybe a mile and a half or so, really pretty hike up a canyon to find Bow Tie Arch & Corona Arch. I snapped some photos & wandered off to find a different vantage point & accidentally ended up climbing up this little slab climb to the back… oops.. Had a heck of a time down climbing it with my camera bag 😂 Learned a lesson, won’t be doing that again.
Friday
Friday afternoon I went to the Matheson Wetlands Preserve, where I had heard there might be some wildlife to photograph. I camped out in a little hut for a few hours & took photos of a few woodpeckers that had come out. Really fun to just sit there in the shade & snap photos of the birds that came by, I really enjoyed it!
After that it got pretty hot in town, so we went up to the La Sals. There’s a climbing area called Mill Creek that has a really preetty stream that runs through it. We drove up there & brought hammocks & blankets down to read & relax int he cooler environment. Turns out… it’s still pretty snowy up in the mountains 😂 We hiked down in our Chacos, basically post-holing our way down to the water. Once we got there though, it was awesome! We set up the hammock, read for a bit & munched on smoked gouda Triscuits with goat cheese & jam. I snapped a few photos, and then we packed up & made the cold hike back up.
We ended up decided to just camp up in the mountains, it was a greaet night for it. We found a nice spot, kind of tucked away in the trees a bit off the La Sal Loop road. Super pretty area, especially for sunset! I took sunset photos and made a fire while Kayla made dinner.
