Doug decides to subject his mom Beth to a weekend of camping and climbing with us at Vedauwoo. We all pool resources to make her first night in a tent comfortable. We supply the two-person tent, Kate & Mark supply the ample air mattress, and Doug & Liz supply the sleeping bag. Beth is a great sport about all of it, and she gets at least a small dose of many of Vedauwoo’s offerings: gorgeous sunsets, zillions of stars, wind, a hike with a wrong turn into bug-infested forest (compliments of yours truly), a shady rest at the crag (Valley Massif), creek crossings, beaver ponds, campfires, smores, and slightly ashy fire-roasted hot dogs. We keep the climbing mellow and enjoyable, which boils down to three routes for me:

Soft Touch 5.5 I never get tired of this route – it’s worth the hike in just to climb it. Liz and Sean both agree, I think.

Zipper (Lower Half) 5.8+ I put a toprope on this one. It’s a very nice climb, with some tricky moves and unmistakable Vedauwoo offwidth. The wide section before the big ledge challenges all of us, and I feel fortunate to make it up without falling.

Stand and Deliver 5.10a Ann and I stop to do this bolted slab route before heading home. The crux is definitely the first move, but I find a sequence for it which I won’t divulge. The rest is a dance with Vedauwoo crystals, a nice break from the offwidths.