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Holy Saturday Climbing, Vedauwoo
Clare and Dennis come up for Clare’s birthday, and accompany me to Vedauwoo on a warm bluebird Sunday for some big crack climbing. The Holy Saturday formation provides the goods. We only hit two climbs, but they provide plenty of material: Hideaway Chimney 5.5 is nice and long, incredibly varied, and holds plenty of surprises…
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Jurassic Park Climbing
A group of climbing friends and acquaintances enjoy a day of Vedauwoo adventure together at the Jurassic Park wall. The day’s routes: Lawyer on the Toilet 5.8 – my only lead, one or two good offwidth moves. Get Up That Tree 5.8 – climb the scary chockstones. Rowdy Joe Bad 11b – cranky slab on…
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Green Mountain Loop Hike
Too cold and windy in Vedauwoo for climbing, our band of hardy adventurers sets out on a scouting mission and winds up circling the high peaks of the area.
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Pentitente Canyon Rendevous
Ann has been in Sante Fe a month now. I’ve spent much of that month looking forward to meeting her this weekend in Penitente Canyon. It takes about 3 seconds after I arrive Saturday morning to sink into a blissful reunion. We spend some hiking and climbing in cool but pleasant weather, and the next…
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Buttonrock Climbing
I join Kate, Mark, and Sean at Buttonrock for the mostly blissfully warm and sunny climbing day so far this season. A day out that is warm and sunny all day long. BLISS. My routes: Green Slab 5.9+ I try to warm up on this, and take a pretty good fall! A reminder that the…
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Potash Road Revisited
For our last day we decide to try a few more routes at Potash Road. The most exciting part of the day comes just after parking. We’re between the river and the road, and as I’m leaving the camper, T-Rex darts out. I panic, yell at Ann to grab him, she panics, dives, skins her…
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Willow Flat Campground
We decide it’s worth ten bucks to spend our last night in the park at Willow Flat Campground inside the park. It’s a small, pleasant campground within walking distance of the mind-blowing Green River Overlook. At dawn I wander down there and just catch this moonset before setting up the camera for a time lapse:
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Syncline Loop Trail Hike
Finding a campsite in the Island in the Sky district is not like the Needles. It’s BLM land outside the park, but camping is prohibited on almost every BLM road. We find one without the NO CAMPING signs, the west end of the Gemini Bridges road. One possible reason becomes apparent later – semi trucks…
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We Investigate Potash Road Climbing
Today we leave the Needles district, get a Moab climbing guidebook, and decide to check out Potash Road. It’s the perfect place to find a little gentle introduction to climbing on Navajo sandstone. After a fun, warm exploration we continue to the Island in the Sky district to spend the night. Slides: Our routes: She-la…
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Druid Arch Hike
We sleep under the stars, and I wake up in time to get pictures of the world coming back into view: We talk to some climbers today, and I discover to my great embarrassment that this is Indian Creek (a world famous climbing area). I had read some weird descriptions of Indian Creek, got confused…