People often ask me where my favorite place to climb is. I usually respond with an "Ahahaha, oh gee, well that's a tough question they're all so amazing and different. Uh, I guess maybe Yosemite." That's usually a satisfactory answer. You really can't go wrong with that one- massive walls of immaculate granite, pristine setting, world class trad, sport and bouldering, waterfalls, very conveniently located to the Bay Area and San Luis Obispo, mangy deer, bold critters who try to steal your food, the list of merits goes on. But today I was thinking I might have a new favorite, one that is more decidedly a favorite and less of a default answer.
Similar to Yosemite, it is quite picturesque: middle of nowhere Utah, men in camo shooting guns and riding ATVs, mines and mining equipment, giant bobbing cricket rigs extracting oil/natural gas/some other substance from the earth at all hours of the day and night. Ahh, bliss. Those things are just small aspects of Joe's Valley that contribute to its character, and in their own way, make me like the place. The actual reasons I love Joe's are the perfect sandstone- beautiful streaked rock with unique features and perfect and imaginative lines, the river flowing down the canyon, the varied types of trees dotting the hillsides, the freedom from regulation, and of course, the Food Ranch. Honestly, just give me the Food Ranch and I'll be happy. In all seriousness, I've never had a bad time climbing at Joe's, and I've been there quite a bit. I can always get psyched there, the rock is more or less kind to your skin, and there are lots of great problems in my range of difficulty. 
This trip started with a snowstorm and a few days of festering in the van while the rock dried. We met up with Kevin again and he and I went out and scoped out some problems while Chelsea went on a six mile run in a blizzard. On our reconassiance mission Kevin and I ran into our good friends Trevor, Jake, and Mackenzie. Sweet! The whole trip was filled with the coming and going of a great crew of friends, which kept things fun. We met some other sprinter dwellers too, including Autumn from Georgia and Jesse from Canada.
Our first day on the rock was a little lackluster after a bit too much eating and sleeping during the storm. After that, things began to pick up. Chelsea sent an old project from a previous trip and I started working on Chips, something I had looked at on a previous trip and deemed too hard for me. After a session and a half of working out the beta, I sent Chips on my first go of my third day on it. Progression! I think Chips may be one of my favorite boulder problems I've ever done. The moves felt so cool and perfect when I did it, like it had been made just for me.
Another definite sign of improvement for me was sending Dirty Harry. It represented a conquering of a mental block for me. The crux was towards the top of this fairly tall boulder, and the fact that I was able to commit and finish the problem was exciting to me, especially after taking a huge fall from the top. It's great having encouraging friends like Kevin who say things like, "if you don't commit to this move, I'm going to punch you in the face." Thanks Kevin!
The whole time we were in Joe's was pure fun. We sent some old projects and checked out a ton of new things. I was loving the shit of van life, making delicious food, sleeping 12 hours a night, hanging out with amazing people, and climbing awesome rocks. What could be better? So maybe I do have a favorite place to climb, and maybe it is Joe's Valley. With so much rock out there that I have yet to climb, there are still plenty of opportunities for me to find a new favorite, but Joe's will always be a special place to me, and always somewhere I look forward to returning to.
Adventure On. LP
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