Diversions

Technically, we are on a ski trip.  But the nice thing about being on the road is that you can actually do whatever you feel like whenever you want.  So when the snow was melting and the sun was out in California, of course we had climbing on our minds.  And we brought that mindset with us through Southern Utah and into Colorado and along to Utah.

After leaving Mammoth with a new core shot in my skis, we stopped in Bishop  for a day of bouldering.  We hiked up to the Druid Stones to avoid any early MLK weekend crowds in the 'Milks.  I kind of forgot how hard that hike is, until I was halfway up sweating through my t-shirt and blowing snot rockets every ten seconds (I had a really bad cold).  Once we were at the top and filled with snacks, it felt so good to be on the rock.  It had been a little while and I was feeling a little out of shape, but having a blast.  Bishop never disappoints.  

The next day, we knew we needed to get out of town before the hordes of people came pouring in for the holiday weekend.  We headed south to Lone Pine for a day of climbing at Alabama Hills.  We had our sights on a very aesthetic climb, The Shark's Fin.  The Shark's Fin stands alone and looks exactly like it should.  You can see Mt. Whitney in the background behind the climb, and all in all it's just a beautiful setting.  Pair that with the fact that we didn't see any other people, and you have the makings of a perfect day of climbing.  The routes on the Fin are all pretty easy, so we had a really mellow day of sport climbing.  

After leaving Lone Pine, we headed for Death Valley.  Our time there was fairly uneventful except for a run in with some park rangers.  We came in at night, and seeing as we hadn't passed the entrance kiosk and pay station that usually symbolize that you have entered a National Park, we thought we were ok to go down a side road and park in a large pullout for the night.  Apparently we were already in the park, and unfortunately for the rangers that were assigned to educate us, we didn't wake up until about 10:00.  They didn't knock on the van, they just waited outside until we came out.  Once properly educated on the park boundaries, they sent us away with a warning.  We then drove further into the park and went into the office to show our parks pass, which I always present with my ID.  The man at the counter read my name off my ID and laughed, "you guys just had some visitors didn't you?" "How did you know?" we asked.  He laughed and pointed to his radio.  He then pulled out a backcountry roads map, handed it to us, and said "I'll give you ladies this, because it seems like you like to stay off the beaten track."  Yes.

After Death Valley it was a short drive to Vegas where we braved the scenic drive to get to some bouldering.  We started on a rather overhanging bloc on a hillside, which when paired with gravity was actually kind of terrifying.  Next we moved to Get to da Choppa, which I mostly wanted to try because of the name.  There was no way I could do the big barn door move so I tried a work around with moderate success.  Next it was the Carpace, a slopey V7.  Slopers are my weakness (well, one of them).  But it was such a beautiful problem I decided to give it a shot.  I started making moves and then making links, and I eventually had all the moves done except the last one!  Then my finger started  bleeding everywhere and we decided to call it a day.  Not willing to pay the exorbitant price for the Red Rocks campground for another night, we hit the road again for St. George.  

I was feeling pretty wrecked from climbing hard in Red Rocks, but I tried some of my old projects in Moe's Valley and had a really fun day.  We spent two more days in the St. George area and went sport climbing at Chuckwalla Wall and the Black Rocks, both new areas to both of us.  The St. George area is awesome, there is so much to do and it is all super accessible from town.

After four days on, it was time for a rest day from climbing so we headed out to Zion for a beautiful walk, and then we were on our way again, this time to the permit office in Kanab, UT, to try to win the lottery for a permit to visit the Wave.  Unfortunately we were unsuccessful, but there is plenty to do in the area so we went on a 7 mile hike to some really interesting hoodoos in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.  The following day it was on to Horseshoe Bend, a very scenic stop indeed.  From there we motored to the four corners national monument (not recommended) and onto Albuquerque, and Taos (which I've detailed more in another post), and up to Colorado, where it was time to climb again.

We met up with Trevor and Andrew in Eldorado Canyon and started the day with our teeth chattering, but ended up with some lovely sunshine and pleasant temps.  The climbing was fun and techy and the company was great.  A few days later we somewhat met up with Alex at the Terrain boulders at the base of the flatirons.  Mostly we spent the day lost, trying to find Alex's pin drop.  By the time we got to the boulders it was super cold and our minds were on dinner and beer, so we headed back down soon after.

Following a fantastic stay in Breckenridge, we headed to Apsen (I'll post on these spots in a later blog!), and then on to Moab for a day of bouldering at the Big Bend boulders.  As I've mentioned before, these boulders are super stout and I spent a fair amount of time working on a V1, which thankfully, I managed to finish.  We met some super friendly climbers who gave us suggestions for later on our trip, then went for a lovely run along the river.  Next it was showers (finally!) and burgers (much needed), and then we were off to the Creek.  Despite it being a holiday weekend, we found camping, and had the climbing to ourselves.  The climbing in the Creek was obviously stellar as always, the weather was warm and summer-like, and I even led something without scaring myself too much!

So despite being on a ski trip, we are fitting in lots of other activities and having a blast.  We are keeping a positive attitude about the less than stellar snow conditions, and exploring lots of new places.  Life is good!