Salt Lake City

Salt Lake City was mostly a chore stop over place.  We stayed in the Wasatch State Park on the east side of the mountains, a little south of Park City.  We did some shopping and got our hair cut.  Sounds like a no brainer but when you are months on the go a hair cut gets to be a big deal.

We did a little hiking, but when we tried to go for a motorcycle ride we ran into snow banks pretty quick.  So we fell back to Rock Climbing as our main activity.  No good pictures because all three of my cameras are broken.  So I am posting some pictures of the climbing area from the web.

We climbed in area 9, the Kitchen, and then in area 2, Red Slab.  On Red Slab Barbara got to experience the excitement of down climbing to set a top rope.  We are very brave on the rock when our top rope is set and we know that a mistake will only hurt a little.  A lot more cautious when free climbing.

Barbara got Mr. Numbers, a 5.10 climb.  She is getting stronger and more sure of herself with each climb.  I still have trouble getting around the over hangs, BMI to strength ratio is still not in the right place.  Of course I didn't have sense enough to traverse to the 5.6 route.....

04-26-2013 Corona Arch Rappel

While we were there in 2011 we had hiked up to the Corona Arch, there were some folks rappelling off of it.  With our new found climbing skills we decided we could do that also. 

Here is a 2011 shot of the group on the arch.  Note the people below and in the upper left corner. 

The plan was for me to go up and set the rappel ropes, Barbara would stay below and make sure the ropes reached the ground and take pictures.  I really underestimated the approach.  I was carrying two 90m ropes, one is not long enough.  We hadn’t scouted it, nor had we researched the approach.  So much to our surprise there was a little 5.3 climb on the backside to reach the top.  Someone had set top rope anchors and carved foot holds out on that section.  So up I go, unprotected, carrying two ropes.  And then it got worse. 

 

Another section of 5.3 smearing, I took the wrong route and wound up on some 5.5 stuff, unprotected, 80 foot cliff below the slab I was on.  After slipping once I down climbed a bit and re-evaluated what I was doing.  That’s when I noticed the wear on the rock where the other groups had gone across the face, not up it. 

This brought me to an area that was above the arch.  It had a 5.3 down climb to reach the top of the arch.  Someone had placed an anchor at the top this, so I set up a safety rope to do the down climb.  A slip here could result in a 100 drop to the rock below. 

Barbara was wondering what was taking so long so decided to follow me up the rock.  So she did basically the same thing I did, the little 5.3, then the smear on the slab, she got a slip on the slab also, but she had to down climb the 5.3 unprotected to get back to the bottom.  Scary stuff.

I had left a lot of gear in the truck; this was supposed to be a simple rappel from anchors.  So when I reached the rappel station I noted that there were two set of anchors, the original ones and a new set.  It was apparent that the guide service that leads this has set up some safer, more reliable anchors.  I would have gladly abandoned some web to use the new anchors, but I didn’t have it with me.  So, after finger tightening one of the old anchors, I set up the double rope rappel, it was do or die time, going back was not an option.

Barbara signaled ropes down and untangled, so started the rappel.  Its always the first step that you get the wooley boogers. 

The rest of the rappel was pretty amazing but went smoothly.  It was almost anticlimactic compared to the approach.  

 

Walking down the edge was fine, just don’t look down, concentrate on the rock before you.

Then the big step off, nothing but air below.

And down I go;

Just hanging around;

The rope pulled free without a problem.  While pulling it out I stopped to see where a single rope would reach, about 20 feet above the ground.  We talked it over and decided a repeat for Barbara to be able to do it was not in the cards.  It took me about a half hour before my hands would stop shaking. 

In hind sight we should have scouted the route or hired a guide.  We totally underestimated the complexity.  This activity should have at least three people to accomplish; two climbers that can do a standard multi-pitch climb, and on observer to check the ropes for the rappel.  It wouldn’t hurt to have the observer hold the ropes at the bottom.  It was difficult to keep from spinning while free rappelling.  It was also a good thing I wore gloves.  My ATC and auto-block both got pretty warm. 

Would I do this again?  You bet.  It will be a lot less scary because I now know all the particulars and can plan a safer trip.

 

 

04-25-2013 More Moab

Moab is a fun place for us.  Lots of things we like to do, hiking, motorcycle riding, and climbing.  We are there too early to enjoy the whitewater rafting.  In our campground a group of side-car riders came to stay. 

 

 

We took a day and rode south of Moab to the Picture Frame cliff.

 

While we were there a young couple was in the process of setting up a climb rope on the arch.  They intended to climb the rope to the top of the arch to gain access to the top of the plateau.  Standing inside the bowl you can see why they named it picture frame.

 

We plotted out a nice motorcycle ride, Potash Road, Shafer Trail, and then Gemini Bridge Road, 70 miles all together.  The sky was blue the rocks are red. 

 

We met Jerry from Vancouver, BC.  He rode a four wheeler and drove a jeep.  He used to ride motorcycles but decided to put four wheels under himself.  We did a nice ride together on the Sovereign Loop trail.  He followed us in his jeep on the Potash-Shafer ride.

 

 

Barbara was a little apprehensive about the Shafer Trail portion of the ride, but she enjoyed it. 

 

It’s very pretty to stand up on the edge of the Colorado River and look down. 

 

 

We came to the spot where they shot the car jump scene from the movie Thelma and Louise.  We had been here in 2011 when we came through Moab the first time. 

Here we are in 2011

 

Here we are in 2013

 

 

 

And then we came to Shafer Trail.  Yes, the zig zag lines are the road.

 

Steep, dusty, loose rocks, we had to climb in first gear.

 

Stopped about half way up to take a breather.

 

Once you get to the top you go around the edge to get back up to the main plateau.  In this shot you can see the approaching road at the bottom on the left, then the edge road at the top. 

 All in all it was a good day to ride.  We saw some real pretty country and enjoyed the company and the ride. 

 

 

04-20-2013 Early Moab

We are in Moab, Utah.  This is an awesome place with so much diverse outdoor activities it is mind boggling.  Of course that brings the 30 something adventure seeking crowd, we don't mind, they don't get in our way often.

The view out the front door is pretty amazing.  You can see some of the formations of the Arches National Park, small in this picture, but still pretty cool.

There is so much OHV activity in this area it is amazing.  The campground resonates with the sound of small 4 stroke engines in the morning and afternoon.  We don't mind because we do the same.

Just behind our campground at Arch View RV park is the south loop of the Sovereign Trail.  On the guide book there is a section marked; "Difficult Hill".  That really got my curiosity up.  So just after breakfast I jumped on my XT and went for a ride to find the difficult hill.  I did find it and it was...

Notice how the trail kind of disappears by the boulders.  That's because it drops rapidly.  I rode down to that section.  Several big boulder drops and loose gravel with a turn make it a very difficult hill. Here is a shot from below that area, but does not show the loose gravel boulder you would have to climb over.

So I turned around and climbed back up the way I came.  Even in the less difficult part of difficult hill challenged my bike, I almost stalled out.

On the way back I noticed a motorcycle single track sign and wondered what it was like, so I rode it. 

It was kinda cool the way they painted the trail over the rocky parts so you couldn't get lost.  I was having so much fun bouncing around the rocks I didn't take time to take pictures.  That is, until I came to the drop, that got my attention and I stopped to reconnoiter before I jumped in. 

It's level at the top, about a 3' foot drop followed by steep hill and loose dirt.  I parked and walked down to have a look.

Yep, it's a doozy.  So I climbed back on, gunned it, and lept off. Worked out ok.  This was the first morning here.

We went climbing in the afternoon but forgot the camera.  It was fun.  I did a 5.7 trad climb but didn't bring any gear so had to down climb it.  There was a lot of activity near there, and made it a little difficult to get set up on routes that we wanted to climb.  Eventually one of the routes cleared up and we made a good climb of it.  Still had fun in spite of the difficulty.

The next morning we woke up to rain.  So just sat around surfing the internet.  But around noon it cleared up so we scarfed some lunch and headed towards Corona Arch for a 110' rappel.  But on the way we passed the Wall Street climbing area and much to our surprise, no one was there.  So we pulled over and plotted some climbs.

I did a simple crack climb to access the bench for the top of the rest of the climbs. We treated it like a multi-pitch climb in the wild.  We set traditional protection in the first section,  I built a top  anchor and belayed Barbara from it. When she reached the top we set the rope for a rappel on one of the climbing routes.

It was a 5.7 route that both Barbara and I climbed.  When I got to the top Barbara had picked out another route that she wanted to climb, so I pulled the rope and reset it on a couple of anchors.
As I am rappelling down this route I am thinking there is no way I can climb it.  Later we found out the route was rated at 5.11, so Barbara accomplished her first 5.11 climb. 

 

Barbara had a time of it, fell a couple of times, had to use the sport anchors...

Very little to get a hold of...

She finally made it to the top...

It was a really good day of climbing.  We had a summer camp group of kids come to the area shortly after we arrived.  The lead climber scrambled up our first climb with no protection, then set ropes on two routes that we had planned on climbing.  The kids all had a good time on it.  Not a big problem because there were several other routes that fall within our ability range. 

Arriving back at the campground we found the view to as spectacular as when we left. 

We have several more days here.  It will be interesting to see what kind of mischief we can get into.

04-16-2013 Bryce Canyon Snow

The second day we were at Bryce Canyon it snowed.

 It made everything clean looking a very pretty.  But it was pretty chilly, 17 degrees.

Mocha and Bandit were not very impressed.  Even though they had their coats on they don't particularly like the cold white stuff.

 

I had a little fun in the snow building this pathetic looking snow man. 

After sitting in the camper for a full day we just had to get out.  So in spite of the blowing snow showers and the wind we bundled up and went hiking.  Bryce Canyon National Park was totally different after the snow.  What a magnificent change.

 

 

 

 

We decided to go for the "I hiked the Hoodoos" award.  This requires hiking three different trails and taking a picture of a placard along the way.  When you go back to the visitor center show the rangers the picture they give you a reward.

So we trudged around on the muddy/snowy trails and got out pictures.

 

 

It included a hike in the lower part of the canyon past this waterfall that is swollen from runoff.

And at the end of the day, pop cycle like, we went to the visitor center and collected a very nice pin for our efforts.

Bryce Canyon National Park 04-15-2013

We are making a quick stop at Bryce Canyon National Park.  The road up had some low arches, advertised 13' 6".  We had to do some gymnastics to get our 13' 8" RV through them.

The canyon is very beautiful. 

There is still some snow around, we are pretty high up at 8000 feet. 

Another storm is forecast for Wednesday, we will see what it brings.  We did a little motorcycle riding on the forest roads behind the campground.  We came across some Antelope.  Hadn't seen any of these in quite a while. 

Still enough snow around, the ride was very cool.  We ran through some runoff from time to time.

I wish I had the other camera with me.  These little prairie dogs came out to watch us and make sure we didn't disturb their turf.