Not Less Ab, but Mo-ab....

The day after Halloween, I left Las Vegas, and drove to Moab, Utah. On the way, I noticed on Facebook that John Richard was there and commented that I would be there that evening. He said I should give him a call when I got in, so I did and he invited me to join him and his friend, Adam, in climbing Fine Jade (5.11a) on The Rectory the next day. I had no plans, and had been expecting to just spend the day in Moab at the library, so, of course, I accepted! Also, on the way into town, I received an email from a guy I had met in Camp 4, Jules, asking what I was up to and saying he was interested in maybe getting out to Utah to climb in the 10 days he had left before returning to England. I told him I was in Moab and would love to climb with him. I love it when things just fall into place. :-)

I met up with John and Adam the next morning, and we headed for The Rectory. The desert towers around Moab are simply astounding. Fine Jade ascends a steep hand crack through an overhanging off-width pod, with a tricky move right via a thin, angling crack to another good hand crack, then, on the second pitch, follows a beautiful finger crack through a bulge, all on beautiful, bullet hard sandstone. After the second pitch, the climbing is easier, and the rock quality not so good (downright poor in places), but exciting traverses on the last two pitches keep things interesting to the very finish. All in all, it was a stellar climb, and I was glad to get to do it, even if I did have to pull on gear through the first pitch crux. After waiting for a slow party ahead of us before we could start the first pitch, we got down in the dark, but it was worth it.

Me, John, and Adam in front of Castleton Tower, with The Rectory above my head

Me and Adam walking across the saddle from Castleton Tower toward The Rectory

Unknown climbers on first pitch of Fine Jade (just above the crux)

Me, getting ready to pull around the roof on the final pitch...

Adam, me, and John, on top of The Rectory

Castleton Tower from the top of The Rectory

John setting up the rappel

Moonrise over the desert

That evening, I stayed at a hostel in Moab with John and Adam, and the next day we got up and drove to Fisher Towers to climb Ancient Art, a tower with one of the coolest summits I've ever seen, and probably the scene of the single most common desert tower summit photo. Generally, the rock quality on Ancient Art seemed better than the standard "crusted mud" of the Fisher Towers, but that's not to say it is good. The climbing was varied and fun, but the protection had to be considered a little suspect in many places, and you definitely wanted to think twice about anything you considered pulling on, especially on the lower pitches. The summit is, without a doubt, worth it though.

There were a lot of us on the route that day, with our party of three, a party of two, who John and Adam knew, Elayna and Nate, and another party of three ahead of them. It was a good thing the belay ledges were large.

The corkscrew summit of Ancient Art (foreground, center)

Elayna on the 5.10 section of the first pitch

John on the 2nd pitch chimney

Party on the belay ledge

Me on lead on the third pitch

On the top. :-)

I spent one more night at the hostel with John and Adam before they headed out to drive to Denver and catch their flights home, then spent Wednesday at the library, working on my job search, blogging, etc. Wednesday night, Jules arrived in town. We decided to go to Wall Street, a roadside (literally) crag just outside of Moab on Thursday, climb Castleton Tower on Friday, then drive to Indian Creek to climb on Saturday. Shortly after we arrived at Wall Street, we met Scott, who is on a mountain biking road trip, but was taking a few days off from biking to climb. He needed a partner, so we invited him to work in with us.

Scott belaying Jules on Top-40 (I think)

The crag was still decorated for Halloween. :-)

Scott and Me walking down Wall Street

Thursday night, Scott drove to Indian Creek, and Jules and I headed out to the base of Castleton Tower, to camp, so we could get a jump on the climb in the morning. Our jump was just a trifle slow, however, as a group of 4 (climbing in two parties of 2) showed up while we were making breakfast, and started the approach ahead of us. We took our time, but, when we made it to the base of the climb, the first party was still leading the first pitch. So, we spent quite a while sitting at the base of the climb, hiding out from the wind (which was unbelievably ferocious that day). After the first pitch, though, the first party ran the 2nd and third pitches together, and, after that, the log jam cleared up and things moved fairly well. The climb, itself, was fun. There was quite a bit of chimneying, and some awkward off-width. Jules did a great job on the third pitch crux, which involved climbing a chimney until it narrows to an offwidth, then stemming out through a couple of insecure, bolt-protected moves until you get to good hands on the left face. Much of the rock was covered with a layer of hard, but slick calcite, which made even the chimneying insecure feeling. Unfortunately, the zipper failed on my camera bag a couple days previous, and Jules had only his SLR, having crushed his compact in a chimney in Yosemite, so we ended up not bringing a camera on the climb, so I only have a handful of pictures from before and after.

Trying not to get blown away on the walk down


Jules in front of Castleton

On the hike down, after Jules had taken a couple of minor spills, I was thinking to myself how cool I was to have never wiped out hiking on any of the approaches or descents on my trip. I think this thought came about 2.5 seconds before my theatrical head-over-heels wipe-out. Jules was amazed that I managed to avoid bashing head open, and got right up and kept walking...well, limping. Fortunately, the only real damage was a bruised knee. A little ice, and some ibuprofen, and I was right as rain.

That night, Jules and I drove to Indian Creek, where we re-united with Scott. The tale of my time at the creek will be told in the next installment. So long for now!

Route List for 11/2-6:

• Fine Jade (5 pitches, 5.11a, Trad) (Followed pitch 1 with aid, pitch 2 with one fall, 3-5 clean)
• Stolen Chimney on Ancient Art (4 pitches, 5.10a, mixed) (Followed pitch 1,2, 4 clean, onsight pitch 3)
• Unknown 5.9-ish Slab at Wall Street (Onsight)
• Lacto-mangulation (5.10b) (TR clean)
• Top-40 (5.8, Trad) (Pink-point)
• 30 Seconds Over Potash (Stout 5.8, Trad) (Led with one take)
• Lucy In the Sky With Potash (5.10a, Trad) (TR clean)
• Nervous in Suburbia (5.10b) (TR clean)
• Kor-Ingalls Route on Castleton Tower (5.9+, Trad) (Followed pitches 1,3 clean, Onsight pitches 2, 4)