This time of year, when the Midwest winters never seem to end, and the days are long and gray. When the sun is sparse, if it exists between chilly winds and endless dreariness, I often plan a little desert climbing excursion to escape the last bits of winter that won't go away fast enough.
On the Western side of Las Vegas lines a US golden treasure for rock climbing, a National Park called Red Rocks, semi- if not world famous- which also has started to bring too many people from all around (me being one of them). Often causing over crowded routes and long lines up the wall. *side story I have of being stuck behind a group of climbers causing a 10hr day stuck up in high winds at 600ft and luckily topping out at sunset to scramble down steep gullies in the pitch black of night for hours using headlamps and iPhones to guide our long way back to the car.
To escape the popularity of Red Rocks, part of our Desert-Get-Away climbing trip took us to the Southwestern part of Utah around the area of St George where a trove of not-so secret but not popular by any means new cliffs and crags awaited us!
It is quite common to hang hundreds of feet off a vertical wall tethered to two or three bolts drilled in. It's difficult to argue about the views.
Often I wondered though during this trips- do I need a vacation from my vacation? Some days a warm beach and a cocktail sound pretty nice to freezing and bleeding all for the sake of fun.
For anyone familiar with climbing might be able to figure out what is going on in this picture above. It's a good example of why it is so incredibly important to tie knots at the end of each line of the rope while rappelling. This is a picture descending a route from the 5th pitch anchors to the 3rd pitch anchors (about 115ft) where our 70m rope just barely reached. With a bit of rope stretch and knots I was able to detach my rappel device and Prusik from the rope and clip into two of the three available bolts drilled into the limestone wall. The two large O rings are for looping one end of our rope through to continue rapelling down the wall.
Not all climbs have to be tall to be as rewarding. Getting out into nature is half the enjoyment.
And seeing the full moon rise over distant hill tops...
