Utah Is Still Awesome

Met up with the Gudmand family in Moab, Utah. We spent the first day together exploring Canyonlands National Park. T'was a wonderful day walking next to sheer cliffs and scaring the parents.

We saw a large chunk of the park in record time so we decided to make a quick visit to Arches National Park to see the Window Arches and the Double Arch. The Double Arch is one of my favorites in the park.

The next day we got permits to hike around the Fiery Furnace in Arches National Park. It's an area I haven't been to yet (probably because you have to pay a small fee) and it was an awesome time. It's a large area of fins, canyons, arches and towers. There's a vague path that you follow but you're encouraged to go off route and explore the endless side canyons and dead-ends. It was awesome.

Then Wid, Lynn and Peter left for the Salt Lake City airport. Christian and I then had 2 days to make our way to the Vegas airport. It was a good opportunity to show him one of my favorite camping spots in Utah. It's a canyon that meets up with the Green River. There's a road that goes all the way to the bottom of the canyon and ends up at a grove of cottonwood trees. It's a beautiful place with little to no tourists (expect the occasional ATV).

Unfortunately we woke up the next day to a flat tire. We threw the donut tire on and prayed we'd make it back out of the canyon on the treacherous and steep dirt road. And of course the Saturn delivered. So we drove into Moab so I could buy a new set of tires (I had zero tread left anyway...).

Then we drove 5 or 6 hours to St. George and camped in a really nice forest.

On the day of Christian's flight we drove the rest of the way to the Vegas area and explored Lake Mead and the Colorado River. The water was cold but a cleansing was warmly welcomed.

After I dropped Christian off at the airport I drove back north to Zion National Park to meet my friend Corey. The next day we climbed some routes in the park: a 3-pitch trad 5.10 and a 2-pitch sport 5.11. They were both stellar climbs! Here's a shot of the sport route. It follows the arete between the dark and light colored rock. The climbing and the views were both spectacular.

That night we camped near the Kolob Canyon entrance of Zion. Decent sunset...

Then we climbed at the Namaste Wall. It's a beautiful red and black streaked overhanging wall full of huecos. It's unlike any other rock that I've climbed on.

Now we're both driving to Colorado to climb at Shelf Rd for the weekend with a big group of Colorado folks.

Cheers!