City Of Rocks Flavor.

 The City of Rocks Idaho

 Evening Light after a storm.

 Clearing Storm

 Early Morning Spire is one of the most popular climbs in The City. The route goes up the left skyline of this feature. One afternoon a thunderstorm came through and a climber was stupidly on top of this thing. He made it down without getting struck by lightning but it was arching and hitting a feature right behind the spire. We were very worried about him though.

 Tumbleweed.

 Views of the city. Tons of rock.

 The California trail from the east coast to California went through here. I can't imagine how neat it would be to come through after months on the trail and see this place from the quietness of a wagon. It was beautiful.

Sunset from our campsite.

Climbing in The City Of Rocks

The first route we climbed in City of Rocks was Rye Crisp 5.8. I've looked at photos of this thing for years and since it is right next to the road seemed like the perfect single pitch after our drive. The route was nice and the view from the top was like looking out over Joshua Tree. It felt good to be back in the desert.

The city turned out to be the perfect place to hangout for a week or so. We climbed several pitches a day and most every one ranged from good to amazing. On our first full day we climbed several of the "classic" routes on the Super Hits Wall. Below are photos of Bloody Finger 5.10a on the left and a nice 10bR that we top roped on the right.

 Patterns in the rock.

 Krystina leading Adolescent Homosapien 5.7

 Cleaning Tow Away Zone 5.10a

 It rained the first few days we were there right around 3pm. The rock would dry very fast so it was a perfect time to take a break in our day and just hang out.

 We went to Steinfells Dome and climbed Theater of Shadows 5.7. It goes up the thumb looking feature just left of the huge dome in the above photo. The climb was very nice and a perfect lead for Krystina. She lead all 4 pitches most of which had at least 12 bolts (some 21). The rock is different than most of the other stuff we climbed and the route is a low angle romp up the long slab

Krystina leading the first pitch (above) and the second pitch (below).

 The view from the top of Theater of Shadows.

 On top.

Our fourth day we took a rest day which turned out to be very hard to to. There is so much climbing right there and nothing to do in the town. We watched a movie in the visitors center and then tried to go to the pool but it was Sunday and everything was closed. So, we drove back to the park and had lunch on top of Bath Rock. It has a tourist climb on the back side with rebar to pull yourself up on. Its like the cables on Half Dome but without the approach or the fear.

 View from the top of Bath Rock.

 The Bath... Hmmm

 Going down the re-bar ladder.

 Our Fourth Day we warmed up on Thin Slice 5.10a. This is a fun climb that is on one of the nicest colored areas that we climbed.

Cairo 5.11 Its too bad this thing is not 5 times as long. It was a very nice route though and not nearly as hard as I thought it would be.

The Lichen color at the city is absolutely beautiful.

Interceptor 5.11a. This was my favorite lead in the city. Its a very cool crack that starts after about 15ft of easy climbing to get to where Krystina is in this photo. After that its a perfect finger lock to get into the crack and then great hand jamming that slowly widens to fists on the overhanging 15ft. Short but excellent...

We rounded out the day on Elephant Rock. This is Just Say No 5.9.

On one of our last days we went out to Stripe Rock for another 4 pitch route. This thing is called Cruel Shoes 5.7 and Krystina did a great job leading the whole route. This climb is bolted perfectly and safely but thankfully was not overdone.

Our last day in the city we got up and did three pitches before leaving for California and The Sierras.

Lunch

Krystina climbing Colossus 5.10c the morning we left.

Salt Lake City

 We drove Kevin back to Salt Lake with the hope to go to Colorado and Wyoming with him. Turns out his head didn't clear up that quick so we did a couple days of climbing in the Little and Big Cottonwood Canyons. It was fun staying with Kevin and Christine. We hung out for about 5 days then headed back northwest to City Of Rocks, Idaho.

We Climbed a  route on the south side of the Little Cottonwood called Stiffler's Mom 5.11a the first day. It had been highly recommended  and was an ok climb that felt very soft for the grade and not worthy of the reputation. The next day we went to the north side of the canyon and climbed After The Fall 5.9 and Green Adj. 5.9. Both were good routes but it was way too hot and we were both sick by the time we finished up Green A. We bailed from the heat for an Icee after logging just three pitches for the day.

The next day Kevin was feeling a little better and we went out to climb Pentapitch and Sasquatch 5.9. It was a fun climb and Sasquatch was nice. Kevin felt off for a while afterwords but by morning was exhausted and we realized he wouldn't be climbing or anything else for a while.

The last day we knew better than to go to Little Cottonwood so we went to Big Cottonwood assuming the rumors were true and it would be cool enough to climb... Well, they weren't true. It was almost 100 in the shade according to the car when we got off the climb. You can see the heat in Krys face just after the 3 min approach. We climbed Outside Corner 5.7. It was an ok route on crap rock but we had fun anyway and promptly headed back to Cristine's to cool off and decided to leave for cooler weather. We decided to head to City of Rocks Idaho... Great decision.

Outside Corner 5.7

Squamish, British Columbia

 SQUAMISH WEEK ONE...

 Squamish is one of the most perfect places I've traveled. Climbing there is some of the best, if not, the best of anywhere I've been. It quickly became my favorite place to climb. With the Moab desert still my favorite place. The climbing is as good as Yosemite, but easier to get to with a much better vibe and well....Matt Bento said it best, "Squamish is vacation Yosemite".

 This Bald Eagle flew over the place where we camped most nights. One night he had two Canada Geese carcasses that he could barely fly with. It was a really cool treat to see him. The only question I have is, Why was he in Canada? I thought they were only allowed inside the United States.

 There was a huge flock of geese hanging around the spit where we camped most nights. Some nights we just slept in the car closer to the climbing but it was so beautiful on the spit that we kept going there.

 I love this place.

 The first day we got to Squamish we drove around and checked everything out. Squamish isn't just a world class climbing destination but it also has world class kite boarding and mountain biking. This shot is from the end of the spit and the large cliff in the background is the Chief. The bulging wall just left of the bright red kite board is where the famous climbing route "The Grand Wall" is located. I've dreamed of climbing this route since I was 18 and finally was able to climb it on my third day in Squamish with Matt Bento. Unfortunately, we didn't get any photos of the climb.

 evening...

 Manyana 5.10c

 We spent a lot of time with Matt Bento and Trevor (or The Weasel). They were really fun and both are very strong climbers. Matt is leading a nice 10d at Nightmare rock and The Weasel is sleeping...

 And another evening.

 

Me and Krystina on Exasperator 5.10c. This thing was awesome, cruiser perfect locks in one long pitch that WILL make you giggle a little. 

 Arrowroot 5.10a, again perfect locks

 The classic carving to commorate the first ascent of the Grand Wall oh yeah, and Matt.

 Matt crushing in the boulders. Squamish also has some of the best bouldering I've ever seen. The boulders are spread around the dark forest. Its so thick under the canopy that we were able to boulder for a long time before the rain came through. When we left the boulder field everything was soaked and the rock was just getting wet.

 Finishing up the best smoked salmon ever.

 Krystina on High Mountain Woody 5.8

There is a Black Dike that runs through the Grand Wall for the entire height. To climb it is 5.13 and a lot of it. But, it also continues underground through the entire monalith and reapears about a mile foreward on a small cliff as a more manageble 5.10d called Chasing Rainbows. It was an awesome feature to climb and very worth tracking down.

 SQUAMISH WEEK TWO...

 

 So, We were having such an amazing time in Squamish we talked Kevin, who we were going to meet in Wyoming, into meeting us in Squamish and we would climb in Wyoming later. We picked him up in Seattle and drove him back up with the plans to leave a week later and drive him to Salt Lake to start classes. The first afternoon we climbed a couple pitches just before dark and were really looking forward to the upcoming week. We got up the next morning and did an easy multipitch route called Skywalker. We had planned to take a lunch break and then do another multipitch in the evening. We ate lunch and decided to put our feet in the river. On the way down to the water Kevin slipped on a rock and fell into the river, smacked his head on a rock, and scared the crap out of the three of us. He is fine now but I was very worried for the first few minutes. It was really crazy to see happen and at such an odd place, it was a very touristy area where anyone could go down to the river and he just slipped randomly. Thank God he was ok.

Kevin felt exhausted the next day so he hung out at the Adventure Center while Krystina and I went to climb a couple pitches. On the left Kry cleaning Neat and Cool 5.10a (and its both for sure) and the right is Kry leading Cat Crack 5.7. In the afternoon Kev was feeling better and we went out for a few very easy pitches to see how he would feel. The next day Kevin felt bad again and still wouldn't go to the doc so he rested and we went climbing without him. It really sucked to leave him but better than worring about him bumping his head again all day. Besides he got to watch a movie about the first ascent of the Grand Wall...

 The next day Kev was feeling a little better so we went out on an easy climb. We got on Diedre 5.8. Problem was it was a Saturday and the route is the "Tradgumby" dream route. It took us all day and Kry got bored after about an hour at the top or pitch one so we lowered her off and she went on a run while Kev and I suffered on. It was a very slow day but we still enjoyed hanging out and really got to know a very nice couple as well.

 Kevin at the second belay with the Howe Sound in the background. At least the view is spectacular.

Our last day in Squamish Kevin didn't want to risk lead falls but wanted to climb so we went and climbed Calculus Crack 5.8 with Matt and Krystina in two teams of two. We flew up the route and then decided to go bouldering one last time before leaving for Salt Lake.

 Kevin on Calculus Crack. MmmMmm Good, Kinda

 Kevin Bouldering the last day. YES I know that it wasn't smart but I'm not his daddy. All I could do was give him a good spot (and picture!).

Krystina on the Door Knocker of Squamish. There is a problem in Yosemite that has a loose but lodged block on it and this problem has the same. Really fun and cool to find those conections between the two places. It was a good place to end our time there. Can't wait to go back.