Friday: Climbing in Arches National Park: not recommended.
Saturday: Ross leads the first pitch of Coyote Calling, getting ready for the grand finale.
Pitch two of Coyote Calling is an all-time splitter.
Ross moves into the thin hands zone.
Ross leads yet another splitter on pitch three of Coyote Calling.
After all those crazy burly cracks, Coyote Calling has a sweet little sport climbing finish!
Sunday: on the way home from Moab, we stopped by Durango to climb a classic sandstone overhanging finger crack splitter: Watch Crystal: so good.
Thank goodness for intermediate two-day weekends to get some rest. Last weekend we were at it again.
We got a late start Friday then climbed a couple classic pitches at Penitente, San Luis Valley, Southern Colorado. The welded tuff is bomber. We climbed Bucket Slave and Rocket Man. Rocket Man is burly with a couple clips where a slip would result in an ugly ground fall .
We spent Friday night at Nick's trailer near Fairplay. Thanks Nick! Sunrise on some high peaks. Brrrrr....
We met Miranda in the South Platte then made the grinding hike to Poe Buttress to climb Mississippi Half Step. This thing is an all-time classic. The sweet new guidebook has an excerpt from an old Rock and Ice article that calls it "the hardest 5.11 in the whole Front Range."
Miranda getting close to the techy, sequential traverse after the thin fingers on the 5.11d first pitch.
After the traverse, more funk ensues.
Pitch two is the splitter to end them all. It starts with fine fingers.
Then there is an intricate, thin face crux with trucker small nuts for pro.
Finally it ends with a burly thin hands and fingers splitter. Just wow!
Then Micah led Turkey Foot crack, Cynical Pinnacle in the background.
Micah in the beautiful upper splitter.
We had a great time drinking and eating hipster vegan food with Miranda in Denver on Saturday night. Then we made our way to Eldorado Canyon the next morning.
Sunday: our climb: The Naked Edge.
It took us way too long to get on the route. The first pitch is actually two pitches off the deck. But we didn't really know where we were going so we took three pitches to get there.
The first "5.11a" is an amazing thin finger crack.
The second pitch is special. It starts with some good runouts, but they're not very difficult.
The crux of the second pitch involves sustained 5.10 climbing well above a small brassy. Whew!
Pitch three is less difficult and wanders, but still with some interesting sections.
At that point, I'd reached my limit for the weekend. Two difficult pitches of climbing remained, then an easy pitch, then a scamble and hike for the descent. I was running out of gas and did not want to get home in the early morning hours. So we rapped. Can't wait to go back and finish it!
Looking forward to a relaxing two-day weekend. D'oh, Monday is a holiday!
