Maple Canyon

Since the Fourth of July fell on a Wednesday this year, Leah and I decided to take Monday and Tuesday off and go somewhere for a five day weekend.  With the heat soaring into the upper 90's, and the crowds flocking to Ten Sleep, we chose to head to Maple Canyon, in search of shady North facing caves, finger friendly cobbles, and some quiet camping.


Along the way, we got lost, drove until 5am, and slept in a Walmart parking lot.  In the morning, while we were wandering the aisles of Walmart like zombies, I couldn't get over the eerie twilight zone feeling I get every time I am deep in Mormon Country.  It's a mix of invisibility, tolerance, and curiosity.  I feel like an ambassador for an inferior country and ultimately, I find myself swearing a lot less.  So in a strange way, being in Utah makes me a better person.

Luckily, the drive was the low point of the trip.  The rest of the trip was filled with new crags like the Compound.

Deceptively cute attack Beagles.  Who knew those existed?

Back off or I will bite your face!

Amazingly cuddly crag dogs.

 Great car camping.

Turkeys.  And their stench.

Ice cream. 

 Huge wildfires. 

Beautiful, smoke enhanced sunset.

Rodeos. 

Breakfast at strange cafes.

Best cafe name ever!!!  Food wasn't bad either.

6bdrm, 5bth, 2ktn, 2lndry, 4000ft, 10acres- $160,000.

Kinky Mormon stuff.

Goofing off at Walmart

Deer urine, Elk urine, Bacon.

 Classic American landscapes.

Big sky.

San Rafael Swell.

And of course, some hardcore chillin'. 

Rockstar Leah will put her feet wherever she wants.

Five days flew by and once again, neither of us wanted to return to Boulder.  Unfortunately, work and responsibility reeled us east across I-70 and back into the Bubble.

Independence Pass

Summer is my least favorite time of year.  Besides being covered in a glaze of sweat all day, the heat makes rock climbing feel ten times harder.  My mind keeps whispering for me to give up and come back when it's cooler.  Luckily, Colorado has numerous high altitude climbing areas that are 30F° to 40F° cooler than the Front Range.  So instead of suffering in the 100F° weather around Boulder, or waiting until the Fall for good conditions, we drove 3.5 hours to Independence Pass and explored a totally new area.

I have been interested in this area for years but the pull of Rifle always kept me away.  However, my options at Rifle have dwindled to super hard, and my interest in mega projecting is extremely low, so I finally made it to Indy Pass.

The first day we went to the Grotto Day Use Area and checked out Gollum's Cave, and The Ice Cave.  Louder than 11 recently put out a video http://vimeo.com/43867547 that featured the bouldering in the Ice Cave.  Being a sucker for climbing porn, I got super psyched about the idea of bouldering in a unique, ice sculpted cave with an ice floor.

Layers of ice.

The Vampire.  You can lead this as a 13a traditional climb or boulder it at V7. 

Once we got there, reality set in.  Besides the fact that the floor had unevenly melted at least 3 feet since the video was shot and most of the problems are PG13 or R rated, it's a tourist attraction!  There's a constant stream of screaming kids, and people falling on the ice.  It's like being on the trail to Chaos Canyon, where everyone asks you annoying questions about your crash pad, only you never get away from them.  I hung out for about 20 minutes, and then decided to whole scene was way too stressful.

Later in the day, we headed to the Lower Grotto, and got thoroughly spanked on a super chalked up, benign looking 12c/d called Scene of the Crime.  Maybe it was the altitude or because I skipped my morning coffee, but this is the first 12+ I haven't been able to redpoint in a couple of tries in over 5 years.  Just goes to show that rock climbing will always humble you.

Kurt Smith on Scene of the Crime on the late 80's. 

Sunday was spent at Wild Rock- a building sized boulder with a steep and impressive 80 foot face.  Weary from Saturday's beatdown, I got on Problem Child 12b.  True to form, the climb proved to be difficult, and it took a couple of hangs to figure out the sequences.  Leah and I both did it second try, and then I moved over to my main objective for the trip- Wild Thing 12d.  This route tackles a steep, black corner and roof system to a powerful crux and some very funky moves in a strange corner. After haning all over it on my first go, I managed to grunt my way up it second go.  Like all the other routes we tried, it felt hard for the grade, but it's a brilliant climb.

Anyways, the weather was perfect, and the climbing was awesome.  So if you are looking for a good Summer location, check out Independence Pass! 

The view from the top of Independence Pass looking towards Aspen.

Switching Gears

Bugaboo, Snowpatch and Pigeon Spire from atop the South Howser Tower.

It's time to switch gears.  Rifle is getting hot, and a two week trip to the Bugaboos in August is quickly approaching .  Instead of sport climbing, I need to start focusing on traditional climbing, and getting fit for long days. 

I climb trad, but have never claimed to be an alpinist.  This will be my first alpine climbing trip and I have to admit I am a little nervous.  Not about the climbing, but everything else- the glaciers, ridge traverses, descents, grueling approaches, and cold overnight bivys.  I want to be ready- for myself, and my partner.

Besides my reservations about alpine climbing, the trip also marks an important anniversary for me.  On August 1st, 2010 I had a climbing accident and spiral fractured both of my ankles.  Within 24 hours, I underwent surgery and had 13 screws placed in my ankles.  I spent nine hazy days in the hospital and then I sat in a wheelchair with plastic boots on my legs for over three months while they healed.  During that time, I wondered if I would ever climb again.  More importantly, I wondered if I would want to climb again.

Ouch!

Two yeas later, my ankles are about 95% recovered and I am embarking on the most adventurous, and committing trip of my life.  I am more excited about climbing than ever!  In some ways, the accident was a blessing, that showed me how much I loved climbing and how much it has given me.  By almost losing climbing, I became more passionate about it.

Anyways, I can't wait to see the Canadian wilderness, and get committed to some huge, classic rock climbs.  Hopefully my ankles hold up.  Even if they don't, I will be in a beautiful place, doing what I love, and feeling grateful that I can still partake in such an amazing sport.

The Black Canyon

The view of the South Chasm Wall from the Guppy Gully.

On Saturday, Ben Collett and I headed to the Black Canyon with plans to establish a new route in the Guppy Gully.  After a brief scramble and a short rappel, we found ourselves alone, in a wild notch, with 800 foot walls jutting from the earth on both sides of us. 

Since the West side of the gully was already in the sun, we started looking at the shady wall on the other side.  We both saw the line at the same time- an obvious corner system all the way up the wall to a huge roof with a hanging corner on the right end.  We had no idea how hard, or scary it would be, but it looked promising.

Ben at the start of The World According to Guppy.

I nervously roped up and set off into the unknown.  Despite some loose rock, inconvenient bushes, and the stress of not knowing where to go or what awaited, I found myself giddy with excitement.  Instead of being scared, I was excited by the possibility of adventure.  After carefully navigating a small roof and an easy corner, I set up a belay with the remainder of my gear, and brought Ben up.  So far so good!

Ben following pitch 1.

From the belay, Ben headed left, and tackled a short arete section that led to a large corner.  About 25 feet higher, he veered right, moving across a steep slab to the base of a pretty finger crack.  We couldn't believe how well the route was flowing.  Two great pitches in a row!

Start of the 2nd Pitch.

When I arrived at the top of the second pitch I was amazed by what I saw.  A beautiful finger crack in a pretty, clean little corner awaited.  Unsure how hard it was, I cast off.  Our fears were quickly eased by the generous face holds near the crack.  What could have been 5.11, ended up being 5.10-.  The crack led me to the top of a pillar where a short, wide crack blocked my way to easier terrain.  After a couple of failed attempts, I found a solution, and cruised up a 5.6 slab and set up a belay just before the wall steepened.  Another amazing pitch!

Taylor at the start of pitch 3.

When Ben arrived, we decided to head up and left to the base of a huge roof.  The wall kicked back a bit and the rock looked a little more suspect so he proceeded with care.  Ultimately, the pitch ended up being a steep 5.9 with surprisingly solid blocks and flakes that led directly to a nice ledge below the roof.  Pure fun!

Ben leading pitch 4.

Me following pitch 4. You can see pitch 5 just above Ben.

The final pitch looked a bit intimidating.  The rock leading up to the hanging corner was a little dubious, and the crack looked challenging.  After inspecting a couple of ways to access the corner, I decided to climb directly above the belay using a finger crack, and then did a shockingly easy traverse into the corner.  A pleasantly clean 5.10- hand crack with the occasional face hold led me to the top of the wall.  This was by far the best pitch on the route!

Ben topping out pitch 5.

At the top, we both gushed about the quality, and sustained nature of the route.  We couldn't have been happier about our new route.  It had everything from fingers to wide cracks, steep jugs to delicate slab, and with a little bit of traffic, there is no doubt it will just get better.

Picture of pitches 3-5.

In the end we named it The World According to Guppy.  If you want more information, you can find a short route description at http://mountainproject.com/v/the-world-according-to-guppy/107593384.

Hope you guys enjoy it as much as we did!

Endo Valley Bouldering

I came back from the Red feeling weak so I decided to do something unusual.  I went bouldering outside!

Leah on an unnamed V4.

I wanted to see something new, so we decided to check out Endo Valley.  This little sector in RMNP was rediscovered by Dave Graham and crew a couple of  years ago and was surrounded by a little bit of controversy and tension.  Luckily, in typical Colorado style, everyone did everything quickly, and then moved on to the next hot spot- leaving the masses another beautiful bouldering area, with a very short approach, and a nice concentration of problems from V0 to V13.

Success!

We hooked up with our friends Matt and John who are die hard boulderers.  Being a route climber, I was anxious to leave at 9am.  They, on the other hand, suggested noon.  So, at 12:30 we rolled out of town and did the one hour drive to Endo Valley.

Leah trying the MS 13 Training Arete V8.

My first impression of the area was WOW!  I was immediately struck by the size and quantity of huge, well featured boulders that laid on top of each other creating everything from slabs to absurdly steep caves.  Another thing I really liked about Endo was that most of the boulder problems seem to fall between V8-V11- making it a good place for mere mortals to go.
.  

Matt on the MS 13 Training Arete V8.

Since the area is small, it can get crowded quickly.  However, this means more pads, more beta, more spots(hopefully), and it forces you to make some new friends.

Another view of the MS 13 Training Arete V8.

Unfortunately, it's getting a bit too warm for Endo, but I will definitely be back when it cools off again.  Thanks to everyone that helped establish problems, and fix landings.  This place is awesome!

Leah on The Portal V8.

Taylor on The Portal Sit V10.

Taylor on Chewbaka V11.  Love that name!

Leah getting cozy with her Polar Bear blanket VComfy.

Matt flexing on Chewbaka V11.