I called Crisco last night and asked if he wanted to go climbing. I told him that there was this chimney/gully thing in Rock Canyon that had some ice in it that would make a fun mixed route. It’s the wall past George/The Kitchen that comes pretty much right down to the trail. Fast forward to 9:15 this morning when we arrived at the base of the route. “Where’s the ice?” Crisco asked. “There isn’t any. I just told you that to get you here.” I took a stubby screw just in case, though.
It had snowed several inches the night before and the whole chimney system was covered in the stuff. From the trail, the route looked like it would be about 100 feet long. I led the first pitch. It started out with a fun little bulge, then went over a couple more bulges with some thorny plants and lots of snow thrown in between them. The pitch just kept going and going and before I knew it, Crisco yelled up and said that I had 15 feet of rope left on my 60. I climbed up one more bulge (which turned out to be the crux), but I had used up all of my big pro so I couldn’t protect it. I set up a crappy belay that consisted of a small KB piton (that went in a little too easily), two crappy nuts, and a good small cam and belayed Crisco up. We looked up and figured we had about 30′ to go to the top.
I led the next pitch, too, which went up a fun, steep little drytooling section and then more snow gully. There were another one or two bulges after that that were a little bit tricky and eventually (150 feet later) belayed from a good-sized tree. I belayed Crisco up to me, but we still weren’t at the top yet. We had to trudge through knee-deep snow up (south) for 100-150 feet or so until we saw a brush-choked gully coming up from the left. We fought our way through it and eventually made it back down the trail.
The route took a while, maybe 4 hours backpack to backpack. It was slow going in the chimney because I had to clear off all of the snow from every hold. The route’s about 450-500 feet long if you include the snow slope on top. I’m guessing that this has been climbed before, but maybe not. And maybe not in winter? Not sure. Anyway, it was a ton of fun. I’d give the route 2 stars out of 5–a solid “good.” It’s definitely better than climbing in the gym. Crisco asked what we should name it, then suggested the name Higbee Gully. I’ve never had an eponymous route, so I agreed. Again, maybe this has been done before and has a name. If so, let me know what it is.
For gear, I took a set of nuts and a set of Camalots to #4. Doing it again, I’d take an extra set of cams from red (#1) through blue (#3) Camalot. The pitches are long. I didn’t use any screws.
The start of the route from the trail.
The route from near the Appendage.
Me stemming my way up the first pitch.
Looking down the first pitch from halfway up.
Looking up at me from halfway up the first pitch (taken by Crisco).
Me on the fun section just above the belay.
Crisco and me after the climb and the brutal descent through thigh-deep snow.
The route as seen from the Appendage. The route is marked in blue, the descent is marked in yellow.
My brother, Trevor, was going to be in town for a few days and wanted to do an epic hike. I suggested Kings Peak, the tallest mountain in Utah at 13,528 feet. It’s normally done as part of a three day backpacking trip, but I try to avoid camping as much as possible. So it was decided that we’d do the mountain in a day. It’s something like 29 miles round trip with over 5,000 vertical feet of elevation gain, but we climbed Dome Peak (13,103′) too, so the actual mileage (both horizontal and vertical) was even greater. It was great, and it took us I think 14 hours round trip (though I don’t remember exactly). Overall, it was fun to hike a big mountain with big mileage with Trevor. And the fact that it’s the tallest in the state was pretty sweet, too.
Mmmm... calories, carbs, and electrolytes. My standard fare for a big day in the mountains.
Me at the top of Dome Peak with Fortress and Cliff Peaks (two more thirteeners) in the background.
Fortress Peak and the head of Henrys Fork Basin.
Trevor and neverending rocks. That's the summit of Kings Peak behind him.
On the hike out. Kings Peak is the pointy one left of center and directly above the trail; Dome Peak is left of Kings.
By the end of November (the 28th, to be exact) I was able to convince Crisco to go back down to Moab with me. Neither of us really relish the camping experience and it’s not something we would choose to do if we didn’t have to, so we just went down for a day trip. The plan was to climb an easy, fun tower. We’d seen and admired Dark Angel on previous Arches trips and it looked pretty awesome, so we decided that that would be our objective.
Beta:
It took us an hour to hike there. I led the first pitch. It was slightly sketchy 5.7 to a sweet 5.9 finger crack. I tension traversed off of an old bolt and made it to the belay. I fixed the rope and Crisco jugged up. I led the second pitch, too. It involved some funky beached whale moves over a large block, which were followed by a 7-bolt bolt ladder. I aided past the first few bolts and then freed it to the top. The last 30 feet or so was easy (maybe 5.5ish) but completely unprotected. Definitely a “career ending” fall. The anchors at the top were solid (3 bolts? Maybe 4?) and the slings in ok condition. The rap down (doable with a single 60m rope) was free hanging and enjoyable.
Rack:
Take a set of cams to #3 (with an optional but recommended #4) and a set of nuts, plus a bunch of slings/draws.
Dark Angel is the solitary tower on the left.
A closer view of Dark Angel. The route goes up the back side.
Me starting up the first pitch.
The anchor at the top of pitch 1--two drilled angles.
Me snaking my way past the start of pitch 2.
Me on top.
Me on top, getting ready to rappel.
Getting ready to rappel, part 2.
All in all, it was a great day trip. It’s a pretty chill climb without any major difficulties. It was fantastic to be back int he desert. And it was tower 25 or 26 for me, and maybe ~10 for Crisco.
Crisco has been trying to get me to go ice climbing for the past few weekends, but I’ve 1) been busy, and 2) been dreading being that cold. Ice climbing is a very, um… interesting pursuit. It’s terrifying. It’s mind- and body-numbingly cold. And sometimes it’s downright painful. This is my fourth year climbing ice (I’ve been rock climbing for a decade) and I still dread it, it still makes me nervous. In addition to being covered in very sharp, pointy pieces of steel, you’ve got danger from avalanches and falling rock and ice. In short… it’s scary.
With that out of the way, yeah, Crisco, Matt, and I went up to Stairway to Heaven in Provo Canyon today. We climbed a couple variations to the first pitch and then we did a two pitch line. It was great! The past few days I’ve just been in a funk. I’ve been feeling apathetic toward everything. Ice climbing was what I needed to get the zeal back!
Approaching the ice.
Crisco climbing.
Me on the first pitch.
Me belaying Crisco on pitch 2.
