Just What the Doctor Ordered

Patient’s Symptoms: cranky, irritable, low psych, stress, confusion

Rx: Utah sandstone, take daily for 1 month, or until symptoms stop

Wow.  Now that was a climbing trip.  Not only was it a climbing trip, but it was exactly what I needed after finishing school.  For the past month, I sampled some of Utah’s finest sandstone, moving from Indian Creek splitters, to Moe’s Valley’s colorful and interesting boulders, to Joe’s Valley’s diverse, perfect blocks.  It was an amazing trip and it left me feeling better than I’ve been in a long time. 

Cool rock at Moe's Valley

 So you heard about the Creek, which was basically the warm-up for the trip.  Chelsea and I got back into climbing mode, enjoyed living the desert life, avoided getting melted by the intense sunshine and got our butts kicked on many classic climbs.  Then it was time to switch to bouldering mode.

I had never been to Moe’s Valley and I was super excited after looking at the guidebook and seeing all the 3-star moderates.  I was also excited that we could set up camp and walk to the boulders every day, which made for a very laid back week full of fun climbing.  Moe’s Valley was our transition back into bouldering mode and not too much sending actually went down while we were there.  There were way too many awesome things to try which meant starting a ton of projects and finishing very few.  My favorite project was Schezuan Chicken, an awesome V5 that included a knee bar!  I worked it a lot but didn’t end up getting the send.  Next time!  As temps started creeping into the 80’s and friction started decreasing, we decided it was time to move on to Joe’s Valley.

Eric on Gription V9

Chelsea on One Eyed Willy V3

Me on Schezuan Chicken

We arrived in Joe’s to find perfect temperatures and unparalleled psych.  I have literally never been so excited to go climbing.  We spent our first three days in Joe’s climbing all day long, from morning until dinner.  Every problem we got on was stellar.  My skin stayed awesome and I felt like I could climb forever.  It wasn’t crowded, in fact we were alone at almost area we went to.  Chelsea got into bouldering mode like I’ve never seen before!  She usually isn’t too psyched on boulders, but she was completely into it and sent her first V5!  It was a sweet little climb called Pockadoodle, and I was really excited to be able to flash it.  I also got to send my first V6!  It was called Cue Ball and it consisted of a big move out to a pocket, and then a very technical topout on really thin crimpers.  In the same area, I repeated Mono e Mono, a V5 that I did on our last trip to Joe’s.  Eric repeated Finger Hut V10, and sent some other cool lines like Coal Mind V9, Water Paintings V7, and Boux Sit V7. 

Joe's Valley Reservoir

Eric on Finger Hut V10

Eric on Water Paintings V7

Things must have been too good to be true, because after our third day of climbing we woke up to snow.  It didn’t matter much because it was supposed to be our rest day anyway, but when we drove into town and checked the weather, it forcasted precipitation for several more days.  With sandstone, you have to let the rock dry for awhile before you climb on it or you risk breaking it.  We decided to get in the car and head for Bishop!

Chelsea loves bouldering 

Chelsea on Pockadoodle V5

Bishop was super warm but well all managed to put a few things down.  Eric sent two really cool V10s- Acid Wash (Happies) and Denton’s Remorse (Druid Stones).  It was really cool to hike up to the Druid Stones because I had never been up there before.  Talk about a lot of rock!  I also repeated Serengeti V5, and Chelsea came really close to sending it, which was awesome!  It was also great to hang out with some of our friends from Reno, Heidy, Fabien and Ryann. 

Enjoying the sunshine at the Druid Stones 

The crew! (Minus Fabien who was taking the picture)

After a few days it was time to head back to the Bay to celebrate my Dad’s birthday.  Now I am in SLO, getting the car ready for my big move!  I’ll be heading out to Joe’s Valley for another day or two of climbing, and then I’m off to Minnesota for the summer for my internship.  If anyone knows about any climbing there, please let me know!

Patient's status: CURED.

P.S. I LOVE ROCK CLIMBING!!!!!