Natalie and I went up to Red Rocks for Memorial Day weekend. We camped at the campground 3 nights, and got one night in a hotel. It was pretty hot (high 80s/low 90s), so we climbed in the evening and night. We both sent Sorange, and Natalie made progress on The Pearl. I sent The Wave, and tried The Dead Heart on the Outback boulder. Since this was Natalie’s first time outside since her hamstring injury, we sort of took it easy. One day we tried to find The Stone Age traverse in Calico Basin, but didn’t climb high enough to see find Alternative Crag. I’d like to try to go find it again when the weather is cooler. Also on one of the days, I helped the Rangers catch some kids that had stolen a gun from the parking lot in Ash Spring. There was a helicopter search and everything.

I dropped the Z7II on the first day, and it wasn’t recognizing lenses and the backscreen wouldn’t function. I thought it was pretty damaged. I cleaned the contacts and eventually it started working again. In the meantime we took some photos on the phone.

Made a quick trip over to Joshua Tree this morning to meet up with Ilia and Olya who were road tripping around the West. Walked around a lot, hopped on a bunch of stuff; notably Penguins in Bondage (V4), and the False Hueco boulder traverse. Couldn’t send shit, felt tired all day. Still, it was great to get outside, hang out and touch some rock; was in the moment so much I hardly picked up the camera.

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Took a extended weekend trip to St. George, Southern Utah, with Kristian, Amanda, Pru, VJ, Daryl, Michelle, and Steve this past weekend.  We took a similar trip last year, but this time we rented a house just North of Moe’s Valley in Washington.  It’s a great way to start the climbing season and something I hope will become a tradition. 

On the way back home Sunday late morning, Amanda had the idea to stop by the Valley of Fire state park in Nevada.  We went on a few short hikes to some scenic lookouts – the rock formations and colors were cool and I like photographing them against a deep blue sky; sandstone has some very unique features. Went really deep in the contrast on these.

I decided late Saturday night to drive over to Red Rocks to send Pork Chop and attempt Tied To The Whipping Post (V6) after seeing Amanda’s beta. I ended up sleeping off of some road outside Baker because I was so tired. I woke up late, around 9am, and drove the rest of the way to the Kraft Mountain trailhead. I warmed up on some rocks along the path, got to Gateway Canyon, and sent Pork Chop on my second attempt; not sure why, but I was feeling strong. Strange because I slept so poorly and was super tired. On the way back to Kraft, I met up with a couple visiting from Colorado (Craig and Kelsey), and a few other locals. We took turns on TTTWP for a few hours until around 530PM I figured I should start heading back.

I camped at red rocks campground just down the road from the trailhead.  I made beef stew for dinner and went to bed early, but had trouble sleeping.  5 am came fast, but figured an alpine start would help me beat the heat.  I packed up the truck after making some coffee and drove to the trailhead; my main goal was to get back to pork chop in gateway canyon to send the v3 on the other side of the v2 I had sent the day before.  unfortunately the skin on my right hand was toast before I could finish the beta; I was close though after passing the crux, but my fingers just weren’t up for it.  next time for sure.

Since my day at the crag was cut short, I asked a friend familiar with the area for a recommendation on a trail.  she mentioned fletcher canyon by mt. charleston, so I headed there.  The trailhead was just about 6,800 feet.  I ended up trail running the route for just shy of 5 miles round trip.  It was nice, and unexpected for nevada.