I Always Wanted to get Paid to Climb, Part 2

PSYCHE! No work means more climbing! Tuesday, after being officially released from work duties, a bunch of us drove up to this sweet spot on the boundary of Zion for some more red rock sandstone climbing fun and climbed a stemmy corner route surrounded by two wavy walls of sandstone and a couple of harder 10s & easier 11s that were super pumpy and overhanging and SUPER fun!! Zion Adventure Company usually has this spot on lock-down on the weekends running guided climbs and rappels for groups of all ages and size, so hitting the crag up on a Tuesday was perfect! The holds have definitely been overused and felt super fragile, Reuben even broke off a pretty big hold that was literally hanging on by a thread!

Wednesday, hmmm, oh ya, we hit up the local bouldering gym, which I have been sorely missing since the weather has turned perfect for outdoor climbing!!! 

Thursday was my birthday!! The big 2-5, whooo, starting to feel old! : ) But if old feels like more climbing then so be it! And a paid holiday to climb on my birthday, now that is almost a miracle. We headed back west towards St. George then out to Santa Clara where you follow old highway 91 out into a true no-mans-land. The climbing area is called the Utah Hills, named for the swaying hills of limestone that sweep in and out of the landscape before leveling off into a flat abyss of Mohave desert country, the kind of terrain that makes you feel nervous about only having a little bit of water in your car and no cell-service. The terrain is a maze of unmarked BLM roads with rocks so big they will slice right through your tires but once you actually find the crags you will be happy that you made the journey. This particular occasion we chose to meet up at the Soul Asylum Wall that we had heard had some fantastic limestone climbing, and it did! I only hopped on three routes that day but man were they fun! Jagged pinches of limestone jutting out in every direction, little pockets for your feet, and the best weather of the season! Jeans would have been nice because of the sharpness of the rock, but I never mind coming home with a few scratches. The boys kept climbing after I decided to take a rest for the sake of my sore right arm but I had a blast anyway and the sky had fallen well into darkness by the time we finally reached our cars. In fact, on our walk back we rounded a corner out of the wash and were welcomed by a most beautifully, warm sunset fading into the distant mountain ranges of Nevada, casting a humbling glow on us all. Celebratory birthday cookies and drinks followed by late night jokes wrapped up the evening and we settled in for a chilly night of car camping with the constant whirl of the wind in our ears.

The following morning was COLD! Holy cow it was cold!! First time of the season I was in full-on winter attire. We had to wait out the chilly morning wind and decided to head for sunny walls down in St. George, a funny notion given we have spent 5 months looking for shady walls and avoiding sunny ones like the plague. We parked at the Chuckwalla Trailhead and passed the masses of climbers at Chuckwalla Wall, making our way further down the path to Turtle Wall, bordering the park boundary for spectacular Snow Canyon State Park. Turtle Wall is hard climbing, but we knew the routes would be sunny and warm so we made for it anyway. The cool thing about Turtle is that even though most of the climbs are 11+, they are short, bouldery routes that can all be top-ropped from above, meaning that we can hike to the top of the rocks, put our rope through the anchors, then practice really hard routes that we don't yet have the skill to lead- which is awesome!!! I successfully clawed my way up a 10d and an 11a! The 11a was probably one of the funnest and most challenging climbs of the summer and even though it was a slow climb, I still did it and felt AMAZING after! 

Climbing has quickly become a prominent sport in my life and even though I just started in March I feel like I have already come so far. I have been lucky to have good friends who are great climbers and are willing to show me the ropes and a boyfriend who has jumped on the bandwagon just as quickly as I have. When you really start to dedicate time to climbing and getting stronger, it is amazing how quickly you gain not only strength and muscle memory but a lack of fear and the notion that you can achieve anything that you put your mind too. I had hoped all summer for 2 weeks of climbing everyday, just to test the waters, to see how strong I got over that period of time and to use it as a gauge for what kind of climber I could become, if I chose to dedicate the time. I must say that for the foreseeable future I want to keep stretching the boundaries of what I ever considered myself physically capable of and develop into an actual climber. Eeeeeh......summer is coming for those of us seasonal workers and we couldn't be more happy. What better way to ring in the start of summer than by ending the long working season with a paid climbing vacation? I think I'll take it.