My Rock Climbing Journal

Rock Climbing is a sport unlike many others.  Almost all the people who rock climb do it for the fun of it, not to win championships or prizes.  It is awesome in a way that you don’t really feel elsewhere.  It is similar to hiking and mountain biking in the fact that you can go for as long or as little as you want. The difference is that you are alone on the rock, and you don’t get bored of it.  You’re just there, and you can do as much or as little of it as you can.  We have been really lucky to have the chance to do a ton of rock climbing on this trip, and it has been spectacular to have so much time to rock climb in different locations.

Our second time climbing on this trip was right outside of Jackson Wyoming with J-Dubs, a camp friend.  Rodeo Wall was an awesome place to climb, and it was a really superb day outing.  We had a little switchback hike up before coming to the wall and at the top of the rock wall you could look down and see the Snake River.  Dad climbed some really hard ones, while I was maxing out at 5.9’s.  Altogether, it was really awesome climbing at Rodeo Wall with J-dubs.

Our first real rock climbing stop was Custer State Park South Dakota. The state park is right next to the famed Mount Rushmore, and has its own spectacular rock formation, called The Needles. The Needles are what the name states -big, granite, spires.  As you would think, they provide great climbing, and we made it a priority to climb there.  We set up two climbs by scrambling up the backside of a needle, anchoring in the two ropes, and throwing them down the front of the spire. I completed the first climb nicely, then wanted to try the other climb, (probably a 5.9) but had a large swing and hit my knee. Even though that happened, it was still a pretty fun time climbing The Needles.

Our third climb was at Smith rock State Park, Oregon. Margo was helpful enough to let us put our camper in her driveway while we took day trips out to the rocks.  My favorite climb there was Five Gallon Buckets, where we met some nice people from Canada who we talked with for a while. The reason that Five Gallon Buckets was my favorite climb is because of the rock formations.  The rock literally had holes inside of it, big, large holes, and you had to side pull, under cling, mantle up, or do ANYTHING to get to the top.
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Yosemite, the hub of all big wall climbing.  It is pretty awe-inspiring to look up at the walls and see the routes climbers complete going up the face.  Fortunately for us, it was our next stop on our climbing tour of the U.S. Our climb that we did their was not on the big walls, no where close.  The slab that we climbed was named Swan Slab, and it was a fun stop.  Dad led the first climb we did, and it wasn’t long before we knew the moves and finished off on a big ledge.   The rope was ultimately anchored to a tree which Grant eventually took down before we went back to our camper and the campground. Overall, it was a fun time at Swan Slab, Yosemite.

Our next big climbing stop in Ol’Cali was Bishop, based out of a campground called The Pit.  Bishop is a nice little town on the eastern side of the sierras, in an area known as Owens Valley.  The bishop that is known to climbers is known because of the spectacular bouldering – climbing low rocks with no rope- in Happy Boulders, Sad Boulders, the Buttermilks, not to mention the sport and traditional (trad) climbing in Owens Valley River Gorge.  In our five days staying at the pit, we bouldered at Happy Boulders twice, and we also had a dismal attempt at the Buttermilks due to the freezing temperatures and crazy wind.  First though, we shall start out with our happy climbs at Happy Boulder as it is a awesome place to climb, and it is really what the name states, huge, happy, boulders.  Happy Boulders and the Buttermilks are home to some of the hardest bouldering routes known to climbers, including Mandala, Evilution, Atari, and the on-the-verge-of-highballing climb, Grandpa Peabody.  Even with all the V-13 and up climbs, we only went for V-3’s and down.  Here’s why:

V-0=5.7 to 5.9
V-1=5.9 to 5.10
V-3=5.10 to 5.10.c                     
 
And if you don’t know what a 5.10 b climb is, lets just put it this way, it’s HARD.  But we still found some awesome routes at Happy Boulders, which were enough to know that there’s plenty of climbs out there to push you to your limits. 
 
The Buttermilks are a different story.  First, lets just give you the environment.
Temperature= Probably somewhere in the really low 30’s (Fahrenheit).  
Sights= Snow a mile away, and we’re tucked away in a nook in the Sierra.
Animals= Any weird enough to go outside in close to below freezing weather.
Needless to say, it was pretty cold, and we only got to one boulder before we cranked on the heater in our car and huddled in to the warmth.  Even with that experience in mind, I would probably go back when it was warmer to take advantage of some of the adventures and routes we never made it to.   
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Next we went to Joshua Tree, which currently houses the most fabulous grip climbing in the world.  Joshua Tree has huge boulders sitting on the ground, most of them looking as if giants in the sky stumbled and dropped rocks down to earth. We were lucky enough to be able to climb there so we took advantage of the situation and climbed most days we were there.
 
Our first stop in Joshua tree was Bell Campground. Yep, we did climb in a campground, but, weirdly enough, it wasn’t too crowded. We got some nice climbs in behind a lady’s RV before we went back home.  Our next climbing spot, was on the BACKSIDE of Bell Campground.  I found my niche when I completed a tight and fun 5.9, some parts pushing against both rocks, some parts twisting my arm, and some parts twisting my leg, while Grant, Mom, and Dad went for a nice corner climb. Completing some sport leads and fun climbs, we altogether had an awesome time at Bell Campground.  The following day we went to Trash Can Boulders, a spectacular (if a little windy) place to climb.  Even though the climbs were short and stout, we found a sweet little obstacle course to play around on.  In the winter, the sun sets earlier so the day ended quickly but already very tired from the climbing I knew I would sleep well. ​

The last day  at Joshua Tree, we climbed on the slab known as Outward Bound, a big slab with multiple climbs.  We had a splendid time doing several climbs with our company being 1), ourselves, 2), a dog, and 3), two friendly people.  We had a nice time climbing in their company, and we completed a couple more climbs before we walked back a couple of miles to the car in the twilight to sleep.

Red Rocks Canyon Nevada, is a spectacular place to climb with (drumroll please), red rocks!  Our first and funnest stop was called The Gallery, where Grant completed his first 5.10b lead, and where I climbed a 5.10a without falling!  The Gallery is the place where the picture above was taken, and besides the challenges of being on an open wall, the Desert Varnish (black stuff) is really slippery.  We had a awesome time breaking our climbing limits and meeting old Gilman friends at Red Rocks Canyon, Nevada.  The day after The Gallery, we had a fun but hard time climbing on 5.8's and up, but we did meet some nice people trying to crack a 5.11 a without falling.  The next day we quickly made a push into southern Utah, and climbed again on fossilized sand dunes at Snow Canyon State Park, a nice fun place to climb. (Picture of Snow Canyon state Park at bottom, before Cochise Stronghold.)  

Cochise Stronghold is positioned in southern Arizona. It is a big rock gathering that looks like a giants fortress, and besides mountain biking and star gazing, we went rock climbing. Luckily enough, we had parked our camper next to the very wall we wanted to climb on, so it was only a short walk to our climbing experience.  On our first day there, we set up a fun climb that we completed easily, but Dad soon got stuck on the next climb, (which we later figured out was a 5.10 d!)  Unable to lead another climb, we had a fun but tiring first day at Cochise Stronghold.  Our second day there, we cracked the hard climb, with Grant helping Dad with the 5.10 d lead!  We had an awesome next day exploring the area, and would totally go back there to climb again.                  
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​Places We climbed

The Needles, South Dakota

Smith Rocks, Oregon

Yosemite, California

Bishop, California

Joshua Tree, California

Red Rocks, Nevada
 
Snow Canyon, Utah

Cochise Stronghold, Arizona