10/10/2003

Rest day is over! Back to climbing! We woke early and departed Breckenridge at the crack of dawn. Continuing west, we drove to Colorado National Monument just outside the city of Grand Junction. We had our eye on Independence Monument, the most spectacular formation in an area filled with spectacular formations.

This climb has a very long, odd history. Back in 1911 a crazy dude, John Otto, was the first to ascend the 380’ tall tower. He loved the whole area and was a tireless promoter of what some might call barren desert. Otto was the mover and shaker responsible for getting the Colorado National Monument designated and protected. To celebrate and demonstrate his patriotism, he decided to fly an American flag atop the monument. He spent weeks chopping steps and drilling 2" holes in the soft Wingate sandstone. He pounded fence posts into the holes to aid his ascent. Not exactly in concordance with modern, clean climbing ethics, but back in 1911 people hadn’t really thought much about how their actions permanently alter the rock. On July 4th, 1911, Otto reached the top and planted a flag on what would now be called Independence Monument.

We reached the parking area before 10am, prepared a pair of peanut butter and jelly tortillas for the summit (eating these at the summit had become our tradition), and started hiking. The hike in took about 90 minutes and was reasonably level. Not nearly as difficult as hiking to the Maiden (saying this while hiking had become our mantra). We were in awe of Independence Monument as we approached. It certainly wasn’t the tallest climb we had ever done, but it was one of the most inspiring.

Hiking to the base of the tower, we found the start of Otto’s Route (5.8+) and started up the climb. Knowing that we would need two ropes for the descent, we were climbing with double ropes, a first for Lauren. She quickly mastered the fact that the usual tangled mass of rope had doubled in size, and up we went. This climb is four pitches of fun! Otto’s steps and holes are eroded away in some places and still visible in others. They are certainly an integral part of the climb. For the rest of our trip, whenever we saw any sort of hole in the rock we referred to it as an Otto Pocket, and used it with glee.

The third pitch starts with a 3rd class traverse called the Time Tunnel. It should have been called the Wind Tunnel. By the time we reached the top of the third pitch the wind was gusting up to at least 40mph. At one point we were 10’ apart and couldn’t communicate even by shouting. Lauren questioned some ominous clouds in the distance. I assured her that they didn’t look anything like rain clouds. She wasn’t convinced, but I continued to assure her that no rain was forecast, we were in the desert during the dry season, and the wind was blowing the suspect clouds away from us. So the wind was helping us as well as hindering us. Starting up the fourth pitch I could literally only move between gusts for fear of being blown off the delicate slab. As I reached the top, the wind started to die down. Luckily for me, because the overhanging capstone at the summit was certainly the crux of the entire climb. I moved to the top of the monument and quickly belayed Lauren up so she could enjoy the spectacular view. Plus, she had the PBJ tortillas and I was hungry.

As we both sat on the summit and took in the food and views, the wind started getting stronger again. My mind suddenly locked on to an image of the entire tower toppling in the ferocious gusts. I decided we had to get down immediately. A double 60m rappel off the north side of the summit took us straight to the top of the second pitch. I went down first. The wind was blowing hard and the ropes below me were spinning into a tangled mess. The wind actually put an overhand knot in the ropes twice while we rappelled. Luckily neither time was when we were actually pulling the ropes from the anchor. By the time Lauren reached me, the rain was coming down pretty hard. “You know, I’ve changed my mind, I think those were rain clouds we saw,” I said nonchalantly. “Yeah,” replied Lauren.

One more double 60m rappel just barely got us to the base. Thank heavens for rope stretch! We grabbed our gear and started hiking out. The rain and wind were now no longer terrifying, but pleasant parts of being outdoors. And I do have to mention that this was the only rain we saw for the entire trip. We had blue skies and 70F to 80F every single day with crystal clear nights and temperatures in the 30F to 40F range. Fantastic weather!

Reaching the car as darkness fell, we drove to our next destination. Continuing west out of Colorado and into Utah, we drove down route 128 and explored the campsites along the Colorado River. We decided to go straight to the Fisher Towers campground. Arriving late at night we discovered that all the campsites were full. Luckily George, a retired professor of anthropology, was happy to share his site with us. We stayed up late sharing food (our vegan brownies were a hit), conversation, and a brilliant full moon with all of the folks hanging around George’s campfire.

Next Day