10/14/2003

Morning came early again. We packed our gear and said goodbye to the Lauren and Jeff section of Arches National Park. We started hiking back to the car with plans to see the Devil’s Garden section of the park, but ended up detouring to Sand Dune Arch. We spent all of the rest of the time we had in Arches exploring and photographing the sand dune area. When we finished and hiked back to the car it was time to depart Arches and drive back to Denver.

All things considered the trip went perfectly. Other than our adventures on the Maiden and Bastille Crack, we approached and climbed every single climb exactly as we planned. We had all the gear we needed for each climb and were never pressed for time or wondering how we were going to get back to the ground. We had tons of gear: my usual lead rack (two sets of nuts, four medium cams and three small tricams) plus three large hexes that I don’t usually bring up climbs. We each had a cordalette and I had a spare in the car. Also, I borrowed three cams and a second 60m rope for the trip. All that plus 14 shoulder length draws, daisy chains, assorted bail gear, prussiks, nut tools and belay devices meant that we were not climbing light, but we were prepared for most any circumstance.

The climbs were all enjoyably hard, but none were so difficult as to pose a problem. The backpacking portion went flawlessly as well. We had fantastic weather for the entire trip and were able to sleep out under the stars every night. We had a lightweight tarp to use if conditions turned worse, but we never needed it.

The entire cost of the trip was $340 per person (not counting air tickets, which I got using frequent flyer miles). Over $200 of that cost was for the rental car. Most of the rest was spent taking folks out to dinner in return for lodging, buying gas, park permits and groceries. We enjoyed copious, delicious food and managed to eat plenty of fresh fruits and veggies every day, even while backpacking. We generally ate oatmeal for breakfast, PBJ tortillas for lunch, and dinners of apple curry couscous, potatoes au gratin, burritos, and the ever popular pasta primavera. Lauren and I are both vegetarians and were in sync with each other on food -- to the point of both burning our mouths repeatedly by trying to eat food too soon after it finished cooking. We were also in sync personally. This was the longest trip we had taken together, and we got along well the entire time. Lauren stayed calm the few times I went into manic mode and I stayed calm the few times she went into panic mode. Luckily the two never coincided. Manic and Panic, what a team!

The drive back to Denver took about six hours and was uneventful. We reached Greg’s home at a reasonable hour of the night. Greg is Lauren’s cousin and graciously offered us lodging for the night. We very much enjoyed our first shower in six days. I’m sure Greg was also glad we showered before climbing into his clean guest bed.

The next morning I woke early and drove to the airport for my flight home. Lauren spent the day in Denver with Greg and flew out the following day.

The End