6/22  It is a great night and we sleep out under the stars at the Fisher Towers campground.  We wake at 5am to climb Ancient Art before the sun makes things unbearably hot.  We climb the whole tower free.  When I had done this climb in October 2003 with Lauren, I aided the first bolt ladder.  This time I led that section free.  In theory this makes the climb 5.11, but Ryan and I feel it is a fair bit easier.  I let Ryan have all the other pitches since I had led them all before.  We pose for plenty of pictures on the summit corkscrew and still are down by 10am.  We see no other climbers today.  This pattern will continue throughout Utah and Nevada.  We won't see another climber until we reach Yosemite.  I guess climbing in the desert in late June isn't a popular activity.

We take a quick swim in the Colorado River.  Then drive to Castleton.  Our plan is to spend the night on top of the tower.  The approach to Castleton is pretty strenuous, and we need a fair amount of gear (and tons of water) to spend the night.  So we decide to sherpa half the gear to the base of the climb this evening.  We load up the haul bag and carry it to the base.  We start at 5:25pm and make it back to camp just before dark at 8:45pm.  We stay in the Access Fund trailhead area which has no water or toilet (poop bags are provided) but is free and quiet.  All of the developed BLM campsites along the Colorado River charge a fee (though I have never seen rangers checking for payment at Fisher Towers).  With some effort, there is free camping to be found.  In addition to the Access Fund site, there is free camping on the river opposite Fisher Towers.  Head north on Fisher Towers road and camp near the river.

6/23  We don't want to climb Castleton until late in the day when our route will be in the shade.  We head to the Arches National Park visitor's center and get more water.  Then we check out the Moab library.  Of all the libraries I'll see this summer, Moab is my favorite.  Wireless internet and plenty of power outlets, along with plenty of public terminals.  Air conditioning, cold water fountain, clean bathrooms.  All that and subscriptions to Climbing and Rock And Ice magazines.  Great place to spend the day.  It is on Center Street, three blocks east of the main drag.

Around 3pm we gear up at the Castleton trailhead and start to hike.  The temperature is around 98F every day we are in Moab, and it is still very hot.  We hike quickly and reach the base of the climb at 4pm.  At least now we are in the shade.  We are climbing the North Chimney route (5.9-).  I gear up and lead the first pitch, a long 5.8 with dual hand cracks.  I'm feeling tired when I reach the belay, and we struggle to get the haul bag up the pitch, with Ryan climbing along next to the bag to free it when it jams in the rock.  Ryan starts to lead the second pitch.  Just as he reaches the crux of the entire climb -- and unprotected offwidth -- I start to feel faint.  I give Ryan enough slack to get some good gear, and I tie off the belay.  Yeah, I'm about the worst climbing partner on the planet.  I never lose consciousness, but I do lose my vision for a bit.  Ryan builds an anchor and hangs out while we discuss the situation.  Two days of strenuous activity in dessert heat has messed up my body chemistry.  I've been drinking plenty of water, but haven't eaten enough.  I rummage through the haul bag and start eating.  After 45 minutes I'm feeling well enough to continue belaying.  Ryan finishes the pitch and brings up the haul bag with me following along to free it as it gets stuck.  I'm still not nearly 100%, so Ryan leads the third pitch and brings up the bag.  He saves the last 20' of easy climbing for me so I can lead one more pitch on the climb.  Just as the sun sets, we arrive at the top of Castleton.

With several pitches of hauling under my belt, I wonder if a DMM Revolver carabiner would be a cheap and fast alternative to a hauling pulley for light haul bags.  Seems like it would be fast and simple to setup, though it would require an ascender as a ratchet.  Too much friction for heavy loads, but for moderate loads...  Anyone tried it?

We set an anchor line so we can safely walk around the top of the tower and anchor our gear.  The top of Castleton is fairly large.  About 50' by 30'.  There are some decent level spots for sleeping, but they aren't very sheltered from the wind.  The wind is really blowing.  I'd guess gusts over 50 mph.  I'm attempting to sew the butt of my pants (because it needs to be done, but also because I think it would be really cool to sew my pants by headlamp on top of Castleton).  It takes a long time in the wind.  Ryan is feeding peanuts to Fivel, the mouse who makes his home on the top of the tower.  Eventually we settle down behind what shelter we can find.  I have a mostly sleepless night waiting for the sun to rise.

6/24  One of the local guide services has rigged fixed lines all over Castleton.  Don't know why, some sort of production.  We enjoy the sunrise, then take advantage of the fixed lines to rappel.  The weather is already hot by the time we are hiking out.  We carry all our gear, but loads are reasonable since we don't have much water.  At least the hike is downhill.  And we never have to do it again.

December 2006 Update:  Just learned why there were fixed ropes on Castleton.  The Primal Quest adventure race used them.  It started the day after we left Moab.  One of the race legs involved "climbing" Castleton by jugging the ropes then rappelling down.

We take another swim in the Colorado.  Then I seek out what shade I can find for a nice nap.  We head into Moab and buy two packages of ice cream sandwiches (12 total).  Ryan is a lightweight and only manages to eat four.  I eat seven and am in a gear shop contemplating the final sandwich while it melts, when I am given the opportunity to trade the ice cream for a fuel filter for my Dragonfly stove.  Which I really need.  How random is that?  I take the trade.  Later, I'm glad to have a clean filter on my stove.  But I want more ice cream too.

We make a quick stop at the library to check the weather forecast, then drive to Zion National Park.  We arrive late at night after five hours of driving.  Manage to find free camping just outside the park along a stinky river on route 9 near mile marker 24.  We quickly setup our tent and fall asleep.

6/25  It is 110F in Zion today.  We aren't climbing.  No way.  Instead we get a permit to hike Keyhole Canyon, a technical slot canyon.  The canyon is at least 30F cooler than the surrounding terrain.  This narrow slot has three rappels, though we downclimb two of them in sandals with no problem.  We rappel the third drop just to justify bringing harnesses and a rope.  Water at the base of the slot is stagnant and stinky.  We chimney virtually the entire time, staying out of the water.

Emerging from the canyon, it is freakin' hot.  My Tevas' glue melts and the soles flop off.  The rubbermaid bins in my car deform.  Several books fall apart as their bindings melt.  Why are we here?  We take the park's shuttle bus on a loop through Zion to look at the cliffs we aren't climbing -- Touchstone, Spaceshot, Prodigal Son, Moonlight Buttress.  Get off the shuttle for a quick hike in the shade around Touchstone.

No reason to stay in Zion.  Because of a huge wildfire, we can't even stay at our free campground.  We take a three hour detour to get back to the interstate, then drive straight to Red Rocks outside of Las Vegas.  Exhausted, we crash in a day use area at 3am.

6/26  After a late night it would be nice to sleep late, but we wake when the hot sun hits us.  We head to the Red Rocks visitor's center where we mostly sit in the air conditioning.  I fall asleep on a bench.

In the afternoon we head to Calico Basin.  There is a climb on  the prow of Cannibal Boulder that I wanted to try when I was in Red Rocks in March 2006.  We hop on Caustic (5.11b) which is in the shade in the afternoon.  The first bolt is moderately high, but the climbing is easy which is good because there are no sticks around for clipping the bolt.  The second bolt is missing, and I manage to get decent protection using all three of my aliens.  The top moves are tricky and I finally finish the climb, but with many hangs.  Ryan heads up Caustic and works the top moves a few times, then discovers an easier sequence by heading right before the anchors.

Finished with our one 50' climb for the day, we drive to Black Velvet Canyon.  4.65 miles west of the 159/160 intersection there is a dirt road which leads into the canyon.  Drive 1.95 miles and take the third left.  Then 0.5 miles to a t-intersection where you turn right and drive 0.3 miles to the trailhead where camping doesn't appear to be prohibited.  This is a very rough road.  I recommend either a high clearance four-wheel drive vehicle or a rental car.  Driving it in an overloaded Subaru is a bad idea.  Might even lead to lug bolts breaking later in your trip.  You never know.

6/27  Wake at 5am to climb Prince of Darkness.  Our plan is to avoid the heat of the day, but we make a mistake with this one.  PoD is in the sun all morning.  The dark rock is blisteringly hot.  It comes into the shade around 1pm, just as we are rappelling the route.  Yuck.

The route itself is pretty unexciting.  I lead p1, p3 and p5.  Ryan leads p2, p4, and p6.  P1 is easy 5.6.  P6 is the crux with some 5.10c moves off the anchor.  The remaining four pitches are identical.  Crimp, crimp, highstep, repeat forever.  Hard 5.9 to easy 5.10 the entire time.  Mostly a sport climb.  Bring midsize nuts for the few sections of crack (or just run it out 30').  My feet are aching, and I spend most of the climb standing on my heels, even when run out on solid 5.10 climbing.  My feet would never really recover from this climb for the rest of the summer.

Five or six double rope rappels get us back to the base.  We are totally dehydrated and stumble back to the car where we each drink a gallon of water.  We see a huge thunderstorm moving through the next canyon over from us.  This warning comes over the weather radio.  "People outside should move to a shelter inside a strong building away from windows."  Great.  In the end, other than a bit of high wind, we see nothing of the storm.

6/28  We again wake at 5am, this time to drive out of the canyon.  We are nearly out of water so we stop at the gas station at the intersection of 160 and 159 and fill our bottles with over 8 gallons.  We drive into the Conservation Area and to the trailhead for Crimson Chrysalis (5.8+).  Hiking in to this climb we see big horn sheep which are relatively common, but rarely spotted in the region.  One ranger with 22 years in the area said she had only seen them twice.  Cool!  A good omen!  We reach the base of the nine pitch climb and fly up it.  I lead the first pitch in 12 minutes.  Ryan links pitches 2 & 3.  We swing leads from that point all the way up the climb reaching the top in about 3.5 hours.  It is a fantastic, fun climb.  Never hard, but never easy.  Seven double rope rappels gets us to the ground (we rap the route, linking p8&9 and p2&3).  It is slightly overcast and we are reasonably in the shade at times.  This climb has some bolts and could be done with a very limited rack by a party comfortable with moderate runout on easy terrain: midsize nuts (3-10) and three cams (.75, 1 and 2) along with a bunch of draws.  That is all I'd bring next time.  All of the belays are bolted.

We hike out and see a bunch of the wild burros which roam through the region.  We also see some serious hiker strata right near the trailhead.  One guy asks us how big some trees are, then decides that we probably hadn't hiked that far.  The trees (a few cottonwood in a small wash) were about 400 yards away, and we had hiked about six  miles that day.  He returns to the parking lot to tell his less adventurous friend about his hike... which I estimate to have been about 100 yards.  Maybe even less.  Meanwhile, Ryan and I hadn't washed our bodies or our clothes for over a week.  We also weren't shaving, mostly for sun protection.  We looked pretty ragged.  How big are the trees?  Walk five minutes and find out!

We drive through Vegas, dodging the Hummers and Ferraris, and eat a package of Klondike bars then head to California.  We make it out of Nevada and into Southern California before finding a "free" campground to crash for the night.