Austin and I have never climbed inside any national parks before so we didn't really know how to do it, but in Arches you don't need a permit or anything, you just have to know where it's
allowed and where it's not. So on Friday night, we went out to Owl Rock which is one of the only easy towers in all of the Moab area. It is only one pitch of 5.8 climbing and it's not really that close to anything major so there aren't a ton of crowds...so nothing to worry about there. Except that we did have to walk out in the dark (down a "path" that I almost slipped and fell off of on the way in...when I could still see) and we had a park ranger come by and check out our car and flash his lights on us. Other than that, everything was good.
The next morning, we tried (for the second time) to climb Ancient Arts in the Fisher Towers area but there
were already two groups on the route and four more waiting. We quickly deserted that plan for an easier and shorter climb, only rock-throwing-distance from Balanced Rock. "Bubo" is a climb that goes right up the cracks and deep chimney on the tower directly to the right of Balanced Rock. Therefore, we had quite the crowd watching us while we were getting ready. Especially with the arrival of a big tour bus moments before we started. By the time we got up there most everyone had gotten bored though and we were pretty hidden from view of the new arrivals. Even though Austin feels "goofy" when people watch him climb, I think it kind-of helps me climb more cleanly. Probably because I've always been afraid of looking stupid in front of people. Surprisingly enough, not one person complained about us defacing a national treasure!
No comments:
Post a Comment