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New Years – Drive From Hell
27 hours of driving. Followed by nearly breaking ankle. Followed by 27 hours of driving home.
So the projected 22 hour drive has just stretched to 23 and we are still not out of f…ing LA traffic. Where do we go? Moab? Why drive 14 hours for a forecast as shitty as Smith. Red Rocks looked wet too. Four days is not enough for anything further. Never been to J-tree but that’s a lot of driving for single pitch stuff. OK, how about Cochise? 3am we arrive in Benson and all too soon the alarm clock rings. Stumble out of bed in Motel 6 and before I’m fully awake, we’re at the trailhead and hiking toward our climb. What is this? Where are the sunny skies? OK, at least it’s not raining (yet). Harness up, tie into the rope, and as I turn towards the start of my lead my right foot blows off of a wet log at the base. 18 inches lower, it finds a landing zone atop a fist sized rock. Somehow the air is knocked out of me as I drop to the ground. Shirley is standing over my contorted, squirming body with a look of “what the hell??!!” Obviously events looked less dramatic from her point of view. My foot swells, Shirley coils the ropes, and we hike down. 10 hours after finishing our first 25 hour drive, we’re off on another. This time pissed off and headed back towards the rainy Oregon. The only highlight of the outing was running into Eric and Lucie on our way out of the Stronghold. We had dinner with them that night and as always found them inspirational!
Four Months Later Things Went Better
Shirley on approach to Sheep Rock in the morning.
“I thought you packed the bottles?!!”
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Shirley following the pitch 2 on Virgin Wool.
We head for Arches via a detour up River Road in an attempt to find Brad’s campsite. He had expressed interest in possibly joining us on this climb in our phone conversation earlier that week. Many campsites but no Brad to be found (& no reception on his phone). OK, back to Arches.
The Climb
Looking down toward Shirley on a comfy belay ledge from low on lead of P3 of Virgin Wool.
Things start out reasonably well – a mantle move up onto a ~45-degree slab and soon I’m clipping the first brand new bolt (see below). The familiar sandy crunch is felt between my teeth – it’s good to be back on Entrada. The slab is sandy (did I mention it’s Entrada) but featured with old (and blown out) angle holes that provide holds. Couple of free moves and the terrain steepens. Transition to aid climbing mode is immediate – starting with standing on bolts to taking out the aiders shortly thereafter. A C1 bulge and more bolts. Back to semi-free: I mantle one of my feet onto the bolt and throw for a two finger hold in an empty piton hole just at the edge of my reach.
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Starting up pitch 4 of Virgin Wool.
I’m a moron! I realize that I forgot to unclip the aider from the bolt on which I’m now balancing my foot. I’m a f…ing f…ing moron!! I can’t move up as I’m held in place by a shortened daisy tethering me to the aider and bolt. The bad news is that I can’t reach down to unclip it (I have a bulging wall in my face now……yes, I’m a f…ing idiot) nor can I place any pro above me to clip into. The anticipation of a bone rattling 3-footer onto the static daisy is exciting. Easy, easy… OK, here we go: “falling”. The impact is surprisingly soft as 3 stitches rip on the daisy dissipating the fall energy gradually before the rope catches me. I’m a dumbass. Take two. Rest of the pitch is uneventful.
Shirley arrives on the nice belay ledge and we both look at the start of the C1 traverse pitch.
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Shirley on top of Virgin Wool route.
I have a (sinking) feeling that I’m about to try the most sustained aid lead of my (non-existent) aid career – the crack is thin. It goes from none (couple drilled pegs get you started) to about a green to yellow Alien sized for the final 20 feet. Now how do I reach the first peg just out of my reach? Try cams & tricams. Try hooking. Nothing will provide even the most tenuous placement in the blown out piton hole. Free move looks unreasonably hard and so I end up cheating the first 8 feet with a stick clip – oh well. Visible above are at least two more drilled angles – safe havens from the thinness that lies in-between.
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The beauty of Arches NP spans multiple scales.
Finally, I reach the fixed angle and exhale in relief. More of the same is encountered higher. A satisfying #0.75 Camalot in a horizontal crack offers the next bit of mental rest. I see Shirley below snacking on chips – I should get moving before she takes out the beer and makes a full-on picnic. A #5 offset goes into a yet another slight piton scar – looks nice. A gentle test – still good. OK, step-up and give it one more vigorous test. I hear a ping and a cracking of the rock and feel the acceleration. Though the fall is short (less than 15 feet and probably 70 feet out), I recall clawing at the wall trying to slow my descent. The thrill ride is thankfully over quickly as the #0.75 assisted by a ripping screamer stop me. A 10”X10” plate of rock on left side of crack unexpectedly gave way under the pressure exerted by the nut – good times. The crack soon gets wide enough to slot blue, green, and even yellow Aliens.
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Sheep Rock as seen from Park Road. The Lamb is the formation on the right. Virgin Wool starts near the Lamb-Sheep Col.
So the sound of rain wakes us in the middle of the night – OK I guess no need to get up early. In the morning hopes rise as we see a patch of blue sky. We repack have coffee waiting for rock to dry. We drive out to the trailhead just as a full on downpour begins. No blue sky & no hope for more climbing. We’re done. 9 hours later Boise & flight home back to work.
The Photos
…Some Views
27 hours of driving. Followed by nearly breaking ankle. Followed by 27 hours of driving home.
The 400-foot Sheep Rock as seen from north summit of Three Gossips tower (Oct. 14, 2005).
Sheep Rock as seen from summit of Tower Of Babel across the park road. Virgin Wool starts near the hind legs of the animal and climbs the right-facing dihedral near the Sheep's romp (Apr. 2008).
Sheep Rock Tower and the shadows of The Three Gossips (Nov. 2007).
…Some Wool
Shirley on approach to Sheep Rock in the morning. The Lamb formation is the smaller hump on the right. Pitch 3 (The Ewetopian Crack) shadows the obvious dihedral (Apr. 22, 2007).
Sheep Rock & The Lamb (right) on approach. You’re looking at the rear end of the Sheep where Virgin Wool begins (Apr. 22, 2007).
Starting up Virgin Wool on Sheep Rock tower – 5.7 slab to C1. Start is shared with Sheep In Wolf’s Clothing route on the Lamb, small tower above and on the right. For wide angle view of P1, see photo below (Apr. 2007).
Leading pitch 1 of Virgin Wool just above the C1 bulge. Most of pitch 2 traverse is also visible in upper left hand corner. The Lamb formation is visible on the right with the obvious wide crack being part of Sheep In Wolf's Clothing (5.10) route (Apr. 22, 2007).
Nearing the top of pitch1.
Shirley starting up the low angle slab on pitch 1 of Virgin Wool. The Lamb tower is in the background. Looks sandy? It is (Apr. 22, 2007).
Shirley shooting some desert climbing porn from P1 belay on Virgin Wool. The Lamb formation is in background (Apr. 22, 2007).
Leading the P2 traverse (C1) on Virgin Wool. On left (in relative foreground) is The Organ formation; Three Gossips are right behind my behind (Apr. 22, 2007).
Shirley following the pitch 2 (C1) traverse on Virgin Wool. The Great Wall is in the background (Apr. 22, 2007).
Starting the lead of Ewetopian Crack on pitch 3 of Virgin Wool (Apr. 22, 2007).
Looking down toward Shirley on a comfy belay ledge from low on lead of P3 of Virgin Wool route on Sheep Rock tower (Apr. 22, 2007).
Ewetopian Crack with a #4 BD offset in a pin scar. Fun, fun, fun!!! Photo taken on pitch 3 of Virgin Wool on Sheep Rock (Apr. 22, 2007).
Tower of Babel from Virgin Wool. Zenyatta Entrada route climbs the prominent prow on the right.
My little adventure on pitch 2 of Virgin Wool.
The thin and beautiful Ewetopian Crack on Virgin Wool. Sheep Rock tower, Arches NP. The small patch of lighter rock near the center of photo is where it gave under my piece (Apr. 22, 2007).
Shirley on the Ewetopian Crack. Pitch 3 of Virgin Wool route on Sheep Rock tower (Apr. 22, 2007).
Shirley nearing the top of the looong Ewetopian Crack on pitch 3 of Virgin Wool. Finger locks on an aid pitch are cheating!! This is also the first place that the crack widens sufficiently for that sort of thing anyway – most of it is thinner. Photo taken Apr. 22, 2007.
Views from Virgin Wool. Organ Towers are on the left and the Three Gossips are on the right.
Shirley topping out on P3 of Virgin Wool on Sheep Rock tower. This is the window through the tower one can see from the park road below, here (Apr. 22, 2007).
Starting up pitch 4 of Virgin Wool. Three Gossips are in background. There’s a storm coming in from the LaSals (Apr. 22, 2007).
Short C2+ (?) section on P4 of Virgin Wool – thin nutting above a poor-landing kind of slab. Short though (Apr. 22, 2007).
The Three Gossips (west face) as seen from the Virgin Wool. North, Middle, South…left to right.
Shirley on top of Sheep Rock. Well – sitting on the butt end of the Sheep where Virgin Wool tops out; the head end is visible on the right and is slightly higher. Three Gossips (west face) are in the background as is the main park road. After on-off drizzle, it started raining shortly thereafter (Apr. 22, 2007).
Some wanker on top of Sheep Rock.
Shirley on the final rap down east/southeast face of Sheep Rock after our climb of Virgin Wool (Apr. 22, 2007).
Yours truly with a deployed screamer – a surprise gift from the Ewetopian Crack on Virgin Wool April 22, 2007.
The beauty of Arches NP spans multiple scales.
Sheep Rock (east/southeast face visible) as seen from Park Road. The Lamb is the formation on the right. Virgin Wool starts near the Lamb-Sheep Col. See the window near Sheep's buttocks area? Close up view of window here (Apr. 22, 2007).
Shirley finishing the last of the beer before the return flight home & work. Submitted for TR.
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