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Summary
Shirley jugging pitch 1.
Shirley, Blondie and I made a drive out to Moab during the September 2007 Labor Day Weekend as pretty much anywhere else we could think of had a shitty weather forecast. Although we picked this little route on the north face of River Tower, we all nevertheless still fried in the desert heat. Fun aid line (some memorable “bolts”, esp. on the first pitch) with a cool summit ridge. We could not convince Blondie to do another climb the next day due to heat and so we drove home.
Photo Story
Looking roughly north from the top of the 5th pitch on Northeast Ridge. Forming Tower is in foreground (not yet a tower but part of the ridge) and River Tower is further back. Colorado River is in background. Flipside view (Nov. 24, 2006).
North face of River Tower as seen from base. The Flow (III 5.8 C2) climbs the prow of the tower on the right while North Face route (II-III 5.8 C2) climbs the left side of the face visible in shot (Sept. 2007).
Starting the lead of pitch 1 bolt ladder on River Tower’s Wyrick-Merrill route (Sept. 2007).
Starting up the pitch 1 bolt ladder on Wyrick-Merrill route (II 5.8 C2) on River Tower’s north face. Shirley is belaying. Roughly the same moment can be seen here and here as well (Sept. 2007). EDIT IN: photo taken by our Nikon Coolpix set up on a tri-pod.
Shirley belaying me at the base of River Tower’s Wyrick-Merrill route (Sept. 2007).
Leading pitch 1 of Wyrick-Merrill route on north face of River Tower (Sept. 2007). EDIT IN: photo taken by our Nikon Coolpix set up on a tri-pod.
Pitch 1 bolt ladder of Wyrick-Merrill route on north face of River Tower (Sept. 2007).
Looking down from the lead of pitch 1 of Wyrick-Merrill route on River Tower – tad dirty. Check out the bolt between my legs too (Sept. 2007).
Pitch 1 bolt ladder on Wyrick-Merrill route on River Tower. Example of a bolt – I think it’s a 5-piece rawl expansion bolt, no? September 2007.
Shirley jugging pitch 1 of Wyrick-Merrill route on River Tower’s north face. Pitch 1 belay is tucked inside the chimney/groove thingy (Sept. 2007). EDIT IN: photo taken by our Nikon Coolpix set up on a tri-pod.
Pitch one belay anchor on Wyrick-Merrill…mud, mud, mud (Sept. 2007).
Shirley jugging pitch 1 of Wyrick-Merrill. Upper part of pitch is semi-enclosed in this cool groove (Sept. 2007).
Looking down from start of pitch 2 of Wyrick-Merrill route. I thought this section definitely felt C2-ish (hence the lace job with screamers). Shirley’s trying to hide under the overhang from the falling mud (Sept. 2007).
Shirley topping out on pitch 2 of Wyrick-Merrill…into the hot hot sun (Sept. 2007).
Summit (East Summit per Burns guidebook) of River Tower. Photo taken from subsidiary high point on the ridge. Flip side view see here (Sept. 2007).
Shirley on the third pitch of Wyrick-Merrill route. This is looking back across a 25-foot deep notch in the summit ridge from true summit toward the lower summit on the ridge. Fix & leave line for return trip out of the notch. For flip side view see here (Sept. 2007).
Main cluster of Fisher Towers from summit ridge of River Tower. Kingfisher is the largest/most prominent tower in the shot; to its right is Cottontail Tower and Ancient Art is the smallish formation to the right & below. If you look carefully, the summit of the Titan can be seen just above Kingfisher’s summit. Flipside view (Sept. 2007).
Looking back towards the Colorado River from top of P2 (summit ridge) of Wyrick-Merrill route. The approach hike follows the flat desert on left side of photo (Sept. 2007).
Shirley rapping down pitch 1 of Wyrick-Merrill route on River Tower (Sept. 2007).
Wyrick-Merrill route (a.k.a. North Face, II 5.8 C2) on north face of River Tower. P1 is a semi-hanging (fixed) belay; P2 is on a sloping ledge (also fixed). Pitch 3 requires rapping (~25 feet) into the notch (fix rope for return) and then reclimbing (5.8 wideness) to main summit. On descent, retrace your way back via P3 then either rap to ground with double 70 meter ropes or rap the route (Sept. 2007).
Hiking out with the view of the north face of River Tower in background (Sept. 2007).
Shirley hiking out in the searing desert heat after our climb of Wyrick-Merrill line on River Tower visible in background (Sept. 2007).
Shirley and Blondie baking in the desert sun after our climb of River Tower (on left). Main Fisher Towers cluster is in background on right: Kingfisher is leftmost followed by The Titan and Cottontail Tower being rightmost (Sept. 2007).
Bondie suffering in the mid-day heat of the desert (Labor Day 2007).
Daddy suffering in the mid-day heat of the desert (Labor Day 2007).
Thank goodness for air conditioning!! Blondie recuperating on the drive home (Sept. 2007).
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