cyberhobo

Category: Climbing

  • Green Valley Gap Climbing

    Saint George is nestled among several mesas, which makes for interesting development patterns. Here at the edge of a development is a network of dirt roads crisscrossing haphazardly in front of a rocky gap in the mesa. People are camped here and there, and there is a little refuse blowing around, but I wouldn’t call…

  • Wind on Woodbury Road

    We notice the drive from Zion is windy, but have no clue what’s coming. We stop at the Red Coyote cafe in Virgin for a nice lunch and internet session. There we meet Nathan, a traveling farrier whose rig we recognize from Mosquito Cove last night. He’s going up Kolob Reservoir road to scout out…

  • Pumped Out on Chuckawalla Wall

    We stop for some quick climbing on the way into Saint George at Chuckawalla Wall. The steep, pocket-filled wall spits me off on my second route. After a rest I make it to the top, then barely manage to repeat it on toprope. If we stay in town much, this spot will provide excellent strength…

  • Getting the Hang of Boondocking – Prophesy Wall

    When the weather clears up, we’re ready to get out of town and on the rock again. Since we’re now familiar with the Prophesy Wall area, snagging the best campsite near the wall is much easier. Now the situation is very nice – we’re stocked up, charged up, have a good phone signal, and are…

  • Snow Canyon State Park, Utah

    We move to this park north of Saint George for a couple of days. There is climbing here, and at least a couple of paved trails Dad is allowed to walk dogs on. The campground is pretty busy which may account for the strict rule enforcement – we get a lecture for letting our cat…

  • Return to Jailhouse Rock

    I figure this now-familiar area is a good place to see if I can lead something a little harder. After a few nice easier routes in warm, pleasant afternoon weather, I pick out Solitary Refinement 5.10a. It’s a shady, gently overhanging, blocky sport climb. Ann and I are both nervous, and I fight to stay…

  • The Green Slabs

    We nearly give up on this crag without climbing anything. Aside from a fun looking 5.9 offwidth that I don’t feel up to yet, the routes look hard to find, or hard to protect, or just kind of scrubby and uncertain. Further up the hill, though, we find some other climbers with a toprope up,…

  • Soldier Canyon

    Ann makes an astute observation: we could save ten miles of driving if we hike to the Jailhouse Rock crag from below, up through Soldier Canyon. It’s just five extra miles of hiking, and a couple thousand feet of elevation gain to haul our forty pound climbing packs up. No brainer! We sweat our way…

  • Jailhouse Rock Climbing

    After winding through a wide meadow that once housed a prison camp, we follow Soldier Creek until it suddenly disappears into a slot too narrow to squeeze through. The trail finds an alternate route into the rocky canyon, and leads us to a nice slab with some blocky roofs for a little climbing. We chat…

  • Windy Point Windy, Hairpin Turn Tight

    It’s time to venture further up towards Mount Lemmon, we decide. We make it as far as Windy Point, where a frigid wind does indeed blow. There are a couple of campgrounds on the way that are $10 a night, which we take note of for future reference. Having accomplished this, we promptly head all…