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Edge
Trad climber
New Durham, NH
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 19, 2013 - 10:19pm PT
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We leave Durango tomorrow morning. Temps in Moab are hovering near 100*, and we had our fill of that in S New Mexico, so we will save Arches and Canyonlands for weekend trips from our eventual Colorado home.
Instead we are heading to Page, AZ. My wife has wanted to see Antelope Canyon ever since our honeymoon 26 years ago when she first saw pictures of it. Other than doing Edward Abbey proud and blowing up the Glen Canyon Dam (kidding here, Feds...) what else is there to do near Lake Powell? I want to take a day drive to hike in Grand Escalante, but what else is a "must do" there?
Tentative plans after that are Zion and Bryce before dropping down to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. We'll be allowing a lot of time at each of those.
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Edge
Trad climber
New Durham, NH
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 22, 2013 - 02:50am PT
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Antelope Canyon by foot and then by kayak.
Third classing the Mesa behind our campsite at dusk, under the nearly full moon.
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Marlow
Sport climber
OSLO
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Jun 22, 2013 - 10:18am PT
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Great thread!
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steveA
Trad climber
bedford,massachusetts
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Jun 22, 2013 - 10:37am PT
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Hey Edge,
Glad your having a great time.
My son and I sent Halfdome--quite an adventure and I'm still sore.
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Edge
Trad climber
New Durham, NH
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 30, 2013 - 01:07am PT
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Steve, congrats on Half Dome! What a great adventure to share with your son.
I would have congratulated you sooner but we were in Zion with no cell reception or Internet.
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Edge
Trad climber
New Durham, NH
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 30, 2013 - 01:34am PT
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So, enough of this heat already. The limestone I collected in Illinois just metamorphosed into marble here in UT/AZ.
From Lake Powell we headed for a campground just outside of the East entrance to Zion for five nights. We hiked Angels Landing and part of the Narrows, and I even got to get in a couple pitches in the late afternoon shade on Ashtar Command Tower.
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Edge
Trad climber
New Durham, NH
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 30, 2013 - 02:06am PT
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We skipped out of Zion for a one day trek up to Bryce. I did a 4 1/2 mile hike down through the hoodoos while Karol stayed above the rim with the dogs, then we contemplated pies.
Yesterday we drove to a campground 1 hour from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon to escape the predicted 105* temps in Zion. This morning we drove 17 miles of single track dirt road to get our first glimpse of the Really Big Hole at the Rainbow Rim; we only saw 4 people the whole time we were there.
Karol borrowed my ghetto mountain bike to ride part of the Rainbow Rim trail.
Meanwhile, I embraced the Canyon.
I even witnessed an attempted unkindness.
Back at camp, there were lurkers about.
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Edge
Trad climber
New Durham, NH
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Topic Author's Reply - Jun 30, 2013 - 01:00pm PT
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Today is our last day on the North Rim.
Tomorrow is not only my birthday, but my 3 year sobriety date as well. I'll be spending it driving through Navajo land and down to Sedona for 2-3 days.
Is it too hot to climb there now in the shade/afternoon? How about near Flagstaff?
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howdy
Social climber
Donner Lake
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Jun 30, 2013 - 08:28pm PT
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Just found this thread.
Amazing and inspiring. Thanks for sharing.
Keep on keepin' on...
(Nearly completely out of current topic/location, but a few years back, I, and a friend of mine, painted the Sandia tram towers. That was an experience. My favorite part was when I was painting one of the cross arms [the arms that protrude out in to the abyss]. There was a car full of people on their way up the hill. I let about 50-60 feet of rope out, and as the car nearly got to the tower, I was standing on top of the arm and pretended to lose my balance and fall from the arm. The look of shock and horror on their faces was priceless. My friend received a call about 3 minutes later from one of the Sandia managers who kindly explained just how inappropriate that was and if it happened again he would send us packing.)
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Gene
climber
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Jun 30, 2013 - 08:32pm PT
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On a hot day, this is the adventure I've been wading for...
You just couldn't resist, could you? :)
Tomorrow is not only my birthday, but my 3 year sobriety date as well.
Happy Birthday and ReBirthday!
g
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steveA
Trad climber
bedford,massachusetts
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Lucky you Edge!!
At least it's dry out there. Cheers from soggy N.H.
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Edge
Trad climber
New Durham, NH
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 5, 2013 - 11:47pm PT
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Our last day at the Grand Canyon was June 30, and we decided to drop over the rim on the Kaibab Trail.
The Coconino sandstone formation looked pretty damned climbable.
We went down 2 miles to the Supai Tunnel.
From our turn-around, we could see the trail below, including the Redstone Bridge.
Then we walked our way out and took one last photo op near the Lodge.
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Edge
Trad climber
New Durham, NH
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 6, 2013 - 12:00am PT
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The next day was my birthday. We stopped at a roadside pull-out where four Navajo ladies were selling wares. I fell for a Sun Face pottery vessel, the most expensive item there...
I was preparing to walk away when I decided to look at the bottom, and it was signed with my name! With a sign like that, I bought it straightaway. Happy B-day to me!
We drove on, stopping to walk out on the old Navajo Bridge.
Supposedly the rafts floating the Colorado under us were full of nudists, but if you have to wear a life jacket, what's the point?
We drove on to Sedona that day, following my phone's GPS down Zoak Creek Canyon with the RV. I'm glad we didn't know this ahead of time because it was exciting in a twisted sort of way.
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Edge
Trad climber
New Durham, NH
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 6, 2013 - 12:28am PT
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We planned on spending two days in Sedona, but ended up staying four. We loved it, and I'm sure we'll be back in more seasonable temps.
The first day we hit Airport Mesa for the loop hike.
That afternoon we got thunder stormed out of the Boynton Canyon trailhead (after paying the $5 fee) do we returned early the next morning.
Kachina Spire was catching the rays.
Further down the canyon, and again up high on the walls, were more ruins.
It's hard to take an unimpressive pic here, so I didn't try.
The Tundra wanted to do some dirt-roading-verging-on-4X4ing, so we went up Schnebly Hill to the Cow Patties.
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Edge
Trad climber
New Durham, NH
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 6, 2013 - 01:28am PT
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On our last day we hiked into Cathedral Rock.
Then in the afternoon I swung by the iconic Church of the Holy Cross.
Then on to Bell Rock with my "Many Hands Drum" to climb as far as I could without a rope and play a Fourth of July tribute. I made it as far as the top of the tower above and right of my noggin.
I had the entire tower to myself, so I played until the sun set.
Today we left Sedona for Cali, stopping in Needles and it's 110 degree heat. Tomorrow: Sequoia (We think. Maybe.)
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Norwegian
Trad climber
dancin on the tip of god's middle finger
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bravo, edge.
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Brandon-
climber
The Granite State.
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Maybe you should go dip your toes in the Pacific and take a break from the heat. Big Sur!!!
Sweet trip man, thanks for sharing.
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Edge
Trad climber
New Durham, NH
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 22, 2013 - 09:37pm PT
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Like, whoa! Cali has kept us busy, too busy to post regularly anyway. I'll try my best to summarize with pics; I read the "What Makes A Great TR" thread and while I acknowledge the benefits of clever, poignant verbiage, it's too much of a pain in the derrière typing on an iPhone.
Our first night out of Sedona was spent in Needles, CA. 110 degree temps and nothing to do but spend a night in the RV AC and escape for some elevation. We went to Lake Isabelle in the Kern River Valley for the Fourth of July.
From here we went into Sequoia NF and the "Walk of 100 Giants".
I didn't get to climb, but we visited Dome Rock.
From here my wife insisted on visiting an old roommate in Calabassas. I managed to find some relief from the whole Malibu suburb thingy.
Our eventual escape was via Morro Bay. First place in 7 weeks where we needed long sleeves.
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Edge
Trad climber
New Durham, NH
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 22, 2013 - 10:07pm PT
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From Morro we headed to Sacramento to spend 5 days with a friend. Mostly city stuff, but I did get in a solo overnight away from the wife to climb with Dingus and Lady Scarlett in Sonora Pass. Big thanks to both of them for including me on their adventures.
In true Dingus fashion, he refused to give ratings or beta for anything, "If it looks good, climb it!"
So we did.
We did jump on one bolted route that did its best to thwart us. Dingus and I traded off pushing new high points, but it only fell at A0 with assorted trickery, cheating, and debauchery in order to reach the anchors and clean the gear.
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nutjob
Sport climber
Almost to Hollywood, Baby!
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Jul 23, 2013 - 12:09am PT
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The adventure continues! I grew up in sight of Morro Rock. Just up the coast in Cayucos you get the mild temps from the sea, but a lot more sunshine. Morro Bay is nice, from the breakwater to the back bay estuary and chaparral hills to dwarf oak forest to the dunes, a lot of variety in a small place.
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