Moab II
June 30-July 5, 2015
DAY 1 below DAY 2 DAY 3 DAY 4 DAY 5 DAY 6
Roadtrip
with Evan.
Two months after a totally amazing trip to Moab during
our Easter break, Evan and I were on the road again, at the beginning of our
summer break, for another stint in paradise! The objectives for this trip were
several climbing routes and also and to try our hands (and feet) at canyoneering.
DAY
1 - CANYONEERING
A little research revealed Elephant Butte to be
a highly rated canyoneering route and that is how we decided to kick off the
trip. WOW, WOW and triple WOW! This route was unbelievable from start to
finish: super scenic hiking, a couple of fun rappels, some scrambling and easy
climbing, and a magnificent view at the top (the summit of Elephant Butte is
the highest point in Arches National Park). I, for one, was immediately sold on
this awesome form of mountain recreation and later in the trip we picked up a
copy of Moab Canyoneering by Derek Wolfe, with the intention of completing at
least one more canyoneering route during our stay.
A trip with this kind of scenery not more than 2 minutes away from the parking lot is bound to be good!
Sand hiking in the canyon
Evan prepares for the first rappel
Evan rappelling
Evan checks out more cool scenery in the canyon
Some of the fun scrambling required to make it to the summit
Looking down the route we came up
Sweaty Evan at the summit. Even late in the day, the heat can be sweltering
(note: the average daytime high for every day of our trip was 42 degrees Celsius)
Even sweatier me at the top!
Views from the summit
Same as above
This time around, the La Sal Mountains are snow-free
Evan starts down the route
Passing an impressive pinnacle
More of the canyon
Evan on the second rappel
Evan pulls on the rope to halt my rappel so I can take a photo!
Looking up at our rope
After completing Elephant Butte, we walked by Owl Rock, to check it out for an upcoming attempt
Easy stroll back to the start
continue to DAY 2