Back to Wall
Street for the first part of Day 5. Bad Moki Roof (5.9+), Mississippi High Step
(5.12a) and Horizontal Mambo (5.12d) were the routes of choice. Evan led Bad
Moki Roof, an awesome crack climb with great trad placements and a tricky
overhanging crack to jam your way up at the end. Meanwhile,
Dan decided to really “step it up”, leading the very challenging Mississippi
High Step, at 5.12a. With some slick climbing moves and a whack load of
determination Dan was able to ascend the route and set up a top-rope. I
chuckled when he asked if I wanted to top-rope the route – the only 12’s I
should be allowed exposure to is a cartoon of eggs at the supermarket!” I
quickly moved over to Bad Moki Roof. Bad Moki was
awesome and we all had a good go of it. Meanwhile, Evan and Jordan both
top-roped Mississippi. We were all impressed with Dan’s lead on the route.
In addition
to Bad Moki being an awesome route in itself, it is also the starting point for
the most challenging route any of us would attempt on the trip, Horizontal
Mambo, at 5.12d – the route gets in name because, except for the first section,
it is completely overhanging and therefore you “climb” the route in a
horizontal direction, not vertical. A photo in Evan’s guidebook of 9-year old
Stella Noble onsighting the route was enough motivation for Evan and so up he
went. Watching
Evan work was a real treat (my arms and shoulder hurt just watching him!). With
intense determination and skill, he was able to clip all but the last bolt.
Unfortunately, fatigue set in and he came down, one clip short of the goal. Dan wanted
to give the masochistic route a go, but in haste we neglected to consider the
logistics of top-roping a horizontal route. We probably should have clipped him
into the other end of the rope so he could clean the protection on the way up.
Putting him on the “true” end of the rope was fraught with problems (forces
going in multiple and opposing directions) and, after considerable effort on his
part, Dan had to bail. Another lesson learned.
Wall Street II
Jordan starts up Bad Moki Roof
Approaching the crux
Jammin' the crux!
Dan looks on as Jordan completes the route
Jordan on Mississippi High Step
Evan on Mississippi High Step
Evan is shredded! Last time I had that low amount of body fat was when I was a fetus
Good layback climbing near the top of the route
Evan tackles the 5.12d Horizontal Mambo
Upside down climbing - it looks insanely hard and it is!
So close! The clip at the right is the top of the route
Tierdrop Canyon
Dinner, and
then Dan and I set out to complete a short canyoneering route in Arches
National Park – Tierdrop Canyon. Evan and Jordan opted to hangout in the quaint
town of Moab for a relaxing drink or two. Tierdrop was
generally fantastic: a terrific scramble up to a high plateau, followed by four
rappels down to the valley, and then a wonderfully scenic hike out. However, we
did encounter some route-finding issues when the first rappel didn’t quite
match the book description. One rope was supposed to be sufficient but clearly
two were needed. We had two ropes and so continued on that route (new webbing
around the rappel tree indicated others before us had done the same). The second
rappel was also different, but had the same trail of rappel stations. We soon
realized we had gone too far over for the first rappel. Thankfully, all routes
joined up after the second rappel and the remainder of the trip went exactly as
described. Great
climbing followed by great canyoneering – another fantastic day!
The route starts with a short jaunt along the road
Dan approaches the very enjoyable scramble section, going right up the middle
The terrain opens up atop the ramp
Checking the guidebook. We were a bit puzzled at this point!
Fingers crossed, Dan heads down the first rappel
Dan on one of the lower tiers of Tierdrop Canyon. Around the corner is where the routes join up
It appears we should have come down this section
Dan sets up the last rappel
There he goes
Yet another awesome, free-hanging rappel!
On the lowest tier
Ridiculously great scenery in the valley
And more
These formations have the appearance of being paper-thin
Last look at the stunning Park Avenue valley continue to DAY 6
