Climbing Ancient Art
I was heading to hike the Grand Canyon and then bounce down to Baja, MX for the early winter so why not stop in Moab on the way to enjoy some fun outdoor activities? I met up with my good friend from the Appalachian Trail, White, to climb the famous Ancient Art spire in the Fisher Towers area. Long before I became a dirtbag, I saw this video of a couple that climbed this tower and base-jumped off the top. It was on my to-do adventure list for years (sans the base jump part) so when White sent the invite I was super stoked. He is a strong climber and lead the route for his girlfriend, Taylor, and I. She did not want to join the final pitch up to the top of the spire so White and I went up solo.
Being the stronger climber, White went first as I belayed him. After walking across a two foot wide catwalk with a 325ft drop on either side, he arrived at the Diving Board, which is widely considered to be the crux. This is a slab that protrudes out and is about 4.5ft above the catwalk and the only way to climb ity is to jump and belly flop on top of it which is not a common climbing move. White had a mental block and could not continue. I wanted to try it. So we switched belays and I got to lead one of the most epic, scenic, and exposed pitches in all of climbing!
Biking The Whole Enchilada
Another Moab-Must! This is a 33.5 mile mountain bike trail from high up in the La Sal mountains with almost a 10k vertical descent back to town. Amanda and I took the shuttle to the top along with a full van of bikers and we hit the trail. The very top was slushy from some recent snowfall and everyone had mud-butts like you wouldn’t believe. But the Aspens were in peak yellow and the scenery took your mind off of how muddy your butt was. The trees gave way to some meadows and then to the classic Moab rock along Porcupine Rim. Right around halfway, we got to a big 4ft rock drop and I decided to go for it. I crashed bad. I later learned that I broke a rib and screwed up my shoulder. But I still had 15 miles of fun riding ahead so I gritted my teeth and rode through the pain.
Hiking Mount Peale & Mount Tukuhnikivatz
Bag some peaks and enjoy some more yellowing aspen trees. Amanda and I did a psuedo-loop trek to hit the two tallest peaks in the La Sal Mountains. We first went to Mount Peale which is the tallest but not as exciting, the trail was easier and the views more mundane. Mount Tuk, on the otherhand, has a big talus field scramble to the top and then sweeping views of Moab and Spanish Valley below. This is the prominent peak you can see from town (and also it hides Mount Peale’s summit)
Mount Peale = 12,721ft / 3,877m
Mount Tuk = 12,489ft / 3,807m
Shooting a Mesa Arch Sunrise
This arch lives in the Island in the Sky area of Canyonlands NP and is situated just perfectly to catch the sun rising over the desert floor. I camped in Canyonlands, woke up real early, and arrived a whole hour before sunrise, on a Wednesday, and barely managed to snag the last spot to set up my tripod and camera amid a sea of fellow photographers.
