Darren and I have been in tropical or otherwise warm climates for the past, well, I don't even know how many months. I was shocked, however, to be back in sweltering conditions with just a few hour drive from where we are living in Colorado. We traveled for the weekend to Colorado National Monument to bag a desert tower called Independence Monument by climbing the historical Otto's Route. Otto was a fella who lived in the early 20th century whom we heard from various people was a sort of cooky guy who lived at the base of the tower and decided to form the route because a couple wanted to get married at the top of it (this is completely hearsay information. He proceeded to carve holes and steps at strategic places along the line, which is not so difficult to do because the sandstone is extremely pliable. To my chagrin, numerous have people have carved their names and whatever nonsense along the route ruining part of its natural beauty.
I do admit that there were many times I was thankful for Otto's alterations, although it gave me the odd sensation of climbing a climbing gym route outdoors. Otto did throw in a special challenge at the very end of the climb, a challenge I wonder if he threw in for humor. Right at the end of the route, after a ramp littered with Otto steps, is a steep section where an Otto hole would be especially useful, but instead is a blank (of alterations) scary committing move to the top. Thankfully Darren is a rock star and led us to the top where we met a group of other celebrating conquerors.
A much appreciated Otto hole and step
Some climbers descending past the crux
Darren about to cruise through the crux and on to the top of the route
The descent to the wrap rings consisted of some scary down climbing, so Darren lent a hip belay to some friends we met at the top of the route
We decided to take in the desert view and a nap while we waited for the other climbing groups to descend
Darren added a creative drawing to the log book telling the story of our first desert climb as a married couple, the crux, Otto's contributions, and our love for freedom and of course independence. Yea for Independence Monument!
The descent...
A rock frog attacked be on the hike out
We saw a sweet crack climb on the way out that we had also been checking out on our hike in. Some guys invited us to try it out. Darren couldn't resist the goodness and flew up it, then belayed me from the "greatest belay seat of all times."
That night Darren and I felt like watching a movie, so we searched our GPS for something nearby in Grand Junction. The machine took us to a theater in the old downtown. We were confused, however, because heaps of people were milling around the lobby along with some policemen. One asked us if we had a ticket. Confused, we replied that we would like to buy a ticket and asked if this really was a theater. He informed us that there were no movies tonight but a Beatles tribute band and we would need at ticket to see it. We decided to continue our search and ended up watching Date Night about which we knew nothing, but happily enjoyed ("You live here, babe!"). After the movie, we traveled an hour or so further west. I wasn't aware that soon we would be near the famous adventure town of Moab, but Darren had a plan...
The next morning we traveled to Castle Valley, home of Castleton Tower, one of the most famous towers in Utah. We had a long steep hike to the base of the tower in which our sweat baked in the heat. When we finally reached the base of our route, however, we surprised to find ourselves whipped around by Samson strong wind and an intensely cold temperature in the shade of the tower. Darren didn't have a jacket and already had frozen hands by the middle of the first pitch. Both of us were freaked out by the wind. I wasn't too disappointed when we decided to bail. What would be the point if we were freezing and having a horrible, scary experience the entire climb? We decided we would return when we are better prepared for the crazy weather of the desert. And there is no doubt in my mind that we will return...
We spent the rest our day checking out Moab. It is a semi-interesting town with its best feature being the local book store and, of course, its proximity to adventure.
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