I’ve been racking my brain, typing till my fingers bleed, trying every different angle, but none of it feels right. This fall we cycled over 1500 miles across 5 states to spend 2 weeks climbing in one of my favorite places on Earth: Zion Canyon. A trip report won’t do, and I’m not convinced there are any words or ways to convey to you just how much this life means to me, how much it’s changed the way I climb, live, and see the world. I’d love to tell you about each pitch, each mile, every day and every climb, but I know that’s not how it works. I want to grab hold of your shoulders, to shake you and show you what’s real, what’s important and why this life is the best thing that’s ever happened to me, but you’ll just think I’m crazy.
Maybe it’s the easy way out, maybe I’m missing something or just loosing touch with how to tell a story. Maybe, but something tells me this trip was too big, to deep, and too crazy to properly share, and that my attempt with words will only confuse the issue. What happened out there? Sometimes even I wonder, but I rest easy knowing I shared it with my two best friends on earth, knowing they had their minds blown as wide as mine. This time, I’m gonna keep my mouth shut. This time, I’m gonna let the pictures tell the story.
The pictures tell the story, click on an image to enlarge it.
Don’t take no for an answer. Amos rode 1000 miles to sip the sacred spirit water of Mukuntuweap.Trying to get a feel for the stone by doing some bouldering around the Temple of Sinewava.Goat Heads. These things will follow you everywhere, some of the sharpest on the whole trip.Warming up at the Cerberus Gendarme.Contemplation on Scarlet Begonias, a Conrad Anker route on the Cerberus GendarmeThe workhorse, Surly Disc-Trucker with typical Zion commute setup, Cilo-Gear “Rocket-Pack” arrangement, shown with brain as handlebar bag setup. Everyday Alpine.Yeah, I see it too. Amos checks to make sure he’s not dreaming as the Great White Throne pierces the sky.Zen. Down the Canyon at the end of the day.Happiness is not having to share the road with vehicles that don’t actually share the road.Freedom. Storm approaching, Amos is stoked.Boundaries. Nevada left it’s mark in more ways than one, on our bodies and minds.Smashmouth. Amos and Liz follow the last pitch of this awesome route.Amos searches for his Inner Chi.Typical. During our stay we got pretty good at descending in the dark.Gawking. Rubbernecking. Call it what you will, the bike is an excellent perch from where to appreciate a wall.Angels Landing, the Megamahedral, Zion Canyon. This was our view for about 9 hours as we inched our way up Vernal Equinox.Amos following an early pitch of Vernal Equinox. Although wide, sandy and scary, this climb was pretty damn fun.The ubiquitous Zion Drilled Piton. Bomber.Equinox summit photo, glad I had some battery left to use the iPhone light for descending.Stoic. Amos makes like a wall as we explore our way up the Virgin River towards the Narrows.Tunneling. In all our previous visits we’d never taken the time to explore the Narrows, and while I’m not much for canyoneering, this was pretty frickn’ awesome.The Commute. The Pa’rus trail gets my vote for most scenic bike-path anywhere.Liz leads up the first pitch of Holy Roller. This is a highly recommended 5 pitch route on the west face of Mount Spry.Clinging. The second pitch of Holy Roller features some amazing mixed protection patina / crack climbing with awesome views of West Temple.Rock, sky, crack, pain. The last two pitches of Holy Roller offer some challenging but rewarding flared finger and hand jamming.Team. I fucking love you guys.The illusive sleeping, sun-bathing Lizard. Who would have guessed being a bicycle-powered climber is hard work. This chick is harder than you.DTC. Let it ride.Bike Path Love. Another view of my favorite bike path anywhere.Advanced Base Camp. The Watchman glows in afternoon light, for once we made it back to camp to cook before dark.Fire in the Sky.Riding among giants. Another view of the GWT, hard to comprehend the immensity of this rock.Hideout. Amos and I found some spectacular rest-day activities low on the Leaning Wall, soloing this cave-crack and getting beat-down on Karmic Edges.Peep-Hole. Some wild formations on the walk up to The Watchman.Chastity Crack Buttress – The Watchman. Another highly recommended climb.Liz leading us up the first pitch of Chastity Crack. Note the arch to the left.Splitterness. Some fresh-feeling rock and amazing position topping out on this pitch.Reach for the Sky. Amos punches up the difficult last pitch of Chastity Crack. If you get on this route make sure to climb the pitch to the left from this belay as well, a little harder but equally as splitter.Unbeaten. Another fine sunset during our walk down from The Watchman.Among giants. Making our way up to the Temple of Sinewava for a go on the Monkeyfinger.The Monkeyfinger – Temple of Sinewava. This picture does no justice to convey the sheer wall and amazing corner-crack system that is Monkeyfinger, one of the biggest, hardest, and finest routes I’ve had the privilege to climb.Liz and Amos following up the 2nd pitch of Monkeyfinger, the Pillar of Fate.Amos takes the sharp end for the crux tips tieback. The real difficulty here is the slippery calcite you have to push against, but at 12b, this is the crux of the route and is only about 15-20 feet, FIRE IT!!!For two weeks we forgot how good we had it, then, the cars returned. Liz contemplates the change in atmosphere from high on the Monkeyfinger.Monkeyfingered.Amos went sans-pants for the full on Monkeyfinger-bang.One small crack, one big…cam.Coming up.Airing out the wet undies after a dip in the Virgin. Peace out Zion, see you soon.
