JPV - Off and climbing; Red Rocks and the Sierra

On the 16th of April I flew from Auckland back to the US after 7 months abroad. It was sad leaving my friends in New Zealand but is wonderful to have them as friends who I will see again in the future. On the 20th of April I left New Mexico for 3 weeks of climbing and mountain biking with some hang gliding thrown in for David. We started out in Red Rocks Nevada, just outside of Las Vegas and then headed to the other side of Death Valley for some climbing in the Sierra's.  I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.  

Hiking toward Pine Creek Canyon with David, James, and Patrycja. Mescalito is the small crag in the middle of the canyons which is a mere 1200' tall. We were walking up to climb Y2K which is mostly 5.8 with a 5.10 crux (hard for me).

James contemplating pitch 1 of Y2K

David leading pitch 1 of Y2K

David still on lead but you can see most of the crag, The crux is climbing though the roof 30' or so over David's head. 

Hiking up with the intent of climbing Crimson Chrysalis which is on Cloud Tower on the right side of the red topped peak. 

We got to Crimson Chrysalis early and there were 4 parties in front of us. It is very popular so you have to be really early and fast to get on it. We moved over to the left and climbed Spare Rib instead, it was shorter and not as difficult but got us climbing. We weren't too disappointed as it was a cold and windy day. 

David on up Spare Rib. 

The desert around Red Rocks was in bloom, these are globe mallows which are one of my favorite desert flowers. 

Barrel Cactus in bloom. 

We saw a lot of these desert big horns in this area, the first time I have seen them at Red Rocks. 

More cactus blooming on a healthy desert climate.

The Vagabond contemplating life.

The Calico Hills across the springtime desert.

The Calico Hills with a Joshua Tree in the foreground

We took a side trip into the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in the White Mountains. It was cold and snowing but the elevation was above 10'000 feet. These are the oldest living trees in the world with some of them estimated to be close to 5000 years old. 

The Bristlecone Pines do look gnarly but then they are old. 

We went across the Owens River Valley and camped at the Buttermilk Boulders which are famous for bouldering. It was a cold night and was snowing as we set up camp. It didn't lay at camp but gave us this beautiful scene in the morning. 

We were happy to have the North Face expedition tent and were nice and toasty inside 

Sport climbing in America. This is the Great Wall of China at Owen's River Gorge. Lots of nice climbs but too many people. We climbed as hard as 5.10D here or I should say David climbed 5.10D; I got it but it took a couple of hangs to get there. 

The Great Wall of China

You can tell how tall it is by how tiny the climbers look. 

David leading in Owens River Gorge

David contemplating what to climb next

This is the day after the snow, it doesn't take long to disappear. 

Our camp in the desolate Alabama Hills, the climbing was good but it was windy. Mount Whitney, the highest point in the lower 48, is the furthest peak to the right. 

Mount Whitney and it's buttresses from the base of the Beckey Route in Whitney Portal

A majestic view of Mount Whitney from the Beckey Route

 view up the Beckey Route on El Segundo in Whitney Portal. The route goes to the left of the lower roof and to the right of the second. The crux (technical) is going over the small roof above the 2nd.  The real crux was climbing the runout face above which varies from 5.6 to 5.8. It was a fun alpine route. 

The crags above Whitney Portal, beautiful white granite between eight and nine thousand feet with lots of technical routes, mostly harder than 5.9. 

The premier crag on the right with El Segundo to the left. The Beckey Route goes up the face on the left side of El Segundo. 

David leading the 2nd pitch of the Beckey Route, it got rather exposed just around the corner which is just below the technical crux. 

Looking at Mt Whitney from the Beckey Route 

David well up the 3rd pitch on runout friction, woohoo

Lunchtime at the top of the 3rd, windy and cold but having fun. 

The view of Owens Lake from the top of the route. Yes it has no water, LA drank it. 

If you enjoyed seeing this blog let me know. Feedback is appreciated.  I'll apologize in advance for any typos or errors. I'm on the road and have limited internet availability.  Hope to hear from you soon.

Climbing in the Remarkables and at Wye Creek, Queenstown, NZ

It was nice to find time for a climbing weekend with my friend Lauren, after a little deliberation we decided  to do some traditional climbing in the Remarkables close to Queenstown. Lauren knew a couple of young ladies, Annika and Christina, who wanted to go sport climbing at Wye Creek and were willing to share the cost of petrol. Gasoline is twice as expensive here as in the states so the more the merrier. We left my place on Memorial Ave in Christchurch in mid-afternoon for the 6 hour drive to Queenstown; a beautiful drive down into Otago and by the Southern Lakes. We were fortunate to have a beautiful day and stopped at Lake Pukaki to stretch our legs and take a few photos.

The intrepid explorer Lauren Brown discovers Aoraki (Mt Cook)

Mount Cook across Lake Pukaki

Annika, Christina, Lauren, and the Vagabond

After the break we jetted on down to Wye Creek, another 3 hours or so,  and set up camp for the night. Wye Creek is in the Remarkables Range about 12 Km south of Queenstown so there is a nice view across Lake Wakatipu. 

Sunrise over Queenstown and Ben Lamond across Lake Wakatipu.  

I talked about climbing Ben Lamond in the February Blog, "Travelling in the Southern Lakes". The walk goes up to the saddle between the two higher peaks and then ascends the ridge on the left. A couple of day later I circumnavigated Ben Lamond with my bicycle, going up the Shotover River Gorge and then down by Moke Lake before riding the road back into town. 

After breakfast, Lauren and I drove up to the Remarkables Ski Basin for some alpine climbing above Alta Lake and below the summit of Double Cone. 

View of Queenstown and the Kawarau River Valley from the road up to the Remarkables Ski Basin

Lauren walking up to Alta Lake towards Double Cone

Alta Lake and Double Cone

Lauren contemplating the face and scoping out routes

Lauren on the sharp end looking for somewhere to place protection. The rock is beautiful schist but doesn't offer many competent placements so tends to get a little run out. 

Lauren climbing up pitch 2 with Alta lake below. My camera decided to stop opening the shutter completely :(

We had a fun climb hoawever getting off the crag got a little interesting with a bit of tussock climbing and gully scrambling. As we hiked out around Alta Lake and down through the ski area we saw a pair of Keas or alpine parrots who were interested in the construction equipment at the ski area. The Kea are known to be mischievous and love to break into things. We enjoyed the views as we drove down the ski basin road and back to Wye Creek to meet the ladies who were sitting in the parking area enjoying some nachos when we arrived. The next morning we walked up to the crag to do some sport climbing. We couldn't ask for a more lovely place to climb. 

Wye Creek Crag from the parking area. 

Christina leading and Annika on belay. 

Christina on lead, you can see the beautiful schist with the different colors and wavy patterns. 

This is me on a convenient ledge before heading up the headwall of the Mission, grade 16 (5.8ish)

View from the crag across Lake Wakatipu you can see the prominent roof on the left which where the next few photos were taken.

Lauren getting ready to climb a 23 (5.11d)

Vagabond belay

Lauren working the moves

Annika showing us how it's done, grade 23

Annika almost around the corner

Up on the vertical face, you can see how steep the roof is from this photo. 

Annika taking a break and showing off her lovely smile. She climbed this route three times so earned her break. 

Christina climbing a 21(5.11b/c)

Christina photo op before turning the corner. 

Final clip before getting on the upper face. 

This stream flows down beside the crag and is a main water supply for town. 

The trail goes along the top of the water pipe and is one of the more interesting approaches I've seen. We stopped at the intake and filled our water bottles. Most places in the mountains of New Zealand you can drink right out of the streams.

We had a great weekend with beautiful warm weather but were all fairly knackered on the 6 hour drive back to Christchurch.