EWolfe Posted February 8, 2007 Posted February 8, 2007 I Left Bellingham late on December 22nd, everything I own packed in my van, excluding a few pieces of art. Destination: Flagstaff, Arizona (eventually). Christmas eve day I arrived at Joshua Tree to a full Hidden Valley campground. A stealth night/early morning at Jumbo Rocks later I secured a site in HV, with the next two nights paid for! I registered for the full two weeks when that expired, getting 18 days in the Tree. Lots of soloing 5.4 and under was the theme this year, in an effort to get a little closer to the magic 1000 ( I am still under 100). The Joshua Tree guide book lists 140 routes 5.4 and under, plus it was a good way to explore the park. I found at least one (a 5.4 chimney) that I was unwilling to solo! There is also a long, 150 foot slab in Wonderland of Rocks. There was a real bad infestation of drum circles this year, and not an exterminator in sight. Highlights of the stay included: several fox sightings, a fire-spinning naked woman, another woman staying with me on her last night, meeting Josh who is a carpenter in Flagstaff, and fun New Year’s party campfire rounds capped by a 2AM sweat in a tarp dome. Good times! January 10th found me out of time for the season in Joshua Tree(although I was formulating a plan for re-registering my vehicle in Arizona and coming back for two more weeks). So I set off for Flagstaff, and 6 hours later rolled into town. Hey! That was easy! I spent a couple of days getting the lay of the land, calling contacts, finding the good pubs, coffee shops, bookstores, wifi spots, camping places, climbing areas, etc. I was distressed to learn that there is NO sleeping in your vehicle allowed within the whole county that Flagstaff is in! Even the old standby WalMart had signs all over saying such. Fortunately, my white utility van is ideal for stealth camping, so I found a few spots near the pubs and coffee shops in downtown. One of my contacts had a place for me to store my tool trailer, and gave me a much-needed shower. Thanks, Michael! Then the weather hit on January 12th. It was cold at nights, sometimes 12-13 degrees, but when the snow came, I bailed. 40 miles toward Phoenix and a 3500-foot elevation drop, and voila! Moderate temps again! Queen Creek Canyon was where I ended up, free camping at Oak Flats campground, a 15-minute hike to bouldering. I spent a week there, sampling some of the finest bouldering since Hueco Tanks, much of it highball. There’s like 1200 boulder problems in the guidebook. The climbing is very taxing, like Hueco, requiring rest days every other day. The conditions were crisp and cold, perfect for sending. I averaged 15-20 new problems a day to V4, for the 4 days I climbed. Really good stuff. During a trip to Superior, I called my friend Josh, and he reported that the night after I left the temperature in Flagstaff hit -13F! I apparently picked a good time to leave! On the 19th, my buddy Nick flew in from Big Bear, and I picked him up in Phoenix. We went back to Queen Creek, but got snowed out the next morning. Checking the various guides to Arizona, we settled on Prescott because of the plethora of bouldering, and a possible 4-5 pitch excursion on Granite Mountain. Another 5-hour drive, and we were sipping IPA’s at the local Prescott Brewery, smiling at the waitresses and watching a football playoff game. There was snow in Prescott too, but the days were warm, and we spent a couple of days climbing the quality boulders at Lake Watson Dells. The place is a huge granite batholith, with small, lumpy dells sticking up from 10-50 feet, coarse in nature, and often quite high. Set on the edge of the lake, it is quite picturesque. We opted out on the multi-pitch, seeing as how we would, at the top, be traversing to an rappel we didn’t know on a possibly snow-covered domed summit. We both really liked Prescott, it felt laid-back and was littered with attractive women, as well as climbing. On the 17th Nick had to fly out, so we drove to Phoenix where we spent a half a day climbing at Camelback right in Scottsdale. The rock was fractured granite, very scary and difficult to protect. I used my tri-cams a lot that day. Later, I dropped him at the airport and headed back to Flag to make another effort at becoming a “Flaggot”. The next day I started calling contractors for work, to no avail. The help-wanted was bleak as well, so I spent a few days doing more exploratory familiarizing. I spent one day just wandering around downtown, looking at shops, checking out the climbing stores, eats and venues. Another day I drove to Sedona, a 20-minute jaunt, and did some hiking in Oak Creek Canyon, a unique natural feature of sandstone, similar to Red Rocks in Vegas but on a smaller scale. I went to Montezuma’s Castle and Montezuma’s Well another day, and did a loop on some backroads as well. Some days were spent working on either of two book projects I have going, both children’s stories. I developed a pattern: mornings at Macy’s the local coffee shop with primo ambience and free wifi, then to the library to check the want-ads, do some reading. I often drive out near the Pit on forest service land to hang out, write, cook food, and nap. Evenings are at the pub, for happy hour, writing, or watching movies on the laptop. So went a full week. Finally on the 25th I secured 2 days of climbing with Josh, and Friday we headed out to “The Pit”, a 5-minute drive and 15-minute hike to a limestone gorge. It’s real name is “The Petit Verdon”, due to the amazing limestone climbing reminiscent of the French mecca. Everyone calls it the Pit. We had a stellar, tendon-stretching day on Friday in 60-degree temps on the overhanging, pocketed faces, climbing 8 - 5.10 to .11+ routes. A good place to get strong! I found out that day that my partner Josh onsights 5.12 trad, and sent Ruby’s Café in Indian Creek. I got a ropegun! Woohoo! Saturday was a rest day, but we hooked up again on Sunday to climb at Paradise Forks, one of the most ethically pure climbing areas in the US. It was a sunny day as we drove the 40 minutes to the parking area, and another 15 minute hike found us at the rim. The style of the place is known locally as “reverse-cragging”, meaning you leave your stuff at the top, rap in, climb a route, and take a break at the rim. It took some getting used to. The rock is stellar. It is steep basalt, similar to that of Smith Rocks, but the texture is rough enough to stick handily in stemming. The climbing is fairly consistent, sapping energy with continuous moves, and burning the calves with stemming. Because of the rough nature of the rock, the jams are amazing! Some of the most locker I have ever encountered. We climbed 6- 5.10 to .11+ routes that day, a “good” day at the Forks, Josh informed me. 8 is proud, but we were wiped. Monday the 29nd found me looking again down the barrel of unemployment. I had strung together a few more contacts from Josh and Will Strickland, so I called some folks, met one or two for job discussion, and met Doug La Farge. He is a sushi chef in Flagstaff, and a climber as well, so we hooked up for a beer on Tuesday, and he promised to keep his ears open for work. Oh, and was I interested in going to Mt Lemmon for a 3-day weekend of climbing with 4 other folks? You bet your bottom dollar! Wednesday was fruitless as well, workwise, so I decided to hit “Ladies and Eighties” night at the Mogollon Brewery, anticipating their strong, hoppy IPA, cheesy music and hotties. I had just learned how to pronounce the name, it is Mug-eon, and nothing says tourist faster than saying it wrong. It was packed, I got drunk, played some pool, flirted a little...good times! We left on Feb 1st for Phoenix where we would spend the night at Susan’s house (Russ “Fish” Walling’s partner). We got in late, and who was there but Will Strickland! Doug’s friend Chris had driven down from SLC as well, rounding out the posse. We crashed on the floor of Susan’s stylish home, and headed for Lemmon early the next morning. The first day we climbed at The Sunspot, an area within a 25 minute hike of the campground. The weather was spotty, but we had a good day of sport-climbing, mostly .10's and .11's on the coarse, crystalline granite. That night I was treated to an evening of climbing stories. This crew climbs with the legends, I soon discovered. I felt very fortunate to be tagging along. Everyone was really cool and laid back. Good folks.The second day found us at The Ruins to perfect weather, mid-60's, and a whole string of 5.9 to 5.11 climbs on a south-facing wall. In the evening we had a huge fire and $3 bottles of Trader Joe’s wine. Sleeping came easy that night. Sunday was cooler again, so we decided to check out a canyon at the base of the mountain, hoping for warmer temperatures. It was the third day on climbing, and a few of us weaker ones were wondering how we would do that day. It was so hot when we go there, we opted to climb in the shade - it was still 65 degrees. With creaking tendons, and sore muscles, I struggled up 5 climbs to .11b. We drove back to Susan’s house in Phoenix late, Chris and Will staying for a couple of more days, and Doug and I decided to drive back to Flag in the morning. The last couple of days I have been lining up some work, finally, mostly thanks to Doug. His friend (and now mine, too!) Tim does wooden floors, and knows a ton of folks in the trades. Coming up: another 3-day weekend in Vegas with “the posse”, this time “The Fish” will be there. I am looking forward to meeting him. Things are starting to come together, Doug has an extra room at his house he offered me and I looked at a trim job today. Namaste, Erik Quote
crazy_t Posted February 8, 2007 Posted February 8, 2007 Wow, sounds like fun! "Road trip" is almost a foreign term to me, a distant memory. Live it up!! Quote
G-spotter Posted February 8, 2007 Posted February 8, 2007 If you are having trouble finding carpentry work in Flagstaff, maybe you could take up chakra aligning in Sedona? Quote
Sherri Posted February 8, 2007 Posted February 8, 2007 Carpe Diem, E! Way to show us homebodies what we're missing out on! Sherri Quote
Weekend_Climberz Posted February 8, 2007 Posted February 8, 2007 Nice E! :tup: Sounds like that van has been a rock Quote
RuMR Posted February 8, 2007 Posted February 8, 2007 fuck you guys and your fucking free lifestyle do what you want have a great time climb until its no fun anymore free lifestyle ... i hope you get some tendonitis headed your way via the karma train, beyotch! all that said, nice tr..i'm jealous...you're still a bitch for leaving the PNW... Quote
jshamster Posted February 9, 2007 Posted February 9, 2007 Sweet E! Gotta love Paradise Forks. Cheers Jimbo Quote
David Trippett Posted February 9, 2007 Posted February 9, 2007 Hey E! Looks like you've found Paradise! You got a floor I can surf? Cochise?? Quote
selkirk Posted February 9, 2007 Posted February 9, 2007 Your making all of us cubical monkeys very jealous!!!! It's good to know someone's getting some good climbing in even if it isn't me! Quote
Weekend_Climberz Posted February 9, 2007 Posted February 9, 2007 I don't see any ice in those pictures. Is it summer down there already?? Quote
drater Posted February 10, 2007 Posted February 10, 2007 Doug get those f'n stickers I made him on his truck yet? Tell that slackmonkey to send me some pix! Quote
kix Posted February 10, 2007 Posted February 10, 2007 pff. apparently exit stage left paradoxically leads you to enter stage right. Quote
kix Posted February 10, 2007 Posted February 10, 2007 trip reports are essentially spray. therefore....... Quote
drater Posted February 10, 2007 Posted February 10, 2007 got me there... i'll try and keep it sequestered to the EW and NI forums. Quote
EWolfe Posted February 11, 2007 Author Posted February 11, 2007 Hey E! Looks like you've found Paradise! You got a floor I can surf? Cochise?? Anytime, Dave! Just let me know when ya need a little sun! I think Pete said it best. Quote
Alpinfox Posted February 12, 2007 Posted February 12, 2007 Hey E, That looks like a vanful of fun. You are livin' the dream brother! Quote
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