Acadia (map)

The long drive back to Pompey in the Vansion

Studying the guidebook

Funky climbing out of a cave on P1 of Translantic
Translantic

Enjoying the view from Great Head

Leslie enjoying sea cliff climbing at its best
Morning Glory

Preparing to rappel down over the water at Great Head

Painting on top of Great Head

Preparing to rappel at Great Head

At the start of Black Crack; after we climbed this, we learned that nobody does this route because it was altered by rock fall
Black Crack

Rocky coastline near Otter Cliffs

Home away from home, at the Otter Cliffs parking area

Crimpy (and reachy) climbing on great rock
Fingers on a Seascape

The Precipice, as seen from the road

View from The Precipice, looking towards the ocean

Following a beautiful crack above the sea, perhaps one of the best routes at Otter Cliffs
A Dare By the Sea

One of the better cracks at The Precipice, although one can step left at several points to reduce the pump factor
Emigrant Crack

Alabama Hills (map)

Leaping between boulders

Tons of rock, like J-Tree but without all the gorgeous desert plant life

Easy face climbing on plates with cool orange lichen
Muffy

Puzzling out the routes in the Corridor

Belaying in the Corridor

Starting up Pangborn, one of the longer routes at the Hills
Pangborn

Dancing up the face
Pangborn

Looking like an ant on the face, Tommy runs up the endless plates to the anchor
Pangborn

Old school Tommy sport climbing…yeah boy!
Call of the Canyon

Resting at a good handhold
Call of the Canyon

Resting at a good handhold
Call of the Canyon

Beautiful Alabama Hills
 

Crimping at the start of Hang 'Em High
Hang 'Em High

More crimps through the crux
Hang 'Em High

Grabbing for a draw
Hang 'Em High

The route finishes in a crack
Hang 'Em High

Palming low down on the route
High Plains Drifter

Thin crimps at the crux
High Plains Drifter

Sweet face climbing with high steps
High Plains Drifter

Angel Falls (map)

Rapping the largest waterfall, Big Angel; there are a bunch of route possibilities here

The easier line at Little Angel
Unknown

Going through a small, unprotected roof
Unknown

Clearing the roof
Unknown

Preparing to climb Little Angel

Rapping Little Angel; we led two routes here, one directly under the rappeller, and one to the right
 

Arches (map)

Lots of arches, seen from the road

Navajo Arch, got to hike to see this one

Another cool arch, also have to hike to see it

Roadside rock, all balanced and stuff

Scene of the "incident"; cool arch, too many people (had to photoshop them out)

Jumble of redish rocks called the Fiery Furnace; pretty cool

Big span, amazing this is still standing

Bishop Creek (map)

Pretty much the only boulder we could climb; we suck
Unknown

Shredded hands from 31 straight days of climbing

Slab at the top of P3
West Face

Nearing the top of P3, Lake Sabrina in the background
West Face

Leading P4 in the rain
West Face

View of the Bishop Creek valley from the top of P1
West Face

Cardinal Pinnacle, as seen from the dirt road on the other side of the valley

In a warm puffy jacket at the P2 belay, Aspendell in the background; the vansion is parked in the pullout on the road above Colin's head
West Face

Castle Rocks (map)

Hanging out in the van at a City of Rocks campsite

Store in Almo

Hiking around Castle Rock

Starting out on Red Rib, which I thought was pretty hard for the grade
Red Rib

South face of Castle Rock

Pretty rainbow during one of the frequent showers

The most over bolted route on the planet, we had to back clean draws to make it to the top
Mantel Dynamics

Comp Rock, the other "big" rock at Castle Rocks
 

Comp Rock again, named for a rock climbing competition that occurred here

Sleeping under an overhanging wall, waiting out the rain

Cochiti Mesa (map)

View from our van, parked on the road that traverses the top of Cochiti Mesa

Wandering around in the rain, which happened every day of our trip

Colin sketches in the van waiting out the rain

Finally the sun; we ran out and climbed a few routes before dark

Perplexed by a sea of pockets at the start of the route
Open Mouth Syndrome

Typical pocket at Cochiti
Open Mouth Syndrome

Typical pocket at Cochiti
Open Mouth Syndrome

Sending the super-overhanging Prow
The Prow

View from the descent to the South Cliffband

Pulling the crux on big jugs
The Prow

View from the Vista Point Overlook

Colorado National Monument (map)

A lizard we saw on the hike out

Another lizard we saw on the hike out

Lots of towers as seen from the road near the visitor's center

Pipe Organ Spire (left) and Organ Pipe Spire

Kissing Couple, as seen from the top of Indepdence Monument

We nearly walked into some sheep on the way out…really!
 

Starting up the third pitch easy chimney
Otto's Route

Pulling the final move onto the summit
Otto's Route

The final rappel off Independence Monument
Otto's Route

At the belay below the summit
Otto's Route

Independence Monument as seen from the rim; the Kissing Couple is to the left, Rainbow Tower behind, and Grand View Spire to the right

Independence Monument as seen from the approach trail; looks narrow and overhanging from this angle

A nice spot at the belay at the top of the second pitch
Otto's Route

The fourth pitch face climb, made easy by the drilled stances (thanks Otto)
Otto's Route

Bomber anchor in sandstone
Otto's Route

Nice to see our president getting out
Otto's Route

Colin's signature in the summit register
Otto's Route

Some goodies we found in the summit register box
Otto's Route

Massive runout up to the capstone
Otto's Route

Ahhhh…protection; notice the drilled stances up the face above him
Otto's Route

Hard pulling over the overhang leads to a good ledge and fixed anchor
Otto's Route

Woo hoo
Otto's Route

Starting up the first pitch of Otto's Route
Otto's Route

El Rito (map)

View of the conglomerate as seen from the road

A scary self portrait

Approaching in the rain, of course

Our campsite at El Rito; cows roamed around our van at night

In a sea of knobs and cookie-chip chunks
Boltaneer

Amazing jugs where cobbles used to be
Boltaneer

A super juggy and high-quality route
Boltaneer

Jug pulling on a steep, beautiful wall
Blackballed

El Rito, Pirates Wall, as seen from the road

God's Crag (map)

Aspens on the approach

Walking back to the car in the rain

Abandoned mine on the road to Engineer's Pass

Somebody got all Hayduke on this dam

Approaching the mine shaft; no, we didn't go in it, especiallty after The Descent

Two-tiered waterfall with a spooky mine shaft at the base

Approaching God's Crag

Plaque at the base of The Renaissance Man below the waterfall

The crag, as seen from the road

Descending in the rain through a grove of aspens; we picked up a hundred ticks here

Crux moves at the top of the pitch
Fear is Never Boring

Styling the second pitch, in the rain
Fear is Never Boring

Cool face climbing on the first pitch
Fear is Never Boring

Self portrait, belaying in the rain
Fear is Never Boring

Following the beautiful face on P1
Fear is Never Boring

Nearing the top of the pitch
Fear is Never Boring

Granite Mountain (map)

Nearing the top of P2
Falling Ross

Delicate moves onto the slippery slab at the top of P2
Falling Ross

Owens River Gorge (map)

Checking out the view on the way into the Gorge

First route in the Gorge, slippery and good
Fear of a Black Planet

Long reach at the crux
Fear of a Black Planet

Making a clip before the crux
Ambassadors of Funk

Powering through the crux
Ambassadors of Funk

Near the start, and pretty slippery
Welcome to the Gorge

In a sea of pockets near the anchor
Expressway

Pulling through the first overhanging section
Bone Up

Pulling though the big overhang high on the route
Bone Up

Whew…getting established after the roof
Bone Up

Thin, crimpy moves at the bottom
Expressway

Crimp…ouch!
Expressway

Steep climbing that just doesn't let up
Expressway

Questa Dome (map)

Questa Dome, as seen from highway 522

Rapping off after getting spanked…too wet, too cold, too hard
Question of Balance

Looking at the pitches above with water streaming down the face
Question of Balance

Hanging out at the belay
Question of Balance

Cool view looking up at the P1 belay
Question of Balance

View from P1, looking towards the Rio Grande
Question of Balance

Rifle (map)

Mossy creek in the canyon

Red building in the canyon

Camping in the vansion at Rifle, which was a good thing since it rained every day

Pretty canyon

Lookin' smooth at the Middle Ice Caves area

Tenuous brook crossing

Starting up Cold Cuts
Cold Cuts

Near the bottom of Cold Cuts
Cold Cuts

Angular holds characterize this route, and just about every other route at Rifle
Cold Cuts

Bustin' back muscles
Feline

Amazing climbing, no route finding here due to the chalk
Feline

Strenuous pulling and an intricate sequence coming up
Feline

Suppose to be 5.9, but more like .11a
Unknown

Another "warm up" route, pretty much at our limit
Rehabilitator

Givin' it on Handy Boy
Handy Boy

Colin on Rumor Has It, a super popular .11b
Rumor Has It

Fierce and strenuous laybacking
Rumor Has It

Nice thigh jam in the back of Skull Cave
Forgotten Years

Steep climbing in a cave…a good choice because it was raining
Pile Driver

Rock Creek (map)

Standing at the base of Gong Show Crag

Gong Show Crag, as seen from the road

Thin moves at the start of the route
He She

Awesome views from the base of the wall

Gong Show Crag proved a popular destination with locals

Preparing to lead, not super motivated
Welcome to the Iris Slab

Shoeing up
Welcome to the Iris Slab

Rock Garden (map)

The beautiful Rock Garden, as seen when approaching from Penetente Canyon

Starting up, pretty much the crux of the route
U2RINXS

Traversing to the arete
U2RINXS

The route climbs the left tower of the highest formation in the photo; Colin is there if you look closely
U2RINXS

Cranking on a jug in a sea of rock
U2RINXS

Approaching the Rock Garden from Penetente Canyon

Sedona (map)

Sitting on top of The Mace, at the end of P4
The Original Route

Stemming up the complex assortment of towers on P4; crux is at the top of the pitch
The Original Route

Tres Piedras (map)

Tres Piedras as seen from the road

Waiting out more rain

Our beautiful campsite at the trailhead

Starting up an unknown (but good) route in the Beastie Alley
Unknown

One of Colin's first trad leads; real juggy with good pro
Mama Jugs

Walking off Mosaic Rock

View from the top of the rocks, looking towards Taos

Whitney Portal (map)

Mt. Whitney, as seen from our campsite
 

Colin sketches on top of the bear-proof storage box

Michelle finally arrives at the campsite after an epic trip

Eating lunch at The Beach

Slippery friction; our first route at Whitney Portal
Banana Hammock

We all got a taste of 5.9 friction…yikes!
Lizard King

More 5.9 friction
Manta Ray

Hiking to the crags around Whitney Portal involves some portion of the Mt. Whitney trail, which is where we're standing

Whitney Portal Buttress, much larger than it looks

Colin belays Tommy on P5 while Michelle snacks
No Country for Old Men

Super happy, finally a pitch for short people; I found this pitch desperate
No Country for Old Men

The undercling pitch
No Country for Old Men

P5 of the route goes into the mountain, inside the obvious opening
No Country for Old Men

Nice rope management
No Country for Old Men

Tommy follows the undercling pitch with a full pack of gear, no less
No Country for Old Men

Colin emerges from the P5 chimney
No Country for Old Men

Taking a nap after the big whipper
No Country for Old Men

At the P5 belay, happy to be bailing
No Country for Old Men

Belaying at the top of P5
No Country for Old Men