City of Rocks
After last year’s trip to the City and being rained out; this year was about as good as it gets. When it rains at the City, there’s not a whole lot to do so we lucked out when we left on a Thursday night and had Friday, Saturday and Sunday to climb in perfect climbing weather. The mornings were a little cold but by 10:00 am it was a comfortable 65 degrees.
We started by knocking off a City Classic, the Rye Crisp on Elephant Rock. It’s an easy but exhilarating 5.8 trad route that extends up over 50m. We then moved on to other City Classics such as Bloody Fingers, at the top of the City on the Bread loaves, and Bat Wings, by far the most popular route at the Parking Lot Rock. Bloody Fingers is a fun but very tough 5.10d crack route. Bat Wings was one of my favorites of the whole weekend and is a fun 5.8 route as well.
On Saturday we spent a lot of time on the cheese routes (Scream Cheese and Swiss Cheese) and the Morning Glory Spire. We had a tough time on a new three pitch route up the back side of the spire. I’m not sure what it is called but it was a lot of exposure and a wide variety of moves and holds. The second pitch’s crux took us some time and several attempts but we made it and the view from the top made it all worth it. Skyline, a classic 5.8, was another excellent route we climbed on the Spire.
After three solid days of climbing, what I’m going to go as far as to call the best routes around, we had to pack up and take off. City of Rocks always has a way of making you yearn to come back. If you still think that Idaho is only good for its potatoes, check out the City of Rocks. Unless it rains, I guarantee it won’t let you down!
-For directions to City of Rocks: http://www.visitidaho.org/thingstodo/outdoor-recreation/city-of-rocks-national-reserve.aspx
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