Climbing, Slacking, Life.: Stars, Bars, and Shot Up Cars

Other possible titles for this post:
1. Star Search
2. Starrosis - an inflammation of the star seeking frontal lobe.

Right Fork in the Morning.

As I lay in my tent staring at the star strutted night sky devoid of any clouds I couldn't help but truly feeling the magic that lies in Joe's Valley. It's more than just the gorgeous black and tan streaked boulders, the turquoise laden river, or the marvelous sunrises and easy going pace of life in the valley. It's something intangible that you could never over experience, and always find hard to communicate in words. In short Joe's Valley is magical.

The first of many "freak outs"

The C A M R. post dirt road short cut. Now at 198,000 miles and still building character!

Friday morning Garvin and I strapped up and did the long drive into Joe’s Valley, not getting lost once; but nearly running out of gas twice. We made the mistake of stopping in Grand Junction to grab food and booze before heading into the land of Mormon, 3.2 beer, and Sandstone. We drove in circles attempting to find grocery stores, in place we only found super targets and liquor barns.

Garvin on The Comedian

Finally we arrive at our destination, and quickly made our way to Man Size Area to relieve the itchiness of our fingers, and soothe the sweating of our palms with chalk. We began our reintroduction to the area by climbing the tallest face we could find, a gorgeous highball named Michelangelo; undeniably a work of art. We also played around on a few moderates before running into a friend from the South, Jill. A pleasant surprise to say the least because we ended up spending the rest of the weekend with her, her friend, Anna, and the Canadian staying in a movable aqua “loaf of bread” (read van), Ira. All was well in the world.

Ira and Jill

Katy, Garvin’s girlfriend, was to meet us there Friday evening, but due to complications arrived late in the evening. However it did provide us with entertainment…as we began to get further into the bottle of Chossy Rossi, we also began to dance at every car that passed our campsite.

Saturday, we got on a really cool problem called Worst Case Scenario. Jill sent with impeccable style.

Photo by Katy Scott.

Sunday saw ascents of the remaining proj’s and the long journey back home. Beat and broken, the trip was a huge success, and now I have dreams of returning as soon as possible.

Here are some photos for your viewing pleasure.