h o b b l e c r e e k

last monday after work, we tried to catch the last bit of sun up in the mountains.

we grabbed afton and her dog sam and headed to hobble creek canyon.

utah has been pretty rainy lately and nice fall climbing has been hard to find.
so on the few clear nights we head to the cliffs until dark.

we decided on a climb that we have eyed a few times on our way to other climbs.

it is over a river and the start is pretty sketchy with a lot of loose rock.
falling would mean landing on a large sharp boulder in the river.

the worrier i am, convinced casey to stick-clip.

stick clipping is a very useful safety method to use in situations where you really don't want to fall before your first bolt. it’s a technique using a long stick attached to your draw which is secured open to clip to the first bolt. you simply extend the stick up to the first bolt, hook your draw to the bolt, and yank the stick down so the quickdraw locks to the bolt. your rope is through the other side of your draw so once it's clipped, your tied in, and your belayer has you on belay, you don't have to worry about falling before the first bolt. 

see mom.... we are safe ;)

unfortunately, the climb was not  safe. 
the rock was even more brittle than we thought.
instead of sending rocks down at my head, 
casey had to down climb the wall.. never fun.

but we're safe and happy and still love climbing.
thanks to afton for the pictures. 
it's fun to have someone there to capture your happy moments in life.