I love meeting up with friends on this trip. It has been awesome to include friends in our adventures on this trip or, in this case, to be included in their adventures. So when a couple of our Utah friends invited us to climb with them and some of their friends in Moab, Utah, we said yes! After meeting up with another Utah friend, we drove out to meet them in Moab.

The drive from Salt Lake City to Moab was unbelievable.

On the way to Moab.

I think our mouths dropped open when we started seeing the orange-ish rock that makes up the area.

A view of a Moab Canyon Wall as you enter the city from the north. Pictures can’t do this area justice.

That night, we camped somewhere in Moab (I don’t remember where) and met some of their other friends. Meeting their friends reminded me that awesome people tend to also have awesome friends. Everyone in the group was friendly and fun to hang around. The next day, we woke up and broke down camp. After much debate on where to climb, we settled on climbing off Potash Road.

A view of the Colorado from the climbing area on Potash Road.

We climbed along the Colorado River off Potash Road. Occasionally, a tour boat would float by and tourists would point at us climbing, applauding when one of us finished a climb.

The 5.9+ Trad Route, Flakes of Wrath

The first climb of the day was Flakes of Wrath, a fun 5.9+ trad route following a nice hand crack a good forty or so feet up. The last ten or fifteen feet of the climb included a traverse under a roof to a flake, then upwards to the anchors. Not having much experience in crack climbing, my friends took time to show me hand and foot techniques and let me run up this climb a couple of times to practice crack climbing.

A picture of me as I navigate climbing under the roof. Bad Moki Roof, 5.9 Trad Route

We also did Bad Moki Roof, also a 5.9 trad route. This crack was smaller, more of a finger crack for the first forty or so feet. Again I got to practice crack climbing techniques. This crack had a slight overhang to it and I got a little frustrated, falling out of the crack, but I eventually made it to the roof. The roof is a fun under-cling traverse to an awkward off-width crack that I managed to wedge my whole body into.

This was an awkward off width crack to climb. I got stuck dangling in the crack a good fifty feet off the ground at one point.

We goofed off while climbing. One of the guys decided to “aid climb” with BBQ tongs.

Ok, so he brought them up for photo props and not aid climbing.

At the end of the day, we had to say goodbye to our Utah friends. As we were saying goodbye to everyone, one of their friends decided to camp with us and share our adventures at Arches National Park, the next day. We were excited to gain a new friend.

From Potash, we drove a little further up the road to find a campsite at the Gold Bar Campground, also along the Colorado River.

A view of the Colorado River from the start of the Corona Arch Trail, with the Gold Bar Campground, in the foreground

Before we made dinner, our new friend went back into town to run errands and KC and I hiked the Corona Arch Trail, since the trailhead was located across the street from our campground. The Corona Arch Trail was a beautiful three-mile trail with a few ladders and cables along the trail. The journey to the arch was just as amazing as the arch itself.

Crossing the Tracks on the Corona Arch Trail

Views on the trail

Views on the trail

Cairns were placed where the trail was hard to follow along the rock to help hikers find their way.

Right before the Corona Arch is the Bowtie Arch

The first arch of the trip, Corona Arch. For perspective, the Arch is about 105ft tall.

As we hiked back to the campground along the trail, some of the views changed.

A sunset view of Moab on the way back to the campground

Rail tracks at Sunset, along the Corona Arch Trail

When we got back to the campground, we saw that our new friend was back from running errands in town. Before making dinner, we decided to make the most of the sunset and sit on the banks of the Colorado River, relaxing and getting to know each other.

A view of the Colorado River in Moab at dusk.

I’m glad that we had the flexibility to meet with friends for an unplanned (for us) climbing trip to such an amazing and beautiful place. Days like this make me very grateful to be on this trip and to have such great friendships with awesome people.

You can see more pictures from our Moab adventures on our Utah Adventures Part 1 Photo Journal page.

For more information…

On climbing in Moab, click Mountain Project’s guide for the Moab Area.

On the town of Moab, check out discovermoab.com.