October 2011.
Castleton Tower, Porcupine Rim, Mindbender canyon. 5 days, 1600 miles, no problem!
The Plan:
Get off work, drive as far as I could the first night, then finish the drive into Moab Thur. Climb Castleton on Fri. Ride Hazard County down Porcupine Rim into Moab on Sat and haul ass out to Robber's Roost. Drop Larry Canyon and ride my bike back to the truck. Spend the night in Robber's Roost then drive back to Socal for work.
The Execution:
Got into Moab early Thursday so hit an 18 mile ride out in the Bar M trails area. Fri got up and drove out to the Castleton trailhead to climb the Kor-Ingalls route. Unfortunately I had to buy a partner but he was cool and I actually learned something from him. I was a little disappointed by the route itself until the last pitch which was fun. But the tower is absolutely classic and it was a blast to finally climb it.
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| The Rectory left, and Castleton Tower right. |
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| Looking down P2 on Kor/Ingalls route of Castleton |
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| The rap descent N. Face |
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| Looking across to 'Fine Jade' on the Rectory |
On Saturday I shuttled to the Hazard County trailhead for the classic Porcupine rim trail. The upper reaches of the La Sals were already snowed in so that prevented riding the Whole Enchilada. The ride was super scenic and mostly fabulous riding all the way back to the Colorado river. The only part I didn't like was riding the jeep road section in the middle. My favorite segments were the UPS and LPS trails, followed by lower porcupine single track.
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| Castleton Tower and The Rectory in the distance |
After the ride I grabbed a bite and headed out of Moab going west. Turning off at Green River headed into Robber's Roost on dirt road. The following morning by the time I helped some stranded canyoneers back to their vehicle, I was out of time for Larry Canyon so I headed off to drop into Mindbender Canyon. The slot was so-so- but the free hanging rappel at the end and the hike out were spectacular!
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| Top of the 150ft free hanging rappel |
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| Looking at rappel from the bottom |
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| Beautiful canyon hike out |
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| The slabby 5.4 exit route |
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| Back on the plateau |
I spent a wonderful solitary night in the Roost. Then reluctantly headed out the next morning toward the unwanted reality of going back to work.