Leaving Moab we drove on to Indian Creek, passing below the seemingly endless number of splitter cracks lining the road and spotting lots of climbers finishing climbs. About 14 miles past Newspaper Rock we made the left turn onto Davis Canyon Road and passed through the gate. The road quickly became rugged and Pete hopped out to help scout my passage through. I hoped I wasn’t tackling too much with only high clearance and no 4WD.
After driving around South Six-Shooter Peak we weren’t quite sure where the hiking trail to the cliffs above started but due to the failing light finally just parked near the junction with Lavender Canyon and camped in the dry wash.
Coyotes, an owl and the occasional cow provided a soundtrack for the night and I woke up once to check out the spectacular celestial display. In the morning we slowly packed up camp and waited for the temperatures to warm up a bit. Ryan called Pete and I “princesses” for using two sleeping pads which we found a tad ironic coming from his highness, clad as he was in down booties and having brought a portable DVD player.
Setting out to find the approach trail we headed towards the eroded slopes nearby and quickly found footprints and then a cairn. We’d set up camp in exactly the right spot after all. The Princesses may not be amazing climbers, but we sure know how to park.
During the hike the joking and banter continued and our little group somehow became the “Princesses of Darkness”. All conversation would cease however, when we got a good look at our peak and wondered how we were going to climb that.
The morning sun that we couldn’t wait for at dawn now was something to be avoided as we worked our way up the slopes to the south side of South Six-Shooter Peak.
The rock formation itself provided plenty of shade when we reached the base and the wind had picked up, quickly cooling us off. We hunted around for the start of the South Face route, then geared up and threw on extra layers. North Six-Shooter Peak, a much harder climb, looked on as I started up pitch 1.
I found the climbing to be quite easy, mostly 4th class over easy blocks and with the traversing back and forth of the route, I only placed two cams to keep the rope drag down. The one crux move was a solidly wedged block in a little chimney which maybe was 5.6 but the holds were so positive it felt easier. At a flat spot I built an anchor then Pete and Ryan climbed up.
Ryan had underestimated the wind and lingering morning cool so he waved off leading pitch 2. So I took off again, heading up a little ramp/chimney from the belay and squeezed through two towers before finding myself on a large ledge. From here I could a nice looking hand crack leading upwards which I identified as a harder option from the route description but for the life of me, I couldn’t find the easier route.
So I started up the hand crack and found it forced me outwards a little and the feet positions weren’t great. I backed down and pre-clipped a #3 cam to the rope and held it in my teeth then climbed back up and placed this higher. I briefly thought about using its sling as an etrier (a foot step basically), but finally grabbed the big holds on top of the crack and hauled myself up into a little alcove.
I placed another cam at my feet with an extended sling for the others to pull on if necessary then moved a little left and up onto another big ledge where I found the bolted anchor. Pete and Ryan quickly climbed up to the anchor were Ryan sat in the sun trying to warm up.
I took at look at the final pitch leading to the summit tower and the infamous “hard for 5.6 mantle”.
Easy climbing led up to the mantle and I placed two TCU’s and a #1 tricam in the several feet below the mantle to protect me if I fell. After playing around with the move and feet options I finally committed and got up on the shelf to where I could clip the bolt above.
Somewhere while climbing, Ryan warmed up enough to continue the joking and made some reference to me adopting an LL Cool J look. I shocked him and Pete by promptly singing most of “Momma Said Knock You Out” as I struggled with the final moves and made my way to the summit.
Those final moves were actually the crux of the climb for me. The hand holds were okay, but feet options were non-existent. I decided to cheat a little this time and from a .75 cam in a horizontal crack above the bolt I hung a sling that I could step in and easily complete the finish. I traversed over the the rappel anchor bolts and clipped in while finishing my LL Cool J impersonation.
Pete and Ryan both took advantage of the extra slings I’d left to aid their ascent past the mantle and the moves above then we all started in on the rappels back down.
Due to a miss-communication we’d only brought 1 60 meter rope and 1 30. From the anchors at the top of pitch 2 we had to do two rappels to reach the base instead of just one. Once I reached the intermediate anchors I really wished we’d brought another 60 meter rope so we could have skipped this station. The rappel slings were wrapped around a pretty large block, but one that was sitting on a slight slope with smaller rubble underneath. It wouldn’t stay there forever, but thankfully it didn’t budge while we put our weight on it.
All down safely, we packed up and headed back down the approach trail, still marveling that we could climb a desert tower.
I said I’d only be happy after two more things: 1) I got my car back to pavement and 2) I had a beer.
Once back at the car we drove out two miles where Pete asked to be let out so he could get in a couple mile run and Ryan and I continued up the road, amazingly getting by all the rough spots perfectly.
Back at the gate I cracked a stout and we waited for Pete to catch up. Life was good.
But before leaving Utah we made a stop at Newspaper Rock to view the petroglyphs.
Adam’s Photo Album
Pete’s Pete’s Photo Album
