Sedona Spires

Quinn heading up P5

A small hitch was put into the planned two-day training on Sedona's beautiful sandstone spires when Wesley came down with the same horrible bug Craig had a few days previous.  He piled into the mystery machine for the adventure anyway but resigned to lay - in the comfy bed but no less miserable - all day Thursday while Quinn and Craig sent Coyote Tower (5.10) on Courthouse Butte. Without Wes, there was a little trouble getting to the base of the route but they soon found wild, wonderful steep hands and soft crumbly rock. Yummy! Rappeling the route was an adventure with only one 60m rope but the 15 feet of chimney downclimb in the middle was less eventful then the last dificult rope pull.  To finish, we befriended a local hiker to tell us where the parking lot was since we were convinced we'd "not hiked this far to get in." Haha! Check out our appeal to Marmot for new backpacks and Wes laying in the van's bed ...

We gathered beer, soup, and fruit juice from the store, had a a kooky but fun prospector-camper dude for company while we made dinner, were harassed all evening by a campground skunk, and then teetered into bed for a cold night's sleep.

Wes and Cathedral Spires

Wes awoke and not only managed to get himself upright as we made breakfast in a church parking lot but also rallied to lead us to and then up the first pitch of Vortex In A Can (5.10+) on the South Mesa in the Cathedral Rock Area. We each lead a pitch of yummy goodness - thin corners, steep pulls, scary loose rock - and then there was one double-rope rappel to the ground.  A fantastic excursion!  Since Wes and Quinn will be borrowing the van for the summer, they got introduced to some of its idiosyncracies driving home to Phoenix, meanwhile Craig drank beer in the passenger seat.  We hit the Yardhouse just before happy hour shut down then plopped in front of the TV at home to watch FSU-VCU and Kentucky-OSU battle for Elite Eight spots. Go Wildcats of Kentucky and Arizona!