Wendy, rappelling the Owl
Jon and Andy climbing Chinese Eyes on the Great Wall
Wendy, below the Great Wall
Andy: Sadly, Jon left this morning - we're going to miss his energy! The morning was cold, cold, cold. Down jackets and hats as we started the climb. Jon had a few hours to spare before he left, so we tried to climb a hard 5.10b hand/fist crack called Chinese Eyes. Unfortunately, it didn't go so well, and Jon had to "down lead" the climb to get back to the ground and retrieve gear. It was steep, wide, and sandy - not a good combo. I had selected the route so I felt pretty bad as Jon was swearing and cursing in the sand pit above!
Spent the rest of the morning climbing a small tower called The Owl in Arches National Park. Many tourists stopped to gawk and take pictures, so we tried our best to look good :) A cute older couple driving a new Sportsmobile spotted us on the rock, took pictures of us, and then we spent about 30 minutes comparing vans. They've driven 18,000 miles in 6 months - impressive! Finished the afternoon climbing easy routes at the Ice Cream Parlor in Kane Creek. The routes were so-so, but the canyon was beautiful.
Wendy: The highlight of the day was meeting Harry and Loretta, from Blueberry Lane, Virginia. They were in their late 70's, and pulled up in their Sportsmobile Van as Andy and I were starting up the Owl. We watched them from across the desert as they slowly eased out of their van (it's a 4x4 like ours, and getting out means stepping down about 5 feet--a big drop for them), set up huge camera equipment, and proceeded to take photos of us as we climbed. The best part was when I got to the top of the pillar and looked over to see Harry wildly waving his hands...he was gesturing to me to look at him and smile so he could take a closeup summit shot! We got off the climb and were greeted by Loretta's sweet offer to make us tuna sandwiches and iced tea while they showed us their van. We declined their lunch offer, but did spend enough time to learn that they are taking pictures to put together a language-arts curriculum for school children. We signed consent forms for them to use our pictures, and they promised to send us copies of any good ones they took. Harry is a former 747 pilot, Loretta a former teacher. They have been living in their van since May, and are the cutest two people you could ever see. When Loretta pulled out her two huge photo albums and started telling stories, Andy and I glanced at each other and made a lame excuse about needing to meet a friend for our next climb. I think she was still telling stories as we drove away!!! Sure made me miss family, though!
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Wendy, rappelling the Owl
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Jon and Andy climbing Chinese Eyes on the Great Wall
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Wendy, below the Great Wall
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