Back to Utah
by SCMA Member Gerry Cox

Another vacation…another Zion trip. This time to hop onto Prodigal Son (again) with two ambitious, but relatively inexperienced partners, Bob and Josh. Having done the wall a half-dozen times in the past, I was well-prepared to solo it if everyone else bailed out. Well, bail no one did, so we drove all night and ate breakfast at Oscar’s in Springdale. Then into the Park we go, where we gather our permit. It was the day before Easter. After the sort and pack, we forded the mighty Virgin River with two haul bags, almost losing Bob in the process. Looking toward his feet in the scrotal shrinkage-depth torrent, vertigo set in. Looking back from the other side, all that I could do was to yell directions at him (Like "Look up-river!"). Fortunately, this worked. It was kind of comical, except for drying everything that would have been waterlogged had he fallen in the drink. Josh waded barefoot, balancing the portaledges on one shoulder, shooting photos all the while.

Having led all of the pitches on previous trips, I was content to let my partners hone their skills and relegate myself to the humdrum duties of haul dog. We got to the top of the third pitch, which has a nice ledge, well before dark. As a two-day wall with a late start, we decided to bivy rather than fix another pitch. Hauling was a bear, and had to be done with my 190# as counter-weight as Josh did the mini space haul duties. A luxurious repast of rip-top dinners and a beer saw us off to sawing logs for the evening under skies of glorious stars without a moon.

Easter morning, and our sunrise service was to eat rip-top cans of fruit and start climbing. Josh took in another pitch, and again the hauling was difficult. Correction: It was a bitch. I figure that we had 200# of gear and portaledges all together. Time for a team meeting to discuss how disgusting the hauling would be for the rest of the wall, particularly on the exit pitch. We decided to fix the 4 pitches to the ground, lighten our load and shoot for the top on the following day. This was agreed upon. As we fixed and rapped off, we met David and Jason, following us by a day. We stashed our water and rack at the top of pitch 3 and proceeded to the ground, where we unloaded our extra clothes, sleeping bags and portaledges. With a small haul bag for spare rack and water, we would either succeed or spend the night out. We wound up spending the night out.

We bivied near the base of the climb, so we wouldn’t have to ford the river again in the dark. We started out by headlamp in the pre-dawn and climbed all day, passing David and Jason at the top of pitch 3. Josh led most of the pitches, and finished leading pitch 7 by 7pm. With a pitch to go, it was decided that we wouldn’t risk having to lead, follow, clean, jug and haul in the dark for a first wall. So decided, we settled in for the evening, suspended near a pitifully sloping little ledge. Bob and I in belay seats and Josh laid out on the ledge, we set up webs of aiders to support various body parts and tried to get some sleep before it got too cold. It was uncomfortable, yet nowhere near epic. We all managed some sleep, and Josh eventually stuck his legs in the haul bag to keep them warm.

In the morning, Josh led the last pitch and the exit pitch to the trail and all was good. Bob and Josh had each completed their first wall, and Josh was demonstrating his skills as wall rat and mooch. By the time I had gotten to the trail, he had attained water and trail mix willingly donated by passing hikers. Gear was repacked and we hiked to the top to take in the views. Once back to the ground, Josh greeted me in the parking lot with a cold frosty provided by some German tourists. Bob decided to retire a winner and headed home to save his vacation time for a wall to be named later. Josh and I hung around to swing leads on Touchstone wall, Cerebrus Gendarme and Organasm. All together, we took in 2 walls and 23 pitches of aid in the week that we were there. Not too shabby. In the process, we ran into Greg Epperson, who fixed 900’ of rope on the Angels’ Landing so he could photograph the female wall team of Kathy Dicker and Chelsea Griffie. Kathy’s been in a climbing magazine cover feature soloing Spaceshot, and Chelsea is one of this year’s Stone Nudes models. Look for this in a feature to be named later. Josh burnt some film of his own, producing some reportedly very good slides, none of which I’ve yet seen.

Some interesting ironies took place on this wall. I later found out that one of my grandmothers passed away on Easter morning as I climbed a route called Prodigal Son on the Angels’ Landing formation. As it is very much in line with the faith that she held dearly for all her life, this is a triumph of Life over Death. May the Spirit embrace her and nurture those who miss her. Ironic still that apart from cousins in Berkeley and Phoenix, I haven’t a relative within 3,000 miles.

When will I return to Utah? Perhaps before you read this. There are still always more walls to climb and canyons to visit. There’s a tattoo artist in Springdale that has been working on a piece over the last 2 years now, and it’s not finished yet. The bus is running well and I’ve got some time off coming up soon. Through the stress and aggravations of everyday life, Zion calls my name.