Spring Break Trip Report: Day 3 & 4

After a few days in Arrow Canyon we were ready for a change and headed to Lime Kiln Canyon, a newer crag with lots of multi pitch limestone sport routes in the mountains east of Mesquite. This is another area we visited during our Thanksgiving trip where we got shut down. The skies were blue and it was nice and warm in the sun on that trip but the wall we tried to climb on was in the shade all day and was super cold. We only got up two pitches on the 5 pitch climb we chose for the day before we had to bail and retreat to a warmer crag in St. George. Ever since that day we have been excited to get back in warmer weather and summit one of the stellar multi pitch lines there.

On this trip, the weather couldn’t be better and we had excellent temps on the wall even though it was in the shade for the whole climb.

The climb we chose was 5 pitches with the hardest pitch about 5.10a on beautifully sculpted bullet limestone. Not only was it great rock and a casual grade but there were comfy belay stances and lots of bolts making for a stress free climb. We swapped leads throughout, moving smoothly and quickly up the wall, until we topped out in the sun in a fantastic position. From our summit perch we were able to watch climbers on the adjacent big wall (The Grail) climbing routes that we will definitely have to come back for someday. The Grail has multi pitch 5.11’s and 12’s and harder routes too. Looks awesome.

Camping spot below Lime Kiln. The wall we climbed is in the left side of photo.

Pitch 1 Finishing pitch 1 Pitch 2 Starting pitch 3 Finishing in the sun at the end of pitch 5. On the summit.Climber on The Grail Wall. Can you see him?

Cool thing that happened while we were on the wall…on the summit we were hanging out and enjoying the views and sunshine when we heard a deafening sound right over our heads. I immediately knew that it was a fighter jet flying over us and pretty close too. Only I couldn’t seem to figure out where it was until a loud boom exploded in our ears and it literally flew right over us (no joke…right over our heads). Seconds later more fighter jets flew over the cliff. It was pretty crazy to witness.

After getting off the wall, we got back to the car and cracked some much deserved beers and hung out for a couple hours in the sun enjoying the day.

Later, we did a quick stint of studying and working in the Mesquite library and then went to St. George to meet up with some friends of ours that were on their way to Bishop and ATE AT

IN-N-OUT BURGER!!! Yes!

The next day we spent in St. George. Much of the day was spent studying, working and hanging out at the central city park in St. George next to their beautiful new library (Susan couldn’t say enough about that place). Hanging out at the city park was like watching T.V. They have an amazing swimming area in the middle of it that is designed to look like a slick rock stream that is fed by a spring pouring out of some built up rocks. It is cool. The swimming area was swarming with pregnant Mormon mothers with their kazillion kids in tow. They were quite a sight. No wonder St. George was rated one of the top 10 fastest growing cities in the country. I should mention at this point that we got the book on tape, “Under the Banner of Heaven” to listen to on the trip and were a couple cassettes in by the time we hung out at the park. Hmmm….I will talk more the book and about Mormons we saw on the trip as my trip report continues…

Lunch was fun on our rest day. We went to a park in another part of downtown where there are a bunch of cool sandstone formations that people were scrambling all over (more large Mormon families). It was a free-for-all. With no guard rails to protect people, there was potential carnage in almost every direction. Awesome. Although, I have to admit I like parks like this more than I like parks with danger signs everywhere telling you where you can and can't go. Survival of the fittest!

That's how you kiss your good mormon plural wife.

In the evening, Susan did some more studying and I went up to Hurricane (about 30 minutes northeast of St. George) to go for a run. I couldn’t find the trail I had found directions for from a website so I drove around Hurricane looking for a cave called the Hurricave that has had some recent press online. I found it…but too late for a hike up to check it out (another trip maybe...). I did find a small bouldering area that has seen action and was in a really pretty setting on a hillside overlooking the desert.

Later that night we grabbed some pizza in town, drove up to the Gorilla Cliffs (a climbing area 30 minutes southwest of St. George) and crashed.