Having taken a solemn pledge to chill and enjoy the last couple of days of our trip, we set about constructing an itinerary that would take in some decent climbing and a couple of camping spots to break up the 7hrs drive to Vegas. Key criteria: short walk-in, bolt-protected, single-pitch, zero-terror and not a single sandstone off-width or chimney – in summary, the antithesis of the previous 8 days!

Our new relaxed “holiday mode” got off to the perfect start with a message from Jane and Andy. They’d be arriving in Moab at almost the exact time we’d be leaving and did we fancy a coffee. Result – let the procrastination commence. Not only was it great to catch up for some banter (Moab is a long way from the usual meeting spot of New Mills Torrs though you’d have to look twice not to confuse the two) but we were able to ditch some of our big gear – reinforcing an already mighty rack for Jane and Andy, whilst making a useful dent in our strained baggage allowance and more importantly eliminating any temptation to relent on our vow of abstinence from “the wide”! We did come away with a dose of rental vehicle envy – Jane and Andy had scored a huge 4wd Tonka truck! Next time…

Setting the sat nav in the general direction of Vegas, we passed up on the detour into Arches National Park – I’d done all the sights on our Big Trip and Bill took one look at the monster Sunday morning queue and decided to make do with a drive-by view of the Three Penguins and tick it off his bucket list.

Instead we took inspiration from Mountain Project and set off for Maple Canyon, which had been suggested as a possible wet weather option when I asked the MP hive-mind for alternatives when it was looking a bit rainy. Single-pitch, roadside sport-climbing on conglomerate, with a campsite beneath the crags – ticks all the boxes!

It’s an hour or so off the I15 and the last part of the drive takes you through a vista of agricultural land populated by enormous poultry sheds – hardly inspiring after the magnificence of Moab, and I started to worry that I’d entered the wrong Maple Canyon into Google Maps Turning a bend, all was revealed…

… and we saw the first other climbers we’d encountered in the whole trip, with the weekend crew getting in a last route or two before heading back to the grindstone. It was quite busy.

Luckily, we managed to snag one of the only two available fcfs campsites (you can reserve online a bit ahead of time but we were there on a last minute whim).

… complete with our very own crag – we could have belayed from the tent!

We actually went about half a mile back down the canyon to climb on The Bridge sector, not least because it was a handy navigational beacon and we were using descriptions from MP to navigate. As regular readers will know, I’m a bit of a conglomerate fan /connoisseur and this variety measured up to the highest standards, most resembling Moy Rock in Scotland.

We did The Tiger’s Revenge, 10d, and Taking the Bullet, 11a, both absolutely superb 4* forays up a steep 100ft wall. Sustained rather than desperate, though with only 9 bolts each they felt quite committing and exhilarating.

The neighbouring Flak Jacket, 10a, was almost as good, a bit shorter and much better bolted – perfect for a warm-down.

Back to our campsite for a cracking campfire,

foil-baked potatoes (done to perfection if I say so myself)

… and the last slab of Moab Brewery’s finest:

We even found time for a game of Scrabble – that’s more like a holiday!

It was surprisingly cold overnight (dipping to around 5C) as the canyon seems to channel a cooling breeze, another attraction as you can pick your side and climb in the sun or shade as temperatures dictate. Definitely a spot I’ll be revisiting for longer on a future trip.

The recommendation for the next stop on our “Canyons of Contrast” mini-break came from a fortuitous encounter with Dave at Wilton Fest. He raved about the climbing on Namaste Wall in Kolob Canyon, back in Zion. He had photos to support his 5* rating, and I was both impressed and inspired (even in the context of having the magnificence of Wilton 2 for immediate comparison!) It would literally be about 15mins out of the way – it was a no-brainer.

Kolob Canyon is a satellite from the main Zion NP, accessed by a separate road which winds up into another awesome display of vivid red rock.

Whilst the 40mins walk contravened one of our “holiday-mode” criteria, it’s a very pleasant amble along the South Fork Canyon trail, much of which gets afternoon shade. As the canyon walls crowd in, you turn a bend and you’re confronted by a realm of overwhelming red steepness! It might be sandstone, but there’s not a crack in sight – these walls are breached by extraordinary lines of giant hueco pockets.

Unsurprisingly, we’re not alone, and there are a couple of teams in action – there are only half a dozen routes and only 3 below 5.12b, so we uncoil the rope beneath Dost Mitra, 11a/b. Here’s a couple of shots of Lea, one of a couple of Swiss visitors, making the most of the rest in the biggest of the huecos to make smooth work of the eponymous route, Namaste, 11d.

The setting is one of the most aesthetic and inspiring that I’ve climbed in (comfortably in the top 10 in the Rockaroundtheworld league table) and the climbing itself lives up to the billing. Every hold (well almost every hold) is a massive jug, but the wall is SO steep that you’re on borrowed time as you yard between them, and the juice drains from your batteries as the pump sets in. Key strategies for success are milking the rests and blocking out the huge run-outs (9 bolts in 30m – you’d be in for a big but very safe ride if you let gravity intervene!) Clipping the chains, puffing gently, I was conscious of having climbed one of the most memorable and enjoyable sport routes I’d ever done. Much to my relief you can just about make it down on a single 60m.

Here are a couple of shots of Bill savouring the work-out.

That left a choice of Namaste or the easier, slightly shorter and rather uninspiringly-named 1/2 route, 10d. You can’t get down off Namaste with a 60m rope (you’d be hanging about 5m up and getting on for 10m away from the rock!) and whilst we’d worked through various shenanigans involving a tag line, the faff of trying to strip the route and get down in one piece would have been considerable. Instead we turned our attention to the crag warm-up.

There were a couple of young locals uncoiling their ropes at the bottom, but then we spotted the rest of the possee taking up prime cheering / spectating positions. “Hiya, I’m just wondering how many people are in the line between us and this route?” “Oh, we’re all going to do it”… my heart sank… “… but we live just 15mins down the road and it sounds like you’ve come further – why don’t you jump on it first – You look like you’ll be pretty quick!”

How nice was that – great courtesy and hospitality (which in fairness we find across America and most other places we travel – I’d like to think that visiting Americans would receive the same welcome from a similar group at Stanage, but I’m not sure!) We joked that it must be national “be nice to crusty old Brits” day, but I was definitely conscious of wanting to get a move on so as not to delay proceedings any longer than necessary, and resolved on a speedy effort without a hands-off shake out in one of the beckoning huecos. The sprint had me blowing hard at the chains, but we were off and out of the way in short order having made a bunch of new friends. What a stupendous spot – just a shame there isn’t more – I’ll be back armed with 70!

Making more progress west towards our flight out of Vegas the following day, we stopped off at Virgin River Gorge campground for yet another great value night in a spectacular location. Arguably this was the best of the lot in terms of bangs for your buck: spacious pitches, stunning views and the poshest restrooms imaginable, complete with hot water and air conditioning, all for the princely sum of $8 for the two of us! Oh, and the star-show gets thrown in for free!

A late afternoon flight still left time to bag a YECTOYD (You Either Climbed Today Or You Didn’t) and the prospect was much more appealing than a long sit at the airport. Clicking “search near me” in the excellent Mountain Project app yielded the result that the nearest crag was half an hour away and was called Black and Tan (the name of the other climbing club that Bill and I are members of). Roadside, single-pitch, limestone sport-climbing – it’s written in the stars!

The crag is covered in the comprehensive Todd Goss guidebook to SW Utah and the Arizona Strip and gets a good write up in there too. The last 3 miles is on a dirt road and it’s definitely doable in a 2wd car (note to future self – whether a 26ft RV would make it is a different question). There are even a few scattered free primitive campsites along the way.

Well-bolted routes up to 100ft on high-quality limestone, without a hint of polish – if these were in Spain they’d be popular and trashed!

We did Beauty Pagent, 10a,

Magic Carpet Ride, 11a

and Crime and Punishment, 10a

… all worth 3* and thoroughly enjoyable! Time to pack away the rope for the final time for this trip, and set the sat nav for Las Vegas Airport…

… having “searched on route” for “Brewery” of course! Couldn’t end Episode 13 without a celebration beer! It turned out that 13 was a lucky number after all!