the red monster at Ibex

the red monster, originally uploaded by matthewandcassie.

This weekend Cassie and I headed to the West Desert of Utah. We were going climbing with the Utah Climbing Club at an area called Ibex. Ibex is considered on of the best and most unique bouldering areas in the world and attracts climbers from all over the world. The location is also quite scenic.

Ibex is located in the desert with basically no water for miles and miles. In this photo you can see what appears to be clouds in the horizon on the left side of the boulder. They aren't actually clouds, but are dust plumes that are rising off a dry lake knows as Sevier Lake. The wind was blowing at a constant 20 mph with gusts up to 40. This made bouldering quite interesting since the pads sometimes got blown out from underneath you while you're climbing. We camped friday night and spent all day climbing saturday. It was surprisingly difficult climbing with none of the climbs going easily. We tried a bunch of problems and sent some but also left tired and sore saying that we'd be back to try our projects again. Dinner was marinated steak, potatoes, spinach, and rolls as a reward for all of our hard work (yum!).

We also did a little side trip to an awesome place called Crystal Mountain which is a volcanic rock that really is a mountain and is totally out of place in its surroundings. Utah is certainly an area with tons of climbing and lots of places to explore. The geological diversity is outstanding and there's always something to do. Unfortunately the wind just would not let up so we decided to head back home on Sat instead of camping and exploring on Sunday.

Check out the pictures in this photoset by clicking on the above pic. Lot's of great pictures await including one of a Scorpion and Crystal Mountain!