Morning in Arches National Park

After scouting out our climbs in Arches last night, we got there early to beat the heat. It was actually pretty pleasant on the first climb in the Garden of Eden. A nice crack climb in the shade (the one in the middle in the image below), with wonderful views of the surrounding towers and Elephant Butte, which we'll be climbing tomorrow.

Since we aren't really in peak climbing season here, it seems that climbers are a bit of a side show for the visitors to the park. This climb was so close to the parking lot that everyone who got out of their cars were taking pictures of us. Talk about pressure. In any case, we summited while there was a pretty good crowd there, so we waved down as they snapped away. It was a unique experience, kind of a show. One really nice man we met briefly before climbing was there taking professional photos and got a few shots of us on the tower. He left a note on the Goose with his email address to send us the pictures. Really lucky to meet such a nice guy, since most of photos are either underneath or on top of the climber. As we rappelled the climb, a carload of people even clapped for both of us when we got to the bottom. A small boost to the egos.

The second climb was kind of a beast: in full sun, sandy and poor route info. It was next to Balanced Rock in the photo below. Emily led the first pitch brilliantly, and on the second, Pete soon realized you needed to be some kind of daredevil leprechaun to do the last, squished pitch to the top - the route got really narrow. So instead, we popped off in time for lunch at the Moab Brewery.

We got back to the campground and again went for a dip in the pool while the sun went down. I've added below some shots from our romp through the park last night, but they're all in the "Arches" photos link on the right.